The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict in Southeast Asia (GPPAC-SEA), a global network of civil society organizations engaged in conflict prevention and peace building work, welcomes with great enthusiasm and hope the resumption of the talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) today as well as the impending resumption of the formal talks between the GPH and the National Democratic Front (NDF). We are also elated that the Tri-partite meeting of the GPH, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) is also resuming this month in Jeddah.

We are immensely inspired by this development and hope that conflicting parties elsewhere, like in Egypt,Tunisia and Lebanon will also find their way to the negotiating table and engage in dialogue to resolve their conflicts.

We take this occasion to also reiterate our support to the peace process through the vast experience and various expertise of our members from more than ten (10) regions in the field of peace building, engagement with the UN, intergovernmental and regional organizations and governments which may be tapped by the negotiating panels.

Representatives of GPPAC had the opportunity to meet with both the GPH and the MILF leadership in October 2009 on the occasion of its International Steering Group (ISG) meeting in Davao City and Manila. We have also occasionally met with the NDF in their offices in The Netherlands where our global secretariat is also based.

We note the prevailing goodwill and enthusiasm from the citizens and the constituencies of the conflict parties and thus look forward to positive results from this initial meeting in KL and the coming Oslo talks. We expect more gains in the coming months which will hopefully eventually lead to a mutually agreed and acceptable settlement of the conflict.

GPPAC stands ready to assist and accompany these peace initiatives in whatever way the parties may deem fit for us.