On September 30, 55 members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a global civil society-led network of peace workers gathered in Davao City, Southern Philippines to share strategies and draft its peacebuilding and conflict prevention agenda for the coming years.
WE, members of the GPPAC-International Steering Group (ISG), reiterate our goal of building an international consensus on peacebuilding and prevention of violent conflict.
As violent conflict persists around the world, civilians, especially women and children, remain vulnerable to violence, abuse and displacement. Mechanisms must be developed and strengthened to ensure that even where we fail to prevent violent conflict the rights and dignity of the civilian population, especially women and children, are protected. While it is in their name that war is waged, the promotion and protection of their rights and dignity is the basis from which any peace should be forged.
On September 30, 55 members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a global civil society-led network of peace workers gathered in Davao City, Southern Philippines to share strategies and draft its peacebuilding and conflict prevention agenda for the coming years.
WE, members of the GPPAC-International Steering Group (ISG), reiterate our goal of building an international consensus on peacebuilding and prevention of violent conflict.
As violent conflict persists around the world, civilians, especially women and children, remain vulnerable to violence, abuse and displacement. Mechanisms must be developed and strengthened to ensure that even where we fail to prevent violent conflict the rights and dignity of the civilian population, especially women and children, are protected. While it is in their name that war is waged, the promotion and protection of their rights and dignity is the basis from which any peace should be forged.
We commit to bring together civil society organizations to articulate challenges to effective conflict prevention and advance recommendations to improve practices and policies to build peace in their regions.
By coming together, we can better build trust and confidence among peoples from diverse ethnic, national and faith groups to heal the wounds and weave peace.
War is not an option.
We believe in sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas and promoting indigenous peace mechanisms to achieve lasting peace. We value dialogue among all relevant actors, including local communities, in conflict situations.
Peace is possible no matter how old, deep and vague the root causes of conflict appear.
As part of our ISG meeting, we had the opportunity to do field visits in Datu Piang, Darapanan, Pikit, Cotabato City, Compostela Province, Davao City and Bukidnon where we interacted with victims of conflict, evacuees, Moro, Lumad and settler communities, peoples organizations, as well as local and national government and military officials. We are inspired by the stories of internally displaced persons and tribal communities, and pledge to do our part to help build peace.
We offer our services to be part of the International Contact Group (ICG) for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) in their effort to forge peace in Mindanao. With the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), as the GPPAC Regional Initiator for Southeast Asia, we remain steadfast in our commitment to building and sustaining peace based on justice and in accordance with the people’s right to self-determination as formulated in the Charter of the United Nations.
We also extend our sympathy to those who are affected by the recent typhoons. We know that their losses can never be measured and reclaimed. As the delegation goes to Metro Manila on 5 to 7 October to meet with national government officials, the diplomatic and donor community and civil society groups, we will also visit communities affected by the typhoon as an expression of our solidarity. We further extend our solidarity to communities in the Pacific and Indonesia who also experienced the devastation of natural disasters during the week of our meeting.
GPPAC reaffirms its commitment to building peace, sustaining dialogue, and partnering with regional groups and communities in the desire to forge an environment where there is equal opportunity for every one to live humanely, actively take part in governance and where children have the best start in life.
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)- International Steering Group (ISG)
Central and East Africa
Nairobi Peace Initiative – Africa (NPI-Africa).
West Africa
West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).
Southern Africa
African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD).
Latin America and the Caribbean
Regional Coordination for Economic and Social Research (CRIES)
North America
Peacebuild and Alliance for Peacebuilding
South Asia
Regional Centre for Strategic Studies
The Pacific
Pacific People Building Peace
Southeast Asia
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
Northeast Asia
Peaceboat
Central Asia
Foundation for Tolerance International
Middle East and North Africa
Regional Secretariat of the Arab Partnership for Conflict Prevention and Human Security ( APCPHS )
Western Commonwealth of Independent States
Nonviolence International – CIS and the West CIS sub-network of the CIS NGO Working Group on Conflict Management and Prevention
The Caucasus
International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) for the South Caucasus
Nonviolence International for the North Caucasus
Western Balkans
Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia
Northern and Western Europe
European Centre for Conflict Prevention
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