Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw ... sa Mindanaw, sa Pilipinas, sa Kalibutan

Establishing bilateral and multilateral cooperation and solidarity: A Partnership between AMAN and ACTION ASIA seen
By Kaloy Manlupig, Posted 6 February 2011

	Kaloy with AMAN Secretary-General Mohammad Abdus Sabur.

In December 2010, Emma Leslie of Action Asia and Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) asked me to contact General Raymundo Ferrer (the “Filipino Peace General”) and request him to be a speaker in the Asia Muslim Action Network (AMAN) Conference. She also asked me if I would be willing and available to represent Action Asia, and present a paper and share my thoughts and experiences on peace education in the workshop titled “Trends and State of Peace Education and Peace Research in Asia.”

Gen. Ferrer immediately said yes. Of course, I also immediately said yes. But the general’s travel was disapproved by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) because of urgent beginning-of-the-year concerns and the very little time left to process his official travel requirements.

I decided to go ahead with my trip to Thailand despite that development.

From January 26-28, 2011, about 300 AMAN network members, representatives of partner organizations and invited guests from all over the globe came together in Pattani, Thailand to celebrate AMAN’s 20th Anniversary and 4th Assembly. Back to back with the Assembly was the International Conference on Multiculturalism and Global Peace”.

Pattani was selected as the venue because Southern Thailand has been experiencing protracted conflict and violence since 2004, resulting in loss of lives and setbacks to development. In fact, a bomb exploded in the city on the last day of the conference. Despite the violence in this historic city of unique cultures, the conference became an opportunity for both local and international participants, academics and activists, to interact, learn from each other and find ways to promote peace and enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation and solidarity.

I was there to represent Action Asia. It is a network of individuals and organizations in the Asia continent committed to action for conflict transformation through the sharing of skills, knowledge, experiences and resources. It carries a vision of a world of justice and peace, where basic needs are met and dignity and human rights are respected.

Action Asia recognizes Balay Mindanaw as among the key players in the network. AMAN recognizes Action Asia as its partner.

During the opening ceremonies on 26 January 2011, I was asked to read before the Assembly the solidarity message prepared by the Action Asia Secretariat. AMAN’s Secretary General Mohammad Abdus Sabur expressed his appreciation to Action Asia for participating in their activity.

In the afternoon, I presented my short paper titled “A Peacebuilding Course Called OP Kors!” in the workshop “Trends and State of Peace Education and Peace Research in Asia”.

I shared Balay Mindanaw’s peacebuilding initiatives, both lessons and hurdles, especially with our experience in helping build peace among the military that had actually stirred good passionate discussions with the participants.

Jacqui Chagnon of American Friends SC also attended the workshop and talked about our work in East Timor, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

The conference was a series of plenary and workshop discussions. Like many other conferences, the informal chats were big opportunities to meet old and new friends, compare notes, discuss various topics and explore prospects for the future.

In my conversation with Sabur, we talked about the possibility of creating an inter-network working group (composed of AMAN, Action Asia and others) to deal with common concerns like peace processes. During the plenary session on the second day, he announced this possibility.

I think working together on matters that are immediately do-able is a practical way of establishing a partnership between AMAN and Action Asia. I have suggested to Action Asia that we pursue this prospect.

I think Balay Mindanaw thru Action Asia can actually offer our solid on-the-ground experiences and learning to AMAN as they continue to find creative and appropriate interventions in the pursuit of peace. I also think that we can gain from AMAN’s rich experiences in intra-religious and inter-religious initiatives, their work in the Muslim context, and the contribution from their prominent academics.