ASoG, UNDP hold training on Women, Peace, and Security in BARMM

Organized by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 33 women leaders from local government units and civil society organizations across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) took part in the second installment of the She Wins Peace Executive Leadership Training on Women, Peace, and Security, held from 29 January to 01 February 2026 at Citadines Roces Hotel and Ateneo de Manila University.

The three-day executive leadership training aimed to deepen the participants’ understanding of their roles as women leaders in advancing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda in the Bangsamoro region through lectures, workshops, and panel discussions led by practitioners, academics, and advocates in women’s rights, peace and security, and good governance.

The first day underscored the importance of transformative and ethical leadership and good governance in strengthening women’s leadership for peace and security. It featured lectures and panel sessions from Prof Nathalie Africa-Verceles, Bayi, Inc. Chairperson; Atty Maria Cleofe Gettie Sandoval, Law and Gender Consultant; Hon Gayle Abonal-Gomez, Naga City Councilor, Atty Laisa M Alamia, Deputy Speaker of Bangsamoro Transition Authority; Atty Maisarah C Dandamun-Latiph, Former Chairperson of Marawi Compensation Board; and Ms Nur-Ainee Tan Lim, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Social Services and Development-BARMM.

The second day focused on the history of peace process in BARMM and the creation and localization efforts of the Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (RAP-WPS) in BARMM with sessions led by Rufa Cagoco Guiam, independent researcher and former professor of Mindanao State University in General Santos; Ms Kristinna Joy Tanghal, Women, Peace, and Security specialist of the Bangsamoro Women Commission; Ms Carmen Lauzon Gatmaytan, founding member of Women Engaged in Action on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325; Dr Jasmin Nario Galace, interim chief executive officer of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders; Ms Alliah Lucman, Director of the Gender and Development Office of the Province of Lanao del Sur; and Assistant Secretary Susana Guadalupe H Marcaida, Executive Director of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Women, Peace, and Security Center of Excellence.

The final day featured a session on public policy development led by Dr Janet Cuenca, core faculty member of the Ateneo School of Government, which emphasized the role of policy in advancing and sustaining the localization of Women, Peace, and Security initiatives in the Bangsamoro. Participants also took part in a workshop where they identified key Women, Peace, and Security issues in their respective communities and presented policy recommendations to address these concerns.

(Photos owned by UNDP Philippines)