NP Philippines Quarterly Newsletter - October-December 2013

Welcome to the fifth issue of the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) Philippines Quarterly Newsletter (Editorial)

First of all, we would like to express our sincere sympathy to the victims of typhoon Yolanda. As NP is not present in the Visayas, we encourage our friends to support the relief efforts of the Red Cross.

Meanwhile, October 2, the birthday of the late Mahatma Gandhi, has been declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Nonviolence. In its commemoration, Gandhi reminds us that "non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."

At the very core of our unarmed civilian peacekeeping work is the principle of nonviolence that translates to but is not limited to tolerance, respect, and dialogue. These tenets are the cornerstones of our work on the ground on how we interact with the communities we engage with.

As a new chapter for the Organization begins with the appointment of our new CEO, Doris Mariani, we hope to reach more and more communities and foster the building of peace in the areas where we work in Mindanao. In this issue, we talk with Ms. Mariani about her first impressions of NP in the Philippines, and what her immediate plans for the organization are.

Truly, the mettle of our mission was tested during the crisis in Zamboanga in September. Our Regional Programme Officer, assisted by a response team from our main office, recalls the ordeal that plunged her very own city into a crisis.

We also feature our peacekeepers in Basilan and Sulu. They share their stories of working in the field.

The team concentrated on helping children in conflict with the law (CICL) and liaised with different agencies for this purpose. They also conducted an internally displaced persons (IDP) assessment to identify people who had been forced out of their dwellings by the conflict.

In addition, two of our peacekeepers from our Maguindanao field site (MFT) share how the paper they presented at the World Conference on Humanitarian Studies in Istanbul last October relates to their work on the ground. They presented a paper on ‘Supporting Local Capacities of Conflict-Affected Communities,’ based on their experiences in the field.

Our Lanao field team (LFT), meanwhile, has opened a protection site, which is meant as a safe space for the communities surrounding it. While we also welcome three new colleagues, this publication’s editorial team would like to bid farewell as both of us are leaving NP at the end of the year.

We trust that the colleagues who will take over will continue to bring you captivating quarterly updates on NP’s work in the Philippines.

Happy New Year!

Paul Mettler
Country Director