„Thanks to the contributions
of many people to forumZFD,
I can work for peace in Kosovo.“
English
DeutschInformation
Die Geschäftsstelle des forumZFD ist umgezogen!
Am Kölner Brett 8,
50825 Köln-Ehrenfeld
Zentrale: 0221 91 27 32 - 0
Fax: 0221 91 27 32 - 99
Philippines: Making the weak strong for peace
Supporting and integrating disadvantaged groups of the population for peace process involvement
The situation:
On Mindanao, there are various overlapping conflicts: political power, human habitats and resources are the issues at stake. A lack of democratic structures, religious discrimination and the marginalisation of Muslims and indigenous population groups are the causes of the culture of violence that prevails. As recently as August 2008, a Memorandum of Agreement between the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and the Philippine government was on the verge of being signed. This was however stopped by a court verdict. Fighting broke out again. Up to 500,000 people had to flee and – largely unnoticed by the world at large – be cared for in camps. The island is again under threat of sinking under a devastating cycle of violence.
What we are doing:
Despite the prevailing climate of violence, there are multi-ethnic initiatives pursuing a common approach: representatives of the Christians, the indigenous population and Muslims see themselves as one people from Mindanao. It is precisely this unifying element that the forumZFD plans to use for launching its initiative. The aim of the project is to mutually integrate organisations and other players engaged in peace work and to support the population in its endeavour to achieve a peaceful resolution of the conflicts. Our peace experts offer training courses for strengthening information and communication structures and train the relevant players in the area of non-violent conflict management.
In November 2008 saw the commencement of Inge Sauren’s work on behalf of the forumZFD in Davao on Mindanao. The first project phase involves establishing contact with the relevant local players. “We are gradually getting an overview of the broad palette of local and international NGOs and peace initiatives. Many people have suffered a great deal in this conflict stretching back many years. It is now necessary to examine and process the existing escalation of violence as this is the only way of resolving the conflict situation in a sustainable manner.“
Early 2009 the peace expert Daniel Jäger joined the forumZFD team which will additionally be enlarged by local experts.