Philippines

Given the nature of pervasive violence, peacebuilding needs to throw its net wider, to encompass all kinds of pervasive violence in society as part of its remit. This means that peacebuilding organisations should work more deliberately on other types of organised violence and in a sense rethink peacebuilding – focusing not only on conventional conflict settings, but also targeting unconventional types of conflict. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for peacebuilders in responding to criminal groups in conflict environments. This is part of our Peace Focus series.

Full report

International Alert recently launched a new book called Out of the shadows: Violent conflict and the real economy of Mindanao.

The book presents the results of research into the linkages between violent conflict and the informal or ‘shadow’ economy in Mindanao, the conflict-affected region in the southern Philippines.

On Tuesday 4th December the southern Philippines was hit by Typhoon Bopha (known locally as Pablo), with the island of Mindanao worst affected.

International Alert has been supporting more inclusive and conflict-sensitive economic governance in the Compostela Valley province of Mindanao, which bore the brunt of the devastation.

The Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed a peacebuilding framework that will guide the next critical parts in the negotiations for a genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao. While the framework agreement itself does not declare a permanent end to hostilities and the demobilization and disarmament of combatants, it represents a very significant step indeed, and generates momentum for a definitive peace agreement that is expected to be signed in a year’s time.   

“People see the best in him during the worst of times.  He is always the last man on the street during typhoons, making sure that people are safe, and the first one to shovel the mud out of the city after the floods…

International Alert in cooperation with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, EU Brussels, and AIM Centre for Development Management, convened an expert roundtable discussion on the security implications of climate change in the Philippines on 24th April 2012.

A study visit of analysts and journalists from across the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict divide to South East Asia took place in July and August 2011.

The group visited South East Asia to look at the peacebuilding experiences of the Philippines, where they focused on both separatist and ideological conflicts, and Indonesia, where they looked at the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh.

Local business Local Peace: the Peacebuilding Potential of the Domestic Private Sector

Case study: Philippines

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lblp_Philippines.pdf

Waging Peace Conference in the Philippines. Sumilao farmers march.

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