30 June 2015 - When asked what type of commitment is needed in order to push women empowerment, especially in her job of hurdling the difficult task of waging peace in the Philippines, Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles, Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process, answered: "We have to tell and share our story in a way that the young generation will listen. Peace is a difficult work. It doesn't happen overnight, but it is in peace tables that miracles happen."
Secretary Deles also explained that for peace to be sustainable in the community, it is important to rebuild the human resource in those places of conflict to ensure they are not left behind. Bringing together families and communities to help is also very essential.
“For peace to work, we have to make sure we are heard, we are seen. Working for peace is an act of faith,” and on the role of women, she said, “You have to teach women to hold on that faith and women will make them happen.”
Secretary Deles was one of the women leaders invited to speak at the Third High-Level Panel Discussion on the Power of Empowered Women 2015: Women's Leadership in Peace and Security held on June 23 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Secretary Deles joined other inspiring women leaders from around the world who have excelled in the arena of peace, security and development in sharing about how they have helped drive transformative change by breaking down traditional gender stereotypes and promoting equality. The high-level discussion was held at the sidelines of the 29th ession of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
During the open forum of the interactive dialogue on Women’s Leadership in Peace and Security, the Secretary further expressed that the value-added of having a woman in the negotiating table is that women generally tend to be ready to listen more and tend to advocate a participatory approach in the negotiations.
Secretary Deles was the first woman to be appointed as the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process in the Philippines in 2003, and was later reappointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2010, when the Philippines became the first country in Asia-Pacific to adopt a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 for Women, Peace and Security.
Moderated by Ghida Fakhry, an international broadcast journalist from Al Jazeera, other panelists included Valerie Amos, Former Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Major General Kristin Lund, Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the first woman commander of a UN peacekeeping force; Elisabeth Rehn, member of the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trust Fund for victims in The Hague and of the UN Women High Level Advisory Group for the Global Review on the 15 years of implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325; Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice and former President of Ireland from1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002; and, Dr. Paul Williams, President of the Public and International Law & Policy Group
More than 400 individuals, coming from the Permanent and Observer Missions in Geneva and officials and staff of UN agencies and other International Organizations, attended the event. Also present were university students and members of the academe and the media.
The event is organized by the Group of Women Ambassadors to the United Nations in Geneva with financial support from the Swiss Confederation and the Republic and Canton of Geneva, The Delegation of the European Union to the UN, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the UN and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN. Ambassador Cecilia Rebong is an active member of the Group of Women Ambassadors and recommended the inclusion of Secretary Deles in the panel.
The event aimed to emphasize that, despite an increasing understanding of the need for women’s positive engagement in leadership roles in conflict management and stabilization, progress in the field remains slow both in qualitative and quantitative terms as well as to highlight some of the underlying causes, and demonstrate how they can be overcome by showcasing positive stories and impact of women who have succeeded in such roles. END