Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw ... sa Mindanaw, sa Pilipinas, sa Kalibutan

BalayMin to host ‘First Action Asia Peacebuilders Forum’
Posted 23 October 2006

At least 50 peace practitioners from all over the Asia Pacific Region will come together in a 5-day forum to identify uniquely Asian approaches in the field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding, and celebrate the vibrancy and successes of peace building initiatives in the different countries in Asia. The First Action Asia Peacebuilders Forum with the theme “Exploring Asian Approaches to Peacebuilding”, will be held on October 26-31, 2005 at the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center in Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City.

Dr. Johan Galtung, who is the recognized Father of Conflict Studies and founder of the and founder of TRANSCEND Institute and the PRIO-International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Committee for a democratic United Nations, will be the Forum keynote speaker. Galtung is also considered as the one who coined the term “peace journalism”.

The result of the forum will be documented and published into a book that will capture the several thematic case studies from experiences of peace advocates in the Asia region.

The forum is sponsored by Action Asia, which is a network of individuals and organizations in the Asia continent committed to action for conflict transformation through the sharing of skills, knowledge, experiences and resources. It carries a vision of a world of justice and peace, where basic needs are met and dignity and human rights are respected.

Action Asia more formally began in 1999 when under the umbrella of ACTION International, a small group of peace practitioners from the Asia Pacific region met together and realized their long held dream to form an active network. Their vision was two fold – to actively support peace practitioners working in situations of violent conflict in the Asia region, and to identify and promote Asian models and understandings of peace building and conflict transformation approaches and processes.

Before the formal start of the forum, a dialogue among the peace practitioners in Northern Mindanaw and Johan Galtung, will be held on October 26 at 2:00 – 4:00 pm at the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center. The dialogue is called “Peace Talks with Johan Galtung”. A press conference will follow at 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon.

The Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs (BMG) serves as the host for this historic event in Northern Mindanao region. BMG had been engaged in peace building initiatives in Mindanao, and is presently the Independent Secretariat of the GRP-RPMM Peace Talks (Government of the Philippines-Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Mindanao).

BMG is composed of Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI), Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw (BALAOD-Mindanaw), Resource Center for Development in Mindanaw (RCED), and Balay Davao Sur, Inc. (BDSI).