Madam President,

1. I am honored to speak on behalf of ASEAN.
2. The important role of the reconciliation processes in the maintenance of regional and international peace and security can be gleaned through ASEAN’s experience. ASEAN plays an important role in post conflict situations. The Bali Concord II, signed in 2003, mandated ASEAN to find “innovative ways to increase its security and establish modalities for the ASEAN Security Community,” including in the area of post-conflict peacebuilding.
3. Established in 2011, the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation or ASEAN-IPR was envisioned to be ASEAN’s knowledge hub and centre of excellence in building capacity on conflict resolution and further strengthening peace-oriented values towards harmony, peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.
4. The ASEAN-IPR successfully held a number of activities, namely the “ASEAN-IPR Regional Youth Conference on Peace and Tolerance” in 2018 in Jakarta and the “Mainstreaming Peace and Reconciliation in ASEAN: An ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation Training Series” this year in Manila.  We welcome the collaboration between ASEAN-IPR and the UN in convening a Workshop on “ASEAN Perspectives in Conflict Management & Conflict Resolution in the Region” held in in Jakarta, and looks forward to more active initiatives of the Institute in the future. It has likewise successfully launched its first research study entitled Lessons Learned from a Process of Conflict Resolution between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) as Mediated by Indonesia (1993-1996) and the seminar on the outcome of this project in September 2019.
5. At the 10th ASEAN-UN Summit held in Bangkok three weeks ago, ASEAN and the United Nations reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate through the ASEAN-IPR. The UN and Viet Nam will co-host the Seventh ASEAN-UN workshop – Fifth Regional Dialogue on Political-Security Cooperation: ‘Focused collaboration in support of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation’ on 3-4 December in Ha Noi.
6. We likewise welcome the establishment of the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) last year as a ground-breaking initiative to take stock of ASEAN women experts in the field of peace and reconciliation who may be tapped in times when a specific expertise is required. This year, underscoring women’s participation, we also welcome various initiatives and actions on women’s role in peace processes, namely the convening of the ASEAN Women Interfaith Dialogue: Promoting Understanding for an Inclusive and Peaceful Society in Jakarta, the first regional symposium on Implementing Women, Peace and Security Agenda in ASEAN which was held in Phnom Penh, and the Regional Training on Women, Peace and Security in Jakarta.
7. ASEAN stands ready in partnership with key stakeholders and in solidarity with the community of nations to identify more innovative and inclusive approaches to promote the UN’s peacebuilding and sustaining peace agenda, including reconciliation processes, in the region. END

PHILIPPINE STATEMENT

Madam President, I now would like to offer some insights in my national capacity.

For the Philippines, reconciliation is a long-term process that seeks innovative ways “to address, integrate and embrace the painful past with the shared future as a means of dealing with the present.”

The foundation for this approach is an environment that builds, nurtures and embraces a culture of peace.  For the Philippine government, components of this environment includes catch-up socio-economic development programs” in conflict affected areas, conflict sensitivity” programs and the continuous development of a peace constituency supportive of the peace process.  An integral component as well are the People’s Peace Tables initiatives for the Youth, Indigenous Peoples, Women, Sultanates, and other stakeholders, which serve as a platform for conversations on peace and conflict issues.  Finally, government’s early recovery and rehabilitation program are implemented using a peace lens to ensure that the work delivers on physical reconstruction and rebuilds the torn social fabric of the communities.

Madam President, our experience with the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in July 2018 taught us that the signing of a peace agreement is just the beginning of the peace process.  The process is completed when every Filipino owns the peace, and the peace dividends of progress, security and a comfortable life are enjoyed by all.

Thank you. END