Speaker

Program

Program
Speaker

Speaker

Opening Session

Opening Remarks

Chung Eui-yong

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Congratulatory Remarks

Michelle Bachelet

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Congratulatory Remarks

Michelle Bachelet
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Michelle Bachelet is the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms. Bachelet was elected President of Chile on two occasions (2006 – 2010 and 2014 – 2018). She was the first female president of Chile. She also served as Health Minister (2000-2002) as well as Chile’s and Latin America’s first female Defense Minister (2002 – 2004). During her presidential tenures, she promoted the rights of all but particularly those of the most vulnerable. Among her many achievements, education and tax reforms, and the creation of the National Institute for Human Rights and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights stand out. So do the establishment of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, the adoption of quotas to increase women’s political participation, and the approval of Civil Union Act legislation, granting rights to same sex couples and thus, advancing LGBT rights. Since the early 1990s, Ms. Bachelet has worked closely with many international organizations. In 2010 she chaired the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, a joint International Labor Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) initiative, which sought to promote social policies to stimulate economic growth and social cohesion. In 2011, she was named the first Director of UN Women, an organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of women and girls internationally. Economic empowerment and ending violence against women were two of her priorities during her tenure. She has recently pledged to be a Gender Champion, committing to advance gender equality in OHCHR and in international fora.

Jacqueline O’neill

Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Canada

Congratulatory Remarks

Jacqueline O’Neill
Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Canada

Jacqueline O’Neill has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Alberta and a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Throughout her career, Ms. O’Neill has supported the creation of national strategies and policy frameworks for more than 30 countries, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the United Nations. She has helped establish the field of women, peace, and security and its application in governments, security forces, and multilateral organizations. She has advised the Government of Canada on the country’s first (2011-2016) and second (2017 to present) national action plans on women, peace, and security. As President of the Institute for Inclusive Security, Ms. O’Neill directly supported coalitions of women leaders in Colombia, South Sudan, Sudan, Pakistan, and beyond. Through this work, she advocated for women’s meaningful inclusion in peace negotiations, national political dialogues, and policy making. She also worked at the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan and at Khartoum’s Ahfad University for Women. Along with former Lt. General Roméo Dallaire, she helped found the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative to eliminate the use of children during conflict. Prior to that, Ms. O’Neill was a policy advisor to Canada’s Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, she was a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and a member of the board of directors of the Canadian International Council.

I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja

Executive Director, ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation

Congratulatory Remarks

I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja
Executive Director, ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation

The Executive Director (ED) of ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) represents the Institute in all administrative and operational matters, and manage activities of the Institute. The ED is responsible to the Governing Council, and would make regular reports on the work of the Institute to the relevant Senior Officials to the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Council. Ambassador I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja is currently the Executive Director of ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR). Previously, he was Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) (February 2016-June 2020). He was ASEAN-SOM Leader Indonesia/Director-General for ASEAN Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and also served as High-Level Task Force Indonesia on ASEAN Community Post-2015 Vision (2012-2016). He also served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to the Republic of Austria and Republic of Slovenia, concurrently the Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna (March 2010-2012). In 2006-2009, he served as Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations, World Trade Organisation and other International Organisations in Geneva. In addition to the above assignments, Ambassador Puja also served as Vice Chairperson of the Conference of State Parties (CSP), Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2017-2018; Governor of Indonesia to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors in 2011-2012; Indonesian Sherpa for the Nuclear Security Summit 2012 (2010-2011); President of the Inter-Government Committee (IGC) on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO); and a Member of the Indonesian Negotiators for the Aceh Peace Agreement in 2000-2005. Ambassador Puja has been granted – among others – Ridder Grootkruis in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau/Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange – Nassau, The King of The Netherlands (June 2020); Ksatria Bakti Husada Arutala, Minister of Health (2011); Bintang Jasa Utama Award in 2010; and the Dharma Nusa Award in 2006. Ambassador Puja is a graduate from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and acquired his post-graduate at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA), The Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. He is married, with 2 children.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, U.K

Congratulatory Remarks

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, U.K

Lord Ahmad is the Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He was first appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and as Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations on 13 June 2017. The Prime Minister’s Special Representative (PMSR) on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict works with governments, the UN, civil society and others to strengthen accountability and tackle impunity; provide greater support for survivors; ensure gender equality is fully integrated in all peace and security efforts; and deliver a more effective multilateral response to crimes of sexual violence in conflict.

[Session 1] Sexual Violence in Conflict : Focusing on Asia

Moderator

Shin Hei-soo

Vice-Chair, UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Moderator

Shin Heisoo

Vice-Chair, UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Dr. Heisoo Shin has been working on women’s human rights for forty years. She successfully led the legislation movements in Korea on sexual and domestic violence, advocated the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery internationally, and served as a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2001-2008). Currently, she is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Korea Center for United Nations Human Rights Policy and a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She is also working, together with 14 civil society organizations in eight countries, towards inscribing the ‘comfort women’ documents as UNESCO documentary heritage.

Keynote Speaker

Reem Alsalem

Special Rapporteur on violence against women, UNHRC

Keynote Speaker

Reem Alsalem

Special Rapporteur on violence against women, UNHRC

Ms. Reem Alsalem was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in July 2021 by the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year tenure. She started her tenure on 1 August 2021. Reem Alsalem is an independent consultant on gender issues, the rights of refugees and migrants, transitional justice and humanitarian response. She has consulted extensively for United Nations departments, agencies and programmes such as UN-Women, OHCHR, UNICEF and IOM, as well as for non-governmental organizations, think tanks and academia. Previously, she worked as an international civil servant, serving with the UNHCR in thirteen countries. During her service, she has planned, implemented, and monitored programs that served to protect persons that were survivors of gender-based violence, particularly women and girls. She has also been a visiting professional with the Prosecutor’s Office of the ICC from January to March 2009 and a visiting researcher with the Feinstein International Center of Tufts University in December 2008. Visiting Professional, Investigation Unit of the Prosecutor Office, International Criminal Court, the Hague, the Netherlands, January 2009-March 2009. Reem has a Masters in International Relations from the American University in Cairo, Egypt (2001) and a Masters in Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2003).

Panelist

Heather Barr

Associate Director, Human Rights Watch

Panelist

Heather Barr
Associate Director, Human Rights Watch

Heather Barr is associate director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. She has researched human rights in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papa New Guinea, South Korea and the US on issues including child marriage, girls’ education, women’s access to health care, domestic violence, online gender-based violence, so called “moral crimes”, “honor violence” and “virginity exams”, the rights of refugees and prisoners, torture, civilian casualties, freedom of expression and association, and human trafficking. She was the interim/acting co-director of the Women’s Rights Division from 2018-2021. She joined Human Rights Watch in 2011 in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the Afghanistan researcher, after working for the United Nations on human rights and legal reform in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi and Jordan. After law school she litigated a class action lawsuit on behalf of imprisoned people with psychosocial disabilities in New York City and founded an alternative-to-incarceration program for people with psychosocial disabilities who had committed felonies. Before law school, she worked in a New York City shelter for homeless women. She is a graduate of London School of Economic, Columbia University School of Law, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Seattle Central Community College.

Khin Ohmar

Founding Member, Women’s League of Burma

Panelist

Khin Ohmar
Founding Member, Women’s League of Burma

Khin Ohmar has been a human rights practitioner and advocate since 1988, when she began her human rights work as a student activist, organizing a nationwide democracy uprising. She continues to campaign for democracy in Burma internationally and regionally, as the founder of a number of civil society organizations, including: Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and Burma Partnership and Progressive Voice. Ohmar developed the WLB’s Women Peacebuilding Program and served as coordinator. She also served as the coordinator of National Reconciliation Program and coordinator of Burma Partnership, a regional civil society network across Asia-Pacific region that was founded in 2016 to campaign for democracy, peace and justice in Burma and later transcended to Progressive Voice in 2016. Drawing from her own experience with activism and trauma at individual and community level, in 2012, she co-authored “Trauma and Recovery on War’s Borders: A Guide for Global Health Workers”, a guide for mental health workers in regions traumatized by war, human rights violations, and poverty across the globe. As the chairperson of the Advisory Board for Progressive Voice, a Myanmar human rights research and advocacy organization, she has been a lead advocate internationally for democracy, human rights, justice and accountability in Myanmar. Ohmar is a recipient of Capital Area Peace Maker Award (American University; 1997), Refugee Leader of Promise Award (Women’s Commission on Refugee Women and Children; 1997); Anna Lindh Award (Anna Lindh Memorial Foundation; 2008); Global Leadership Award for Human Rights (Vital Voices; 2008); and Young Women’s Peace Award (Democracy Today; 2018).

Jennifer Van Wyck

MHPSS Delegate, International Committee of the Red Cross

Panelist

Jennifer Van Wyck
MHPSS Delegate, International Committee of the Red Cross

Jennifer van Wyck has a Masters in Counseling psychology and has been a humanitarian since 2010 when she started a non-profit organization to aid with Haitian earthquake relief. Since then she has received the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada for her humanitarian work during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. She has worked in the field of Mental Health and Gender Based Violence in a variety of natural disasters, epidemics, and conflict situations, including two years in the Middle East setting up programs to aid and assist women and children who had been under Islamic State rule. During the COVID lockdown she wrote a book “Love over Fear” about how to find hope and beauty even in dire circumstances. Jennifer is now working with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Philippines to capacity build the emerging mental health system in the Bangsomoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Rhee Soo-jin

Deputy Representative, UNHCR

Panelist

Rhee Soo-jin
Deputy Representative, UNHCR

Since March 2021, Ms. Soo-Jin Rhee is UNHCR’s Deputy Representative in Bangladesh where she is involved with UNHCR’s response for the Rohingya refugees hosted in the country. She oversees overall operation management, external and donor relations, development, programme, admin, finance, supply, and HR of the UNHCR operation in Bangladesh. Before coming to Bangladesh, she was the Senior Budget Advisor and thereafter the Senior Policy Advisor in the Division of Strategic Planning and Results (DSPR), where she was responsible developing policies on resource allocation and management and formulating the new design of the results-based management of the organization. Prior to DSRP, she served as Senior Resource Manager in the Regional Bureau of Africa, where she was responsible for managing resources of some $1.3 billion dollars and providing oversight and support to the operations in the field.
Ms. Rhee joined UNHCR in 1996 as Junior Programme Officer and has served in numerous duty stations in Australia, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh and Switzerland in various functions – programme, budget, finance, field operation, resettlement, refugee status determination and capacity building of UNHCR staff. Prior to joining UNHCR, she worked for New Korea Party, then the ruling political party in Korea where she worked in the International Affairs Unit dealing with the international media, embassies, and foreign contacts overseas. Ms. Rhee has a Masters of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism from Yonsei University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. She is married with one son.

Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman

Human Rights Activist & Kosovo Wartime Rape Survivor

Panelist

Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman
Human Rights Activist & Kosovo Wartime Rape Survivor

Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman is a Human Rights Activist, Survivor of Sexual War Crimes and Member of the Kosovo Parliament. She was born on July 13, 1982 in Kosovo, the youngest out of the nine children in her family. At the age of 16, Vasfije was abducted by a Serbian police officer and taken to a Serbian village where she was raped by the officer and a civilian. At the age of 18 she moved to the US where she started a family and now has two daughters and a husband who fully support her. Vasfije was the first Survivor of Sexual War Crimes in Kosovo that broke the taboo and the first to speak up among the 20,000 women raped during the war in Kosovo. Her case was reported to the UN in 1999 and than reported to EULEX in 2010. In 2012 the perpetrators were arrested which led to the trials in 2013. The Court of Appeals convicted both perpetrators with rape and sentenced them to 10 and 12 years. Unfortunately the case was taken to the Supreme Court and the verdict was overruled and there is still no justice for her and over 20,000 others. Despite the lack of justice and closure in her own case, Vasfije has been inspired to urge women all over to speak out against their abusers. Through the Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, Vasfije was able to join The Mukwege Foundation – Global Movement to end sexual violence in conflicts. She was invited to testify at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, conferences around the world and on April 30th, 2019, she spoke to the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in a hearing titled “Kosovo’s Wartime Victims: The Quest for Justice,” testifying that the United States should push for justice for victims of war crimes. She co-initiated Rally For Her Justice in New York City and Washington DC and For Heroines in Prishtina – ongoing initiatives supported widely by the Albanian American Community to support and advocate for the unpunished Serbian crimes not only in Kosovo, but also Bosnia, Croatia and around the world. In honor of Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, April 14th is memorialized as “Day of Sexual Violence Survivors” in Kosovo.

[Session 2] Women’s Essential Roles and Challenges in Peace Efforts

Moderator

David Maizlish

Representative, ICRC’s Seoul mission

Moderator

David Maizlish
Representative, ICRC’s Seoul mission

David Michael Maizlish, JD, ACIArb, is a licensed mediator and attorney called to bar in New York, specializing in International Humanitarian Law. He received his JD from New York University in 2002, having graduated AB in Historiography from Cornell University (1995) and Deep Springs College (1988). He has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since 2002, including positions in the Legal Division, field assignments to Ivory Coast, Chad, Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Japan. He worked at ICRC headquarters in Geneva from 2009 – 2018, finishing as Thematic Advisor and Deputy Head for the Unit for Relations with Arms Carriers. Before joining ICRC SEO as the Head of Mission, he served as the ICRC’s Delegate for Armed Forces for the Western Pacific Region based out of Tokyo, Japan. He worked with five national militaries (Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, and PNG) and US_INDOPACOM and served as Head of Delegation TOK, a.i. between January and August 2019. His academic publications include work on the intersection of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, the criminal law of Genocide, and the Law of Occupation.

Keynote Speaker

Fabian Salvioli

Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, UNHRC

Keynote Speaker

Fabian Salvioli
Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, UNHRC

Fabián Salvioli (Argentina) is a human rights lawyer and professor. He has a Ph.D on Juridical Sciences and a Master degree on International Relations. He took up his functions as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence on 1 May 2018. As an academic, Fabián Salvioli is professor of International Law and Human Rights at the School of Law of the University of La Plata, where he is also Director of the Human Rights Master Program and Director of the Institute of Human Rights. He has lectured in many countries and universities across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is also member of the General Assemblies of the International Institute of Human Rights (in Strasbourg, France) and the Inter American Institute of Human Rights (in San Jose de Costa Rica, Costa Rica). Professor Salvioli has authored several books and articles on international human rights law, including on the United Nations human rights mechanisms, the Inter-American human rights system, reparations, interpretation and application of human rights principles, and international justice. He was member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee between 2009 and 2016, and its President between 2015 and 2016. In this capacity, he authored the “Guidelines on reparations” adopted by the Committee in October 2016. As a lawyer, he has litigated cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In this capacity, he filed the first amicus curiae brief on the right to truth before the Inter-American Court. Mr. Salvioli served twice as member and three times as president of Ad-Hoc Arbitration Courts on Monetary Reparations, within the Friendly Settlement Mechanism of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He received several honorary titles in recognition of his work in the fields of human rights and education, including: Honorary Professor of the University of Buenos Aires, Honorary Professor of the National University of La Pampa, Illustrious Graduate of the National University of La Plata, Illustrious Citizen of the City of La Plata, and Outstanding Personality of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Panelist

Cho Young-sook

Ambassador for Gender Equality, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Panelist

Cho Young-sook
Ambassador for Gender Equality, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Ambassador for Gender Equality, Young-Sook CHO is also the chair of the international solidarity center of the Korea Women’s Associations United (KWAU, UN ECOSOC special consultative status NGO). Since she began participating in the women’s movement as a founding member of the Incheon Women Worker’s Association in the mid-1980s, she has served as Secretary-General of the KWAU until 2005 when she headed the Central Support Center for Women’s Human Rights, which was established by the government to support victims/survivors of prostitution and human trafficking, and has been in charge of linking the issues of the Korean women’s movement to global gender equality norms and standards. She is still trying to accelerate the implementation of CEDAW, BPfA, UNSCR 1325 and SDGs through solidarity with various women’s organizations at home and abroad. Currently, she represents women’s voices in various public-private governance structure including the Action with Women and Peace Initiative, UNSCR 1325 NAP Committee, and Korea’s International Development Cooperation and humanitarian assistance activities.

Esther Dingemans

Executive Director, Global Survivors Fund

Panelist

Esther Dingemans
Executive Director, Global Survivors Fund

Esther Dingemans is a leading expert on developing and implementing survivor-centred programmes addressing conflict-related sexual violence. Currently, Esther is Executive-Director at the Global Survivors Fund. Esther is also the founding Executive-Director of the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation where she developed the organisation’s work on holistic care for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and on uniting survivors to speak out and to organise globally in the SEMA network. It was in her capacity as Executive-Director of the Mukwege Foundation that she led the establishment of the Global Survivors Fund. Prior to this, Esther worked for NGOs and UN agencies in Guinea, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Sudan (Darfur), Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libera, Sierra Leone and Syria, where she led humanitarian programmes in the field of sexual and gender-based violence. Her specific areas of expertise include community-driven projects and processes, capacity-building, holistic care for survivors and survivor-centred reparations.

Savithri Wijesekera

Executive Director, Women in Need

Panelist

Savithri Wijesekera
Executive Director, Women in Need

An Attorney-at –Law by profession, Savithri is presently the Executive Director of Women in Need [ WIN], Sri Lanka – an organization working for the elimination of all forms of Violence against women and girls. Savithri passed out an Attorney- at -Law and practiced as a civil lawyer for few years. Savithri joined Women in Need in 1990 to help create a violence free society for women and girls of Sri Lanka. Today she has gained national repute as a campaigner to protect women and girls from violence and abuse. During her regime at WIN, the organization expanded to a fully recognized national organization providing all crisis intervention services required by a victim of violence. Savithri was a member of the External Gender Consultation Group of the World Bank for 3 years (2004-2006), meetings of which were held at the World Bank Head Quarters in Washington DC. She was also awarded the ‘Women of Excellence’ by SAARC Women Sri Lanka. A member of the National Committee of Women, Sri Lanka for 3 years appointed by his Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, also a member of the Commission set up by the Leader of the Opposition to Combat Violence against Women. A member of the Task Force appointed by the Prime Minister on Violence against Women in 2015, Savithri was awarded the International Award for Health and Dignity of Women in 2011 by Americans for UNFPA. Only two women were selected from around the world. She has been a member of the National Police Commission of Sri Lanka appointed by the President of Sri Lanka. She served as a Police Commissioner for 5 years.

Mateen Ahmed Shaheen

Representative a.i., UNFPA Sudan

Panelist

Mateen Ahmed Shaheen
Representative a.i., UNFPA Sudan

Over twenty years’ experience of working in public health out of which 10 years work in humanitarian situations and have successfully managed response operations in 5 countries. Extensive experience in planning and implementation of gender-based violence prevention and response, SRHR program in crisis countries, women capacity building programs. Advocacy for women empowerment and participation in decision making process as well as their role and leadership in mediation, peace negotiation and rebuilding societies. Promotion of triple nexus approach to achieve the objective of strengthening collaboration, coherence and complementarity between humanitarian, development and peace actors. Experience in setting priorities, planning & managing several public health projects/programs, including but not limited to reproductive health, HIV/AIDs & drug harm reduction. Experience in engaging with multiple national & international partners and successfully involving the private sector in different interventions Developed a number of strategies including health cluster response strategies in crises Special interest in humanitarian response interventions, where addressing the needs of the affected population, especially the needs of most vulnerable – women, children & the elderly – in an emergency scenario is a challenge.

Irene M. Santiago

Former chief executive officer, Mindanao Commission on Women

Panelist

Irene M. Santiago
Former chief executive officer, Mindanao Commission on Women

Irene Morada Santiago has enjoyed a career in peace and development spanning over 40 years in the Philippines, as well as internationally. She has been a negotiator, implementer, teacher and trainer, organizer, and thought leader. Ms. Santiago has the distinction of being the only woman in the world today who has been both a member of a peace negotiating panel and chair of the body implementing a major peace agreement. She was a member of the Philippine Government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from 2001-2004, and was the first chair of the panel implementing the Comprehensive Bangsamoro Peace Agreement. Ms. Santiago is well-known internationally as head of the secretariat of the historical NGO Forum on Women in China in 1995. As a parallel event to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, (the “Beijing Conference”), the NGO Forum was attended by 30,000 participants. It is considered the largest international conference on women in history. Prior to that, Ms. Santiago was the chief of the Asia/Pacific section of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in New York. As an NGO leader, she co-founded the Mindanao Commission on Women, an NGO composed of Moro, Christian and indigenous women leaders with the aim of influencing public policy and public opinion about women’s issues. She also founded the Mothers for Peace Movement and Women’s Peace Tables Worldwide to advance the significant role of women in women, peace and security. Currently, she is the Peace Adviser to the Mayor of Davao City, providing strategic direction to the local peacebuilding process called “Peace 911”. The program successfully stopped a 40-year violent conflict in Paquibato within nine months of operations by building local peace capacities. In 2018, she was named one of the two Main Rapporteurs of the 18 th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Human Rights and Preventing Violent Extremism. She is a member of the board of the Boston-based CDA Collaborative, the action research and advisory organization famous for developing the “Do No Harm” framework. She is also the lead convener of the global campaign on women, peace and security called “#WomenSeriously. Ms. Santiago has been a senior member of the faculty of the Rotary Peace Fellows Program at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok since 2006. Ms. Santiago was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 as one of the 1000 outstanding women peacemakers and peacebuilders in the world. In 2020, she was named as one of the 10 women in the world for the Inaugural Women Building Peace Award of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). She was also selected for the 2013 N-Peace Award as Role Model for Peace from the Philippines, an award that recognizes the leadership role of women and peace advocates from six conflict-affected countries in Asia. She has been given the Datu Bago Award, the highest honor bestowed by Davao City, on its citizens. She is an adopted
daughter of the Islamic City of Marawi and bestowed the title “Bae Romapenet” or Princess of Hope and Solidarity. Ms. Santiago holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University where she was a Fulbright/Smith-Mundt scholar. She graduated with a liberal arts degree from the Philippine Women’s College of Davao, summa cum laude.

Closing Session

Action Plan on “Action with Women and Peace” Initiative

Kim Eun-mee

President, Ewha Womans University

Closing Remarks

Ham Sang-wook

Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea