The Role of Muslim Women in Building Community ResiliencyEdit this page

The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) organized a Two-Day Planning Workshop titled “The Role of Muslim Women in Building Community Resiliency” held on August 11-12, 2018, at the Microtel by Wyndham, UP Technohub. The event brought together women who are religious teachers (Madrasah) of the Noorus Salam (Light of Peace), as well as women from civil society and government.  The participants discussed and agreed on local action plans that will be used in strengthening their role in peace building and in the prevention of violent extremism (PVE), as well as in campaigning for the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The 2-day workshop was attended by more than 30 Moro women from different parts of the country, Marawi City (3), Zamboanga City (2), Basilan (2), Tawi -Tawi (2), Maguindanao (1), and National Capital Region (NCR), specifically Manila (7), Taguig (2), Marikina (1), and Quezon City (9). The workshop was also attended by four (4) Imams, one (1) representative from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), and two (2) representatives from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The workshop began with the introduction of the participants and a briefing of the highlights of the BOL. Updates and situational analyses from the different Muslim communities was presented by Moro women leaders to inform attendees about the challenges that they face in their respective areas and initiatives that they have undertaken so far.

A series of breakout sessions was conducted in the afternoon to gather inputs regarding the role of women in PVE and in campaigning for the BOL. All the participants called for a national summit to be held as soon as possible in order for Bangsamoro women to be able to help support the BOL.

The most common problem/challenge seen in the role of women in peace-building and PVE is the lack of information and knowledge regarding violent extremism. The proposed action plans are to educate and empower women to combat VE through their role as mothers, as well as conducting consultations and dialogues. Additionally, a strong media presence, together with a centralized “printing press” or messaging platform is encouraged as well.

For the role of women in the BOL campaign and information drive, lack of information was cited by all three (3) groups. The proposed action plans are to intensify social media campaigns, conduct training of trainers for information dissemination, encourage women to participate in the plebiscite as poll-watchers or “bantay-balota”, incorporate Islamic education with voter’s education, as well as conduct FGDs and symposiums.

The workshop made use of the Action for Madrasah-based Advocacy and Learning (AMAL) 8-point framework to identify key issues for each thematic area and make recommendations that will be used as basis for the national action plan to be developed in the upcoming women’s summit in October.

A separate breakout session resulted in the formulation of strategies and action plans for the AMAL 8-point framework. These are the recommendations that the participants have come up with for each thematic area.

Environment

On environment, it was recommended that the Fatwa materials incorporate the Islamic concept of ‘Khalifa’ to be printed and reproduced. Localization of laws, especially at the school and families, as well as incorporating backyard gardening as mothers was also suggested. For the summit proper planning, it was suggested that there should be a presentation of the ‘best practices’ at the Barangay Level, to be given by Kagawad Ameerah Ibrahim.

Governance 

For governance, the main action point is to encourage women to participate in the plebiscite and in the transition to BARMM. Another recommendation is to incorporate e-governance, by using social media platforms to promote good governance, use of “hashtags”, and responsible use of WiFi connection.

Literacy and Education

For literacy and education, the main strategies include promoting basic education for children with a gender-sensitive, safe and motivating environment, as well as regulating Madrasah and not controlling it. In the same vein, learning how to evaluate effectiveness and the impact of Madrasah is also recommended, as well as identifying the positive achievements along with the gaps and weaknesses, and identifying challenges for improvement and expansion of Madrasah. A functional literacy program for illiterate mothers is also recommended.

Values Formation

Identifying the values to be taught, such as tolerance, acceptance, inclusiveness, understanding, love, forgiveness, compassion, and transparency is of utmost importance. The strategies to spread said values include pre-marriage counseling, developing an enhanced module and pretesting it at the grassroots levels, and defining values formation of teachers, administrators in Madrasah, through various training programs.  

Peace

The speaker started the presentation with firstly establishing that peace should be incorporated with other agendas. The strategies for the peace agenda include simplifying and translating the Islamic Peace Education book of PCID to be taught in the Madrasah, and establishing NS as a messenger of peace. The recommended modules in the peace book are the following: understanding rights and responsibilities, understanding justice, understanding conflict and violence, understanding leadership in Islam, which can be incorporated with the good governance agenda.

Economic Empowerment

The group identified the obstacles that Muslim women face in holding capital and having successful businesses, such as lack of access to capital, high interest rates, corruption, and general lack of knowledge and information dissemination regarding business and microfinancing. The proposed action points to address these hindrances include identifying sources of capital, conducting trainings for entrepreneurship/businesses, partnering with local government unit (LGUs) and relevant government agencies, as well as creating a visually appealing manual on how to run businesses. In addition, replicating successful programs was also suggested, using the example of “bigasan sa Zamboanga” program. The group also noted that NS sources their own funding from member contributions and venue rental. For monitoring, the group mentioned that the NS women screen potential members, that these members should be “god-fearing” and that only a limited number of NS members can be tasked to handle business/finance programs. Regular reports will also be produced to ensure transparency.

Health 

The group reiterated the need for educating the community on Reproductive Health (RH), in line with responsible parenthood and family planning, gender equality, and safe natural methods. Proper nutrition, along with breastfeeding, adolescent reproductive health, vaccination and immunization, morbidity and mortality cases, and food safety, was also brought up. The group emphasized the principle of “prevention is better than cure” when it comes to health. In addition, the group also called for the need to address Mental Health issues, and to conduct trainings for skills development to help people with mental health issues. Popularization of the ARMM GAD law was also suggested, along with strengthening the counseling services for Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC), and elevating the role of women in Disaster Risk-Reduction Management (DRRM). 

Human Rights 

The group mentioned about using the CHR-PCID Partnership Book titled, “The Aleemat Module: Human Rights based approach to Community Empowerment” which they will use to educate their students on human rights especially on women and children’s rights and equip the community with full knowledge of their economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR).

In conclusion, the workshop emphasized the unique role of the women in PVE and in the BOL campaign. It also underscored the dual responsibility of women not only as mothers, but also as leaders in the community.