00:00I'm pleased to announce that on October 28, the first day of this first-ever international
00:12conference on Women, Peace, and Security, in a meeting chaired by the Philippines, ministers
00:17and representatives from over 70 UN member states adopted by consensus the PASAY Declaration
00:25on Women, Peace, and Security.
00:28This declaration represents a powerful and unified commitment to advancing the Women,
00:34Peace, and Security agenda in our time, reaffirming the principles of the UNSC Resolution 1325
00:43and its related international frameworks.
00:46The PASAY Declaration serves as a guiding framework rooted in international instruments
00:52such as the Beijing Declaration, the CEDAW, or the Committee on Discrimination Against
00:59Women, and the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
01:04It underscores that gender equality and women's empowerment are not only fundamental rights
01:11or human rights, but are essential to achieving sustainable peace and development.
01:16The declaration highlights several crucial dimensions, including the increasingly urgent
01:23nexus between climate, peace, and security.
01:26It calls upon member states to address these intersecting challenges by integrating gender-responsive
01:33approaches to climate action, ensuring sustainable funding, and promoting women's leadership
01:40in climate resilience and disaster risk reduction.
01:44Fellow public servants, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
01:47Isang maganda at magbaya pangarap po sa ating lahat.
01:49Thank you for joining our first conference as we close this international conference
01:54on Women, Peace, and Security today.
01:57The past three days have been very productive, from high-level meetings to roundtable discussions
02:02and to thematic discussions.
02:04All of these gatherings gave us an opportunity to share our insights, recommendations, and
02:09best practices on how we best advance the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.
02:16Among our major highlights of this conference is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
02:21on the Center of Excellence on Women, Peace, and Security between the PAPRU and the U.S.
02:27State Department Office of Women and Global Issues.
02:32The MOU will pave the way for the establishment of a Center of Excellence on Women, Peace,
02:36and Security in the Philippines, and it is noteworthy that our country is just the fourth
02:41nation in the world that will have this kind of center with the support of the U.S. Department
02:47and Georgetown University.
02:49With the Philippines having its own WPS Center of Excellence, our country is ambitious to
02:55become a regional hub for Southeast Asia in promoting the advancement of the WPS Agenda
03:00in the region.
03:02We envision to carry out, through the local and national policy engagement, standardizing
03:07approaches for national action plan development and bridging gaps in the implementation of
03:12WPS initiative.
03:14On behalf of the Philippine Women, Peace, and Security, and my fellow members of the
03:19panel, this international conference on Women, Peace, and Security brought to fore a highly
03:27alarming snapshot of the threats experienced by a huge number of people as a result of
03:34armed conflicts around the world.
03:37Situations in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, Somalia,
03:45and Gaza are only a few of the countries mentioned by esteemed delegates as a matter of concern
03:51requiring international attention.
03:54The United Nations reveals that as of June 2023, 100 million people worldwide have been
04:01forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations.
04:08This situation gives rise to unprecedented humanitarian situations characterized by uncertainty,
04:15economic deprivation, statelessness, and other threats to human security.
04:20Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to conclude this historic conference today, and for the
04:37past three days, we heard the voices from our community of nations and international
04:42and civil society organizations, what the Women, Peace, and Security agenda means to
04:47them and reaffirm their commitments moving forward.
04:50We have witnessed critical discussions on the role of women in peace processes, the
04:55WPS National Action Plan, the importance of financing and legislation, partnership building
05:01and addressing concerns on climate, peace, security, and digitalization.
05:07Throughout our discussions, one of the most salient best practices highlighted was the
05:13importance of inclusive participation.
05:16We have seen firsthand the transformative impact of integrating women's voices at all
05:22levels of decision-making.
05:24A privilege to join Secretary Manalo, Secretary Daldas, and Secretary Pangandaman in this
05:31very important forum of the press briefing.
05:37Certainly, we would like also to take this opportunity to thank the Department of Foreign
05:46Affairs, OPAPRU, and also the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy for joining us in
05:54these collaborations, and we are so proud in supporting the international conference
06:00on WPS.
06:03And we would like also to take this opportunity to congratulate the conference for adopting
06:11the PASE declaration.
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