Unicef, MILF ink agreement on ‘Days of Peace’ campaign

SHARIFF KABUNSUAN – In what they described as a "historic event," Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and UNICEF country representative Dr. Nicholas Alipui signed a communiqué the other day to jointly deliver basic services to armed conflict-affected communities in Mindanao during the designated "Days of Peace."

The MILF pledged to "provide access and guarantee security" for the service delivery teams.

Commencing today, the Days of Peace campaign will provide immunization, micronutrient supplementation, deworming and breastfeeding counseling in some 500 communities formerly inaccessible due to armed conflicts.

Two more rounds of Days of Peace will take place in June and July and in October, when additional basic services will be provided, such as birth registration, malaria control, and educational supplies, among others.

Dr. Abbas Candao, executive director of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), the MILF agency mandated to carry out humanitarian, rehabilitation and development programs in conflict-affected areas, committed to "support the program with all (our) resources."

According to UNICEF, this is the first time that MILF mobilized its entire organization to work with UNICEF to bring basic social services to the most remote and disadvantaged communities.

Alipui quoted Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of Children’s Defense Fund, as saying, "If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much."

"For us, all children everywhere have the same rights all the time. As we stand up for children, we should be guided by this common ground," he said.

The Days of Peace will reach:

• 30,000 infants with immunization against preventable diseases;

• More than 150,000 children with deworming medicine and vitamin A supplements; and

• 16,500 pregnant mothers with tetanus toxoid vaccination.

Also involved in the campaign are the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Department of Health, the international monitoring team, Joint Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities, local government units, and civil society organizations.

"We look forward with great anticipation to the incremental service that this rolling campaign will bring as we attempt to restore full basic social services and infrastructure in conflict-affected areas," Alipui said.

The Days of Peace "will undoubtedly contribute to the search for genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao," said Ebrahim.

"We would like to see the campaign implemented as a component and tied up to the ongoing peace process between the MILF and the government," he said. "We would like our people to accept the program as among the fruits of the ongoing peace process."

"Genuine peace is not only the silencing of the gun but most importantly, the absence of all forms of injustices, oppression and exploitation and at the same time, the upholding of mutual respect for each and everyone’s honor, dignity and belief," he added.