The Philippines will be pushing for the adoption of the Manila Declaration on Peace and Development through Interfaith Dialogue and its Action Plan in the upcoming Special Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development [SNAMMM], which will be hosted by the country next week.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leslie Gatan said that the adoption of the Manila Declaration on Peace and Development through Interfaith Dialogue and its Action Plan will be one of the main goals of the SNAMMM to be held from March 16 to 18 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila.

“It’s one of a kind. We hope the Manila Declaration will be a blueprint, a roadmap for peace,” Gatan said.

The Manila Declaration on Peace and Development through Interfaith Dialogue and its Action Plan is a document that is aimed for adoption during the SNAMMM next week. Once the Manila Declaration is adopted, it will become a compendium of principles that will be submitted to the United Nations for endorsement.

The Manila Declaration on Peace and Development through Interfaith Dialogue and its Action Plan will contain practical measures that can be adopted by NAM member countries such as education, values formation, and training on building interfaith partnerships and a culture of peace, sensitizing media, exchange of best practices, enhancing the role of women in interfaith initiatives, and support for national, regional, and global interfaith endeavors that advance United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs).

“It will become universalized and an important document of the international community,” Gatan said.

“NAM is mostly made of developing countries. We in the developing world, through NAM, [will be able to] speak of lasting peace in our countries and accelerate development,” he said, adding that it will have a social approach rather than a political approach.

NAM-National Organizing Committee
(NOC) Secretary General Rafael Seguis said it is also a “soft approach” to achieving peace in Mindanao. Seguis is DFA’s Undersecretary for Special Concerns as well as the Philippines government’s peace panel chair in its peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“We hope to achieve the further promotion of interfaith dialogue, peace and development, mutual respect and tolerance, understanding, a world of diversity, banish discord, and share unique experiences in interfaith cooperation to strengthen our leadership in this emerging field of diplomacy,” Seguis said.

He added that during the SNAMMM, the Philippines will push for a NAM Center of Excellence (COE) for inter-dialogue cooperation, particularly on interfaith portal.