The two-day Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development (SNAMMM) in Manila ended Thursday, March 18, with the successful adoption of the Manila Declaration on Peace and Development through Interfaith Dialogue and its Action Plan.

“It was discussed, confirmed, and ratified by the body,” SNAMMM chairman and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo announced in a press conference Thursday evening. “Now we have a landmark – the Manila Declaration.”

He said the Manila Declaration has incorporated the recommendations of the civil society, which is a first in the NAM.

“The Ministers and other Heads of Delegations from Member Countries of the Non-Aligned Movement met in the City of Manila on 17 and 18 March 2010 to address the existing, new and emerging challenges to the promotion of a culture of peace and development and reaffirm that the common fundamental values contained in the UN Millennium Declaration of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility are essential to international relations,” the Manila Declaration stated.

The nine-page Manila Declaration contains 27 paragraphs and programs of action on the active promotion of interfaith dialogue that would strengthen a culture of peace and development. The programs of action were divided into two parts consisting of activities and measures.

These measures include the establishment of women’s interfaith forums, youth networks, development and incorporation of “interfaith studies for peace and development” in the school curricula, establishment of centers for interfaith studies in universities, and training programs for media practitioners, among others.

‘The beauty of this meeting is that it brings to the fold the need to foster understanding, including migrants,” Romulo said, noting that the Manila Declaration hopes to strengthen safeguarding of migrant workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“It is the reality which we urge and each of the nations committed to observe and implement in their respective countries,” he said.

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, protection of migrants, 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).

Aimed to be used as a roadmap or a blueprint for peace, NAM-w National Organizing Committee Secretary General Rafael Seguis said the interfaith dialogue and cooperation is a soft approach to the peace process in Mindanao.

There are more than 120 delegates who attended the SNAMMM from 83 NAM member countries, with 50 countries sending Foreign Ministers and Deputy Ministers. There were also 12 observer countries, three observer organizations, 23 guest countries, and two guest organizations that participated in the SNAMMM.

The NAM, of which the Philippines is a member, is composed of 118 member states and represent two-thirds of the members of the United Nations.

Meanwhile, a foreign delegate to the SNAMMM died while another was hospitalized, a police official said.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said Dr. Consuelo Co, honorary consul of Namibia to the Philippines, died Wednesday night at the Makati Medical Center due to cardiac arrest.

Co was reported to have collapsed while having a dinner at the Reception Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

The other delegate who was taken to the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City was identified as Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi ZakZouk, minister of Al-Awqaf (Endowments) from Egypt.

“He (Zakzouk) is now in stable condition but otherwise (under) guarded condition,” said Espina. (With a report from Aaron B. Recuenco)