The first woman to finalize a peace agreement visits UI

Students at the Faculty of Political Science had a unique opportunity to discuss matters of war and peace when the Filipino negotiatior and mediator, Miriam Coronel Ferrer, visited the class Peace, Security, and Mediation. Ferrer, who is in Iceland to speak at the Höfði – Reykjavík Peace Centre‘s Imagine Forum on October 10th, was the first woman to finalize and sign a peace agreement, but she led the government panel that negotiated and signed the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines.

Since then, Ferrer has been researching negotiations and has provided mediation support through the UN in Afghanistan, Georgia, Iraq and the Maldives. Ferrer shared her experiences of negotiations with student and emphasized the importance of recognizing legitimate grievances of the disputing parties so that a fair agreement, serving both parties‘ interests, could be reached. 

In the course, which is organized by Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, professor of International Affairs in the Faculty of Political Science, and co-taught by Dylan Herrera, PhD student, and Erlingur Erlingsson, a military historian, students explore how conflicts start, how peace is mediated and maintained. The course was deliberately designed to enable students to engage with the many conflicts now raging in the world and is available for third year undergraduate students in political science and master‘s students in international affairs. 

Ferrrer will be participating in The Imagine Forum: Fostering Dialogue for Peace which will take place in Iðnó between 10 am and 5 pm on 10 October. The annual forum is hosted by Höfði Reykjavik Peace Centre, in collaboration with the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The forum will be live-streamed.