The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) and Mindanao State University (MSU)-Maguindanao signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda into the university’s academic curriculum.
The initiative makes MSU-Maguindanao the first academic institution in Southeast Asia to offer a diploma program in WPS, focusing on women’s participation in peacebuilding.
This move supports the government’s efforts to institutionalize the WPS agenda and amplify the voices of women in conflict resolution and security efforts.
“In forging this partnership, we are telling the world that peace is not a distant ideal — it is a daily practice,” OPAPRU Executive Director Susana Marcaida, who leads the Peace Sustainability Cluster and the WPS Center of Excellence, said.
“It begins with institutions that believe learning, research, and community engagement are as vital to peacebuilding as negotiation and policy,” she added.
The Diploma in Women, Peace, and Security program aligns with MSU-Maguindanao’s vision of becoming a National Peace University. The university has embedded women’s empowerment and peacebuilding into its four academic pillars: instruction, research, extension, and production.
The university’s chancellor, Bai Hejira Nefertiti Limbona, said the agreement reinforces the commitment to nurturing peace in and beyond the classroom.