WELD

Asnairah Tahir with other women leaders learn Qur’an teachings together in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. (Photo: Princess Taroza/Oxfam)

Agents for Peace and Development in BARMM

Asnairah Tahir has been a bakwit (internally displaced person) all her life. She is a resident of Mamasapano, Maguindanao, one of the battlegrounds in the Philippines between government forces and armed groups, and even for rivalry among family clans called rido.

Melan Sayutin, Sigay Nu Babay organization president, conducts a weekly meeting with fellow women in Sitio Gadong, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao. (Photo: Princess Taroza/Oxfam)

Women Advocating Women and Peace

When the 2008 conflict between Armed Forces of the Philippines and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters broke out, Melan's family and other hundred families were forced to evacuate to a safer place in Datu Odin Sinsuat.