When I landed in the Philippines in April 2014 to begin my assignment as an Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeper, I anticipated conflict resolution work, community dialogues, and security briefings. I had been assigned to Pikit Municipality in North Cotabato, Mindanao, a region known more for the Moro (Muslim) fight for autonomy and self-rule. But no one had prepared me for the cultural shock I was about to experience, not in the context of conflict, but in the context of identity. Our office was right in the heart of Pikit, close to the main market and the municipal offices. We were living in the community, surrounded by friendly locals, small kiosks, and tagalog dialects. As a black man in a mostly Filipino community, I stood out like a billboard in a rice field. Children would wave, strangers would stare, others would ask for a photo, girls would ask if I had a girlfriend, and curiosity followed me everywhere. One morning, I walked to a nearby kiosk to buy airtime for m...
Unarmed civilian peacekeeping plays a vital role in conflict zones. Most international peacekeepers engaged in this type of work are deployed in countries other than their own. That means they shed light on what’s happening locally. Their presence allows the world to see what’s happening in places affected by conflict through the eyes of someone who isn’t directly involved. This is what makes unarmed civilian peacekeeping so important. These peacekeepers are independent. They engage impartially with government, civil society, and armed groups. They monitor, listen, and report what they see in an honest and balanced manner. Because of that, all the parties know someone is watching. And that alone can act as a kind of deterrence, like a silent warning. No one wants to be seen as the one violating people’s rights or breaking peace agreements. So, even if it doesn’t completely stop the violence, it makes actors involved in conflict think twice. But for this work to succeed, both sides ...