Citizen Security – the Role of NGOs and Broader Civil Society in Ceasefire Monitoring: Lessons from Mindanao

Abstract

This article examines the role of NGOs and broader civil society in laying the ground for sustainable peace and development by maintaining and promoting early security and stability through the monitoring of ceasefire agreements. Central activities include preventing protagonists from engaging in violence, monitoring the peace process, documenting violations and promoting dialogue. The article draws lessons from an analysis of the ‘Bantay Ceasefire’ (Ceasefire Watch), a closely networked grassroots movement of NGO and other civil society actors which was formed to establish community security through monitoring a ceasefire agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. The article adds to the growing literature on the strategic role of NGOs and wider civil society in enabling citizen security as the missing link at the nexus of peace, security and development.