Starting Point
Dr. Jasmin Nario-Galace authored and co-authored works on peace education, conflict resolution, arms control, and women's roles in peace and security. She currently serves as the President of Pax Christi Pilipinas and chairs the Justice and Peace Education Committee of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines. Furthermore, she is a board member of the Philippine Council for Global Peace Education and leads the Peace Education Network.
Dr. Galace teaches and advocates peace. She actively lobbies for arms control and nuclear disarmament, presents her views at the United Nations to promote diplomatic negotiations, and collaborates with numerous organisations to support women's rights and combat gender-based violence. Driven by her faith and compassion for the marginalised, she works tirelessly to create meaningful change through her peacebuilding efforts.
Peace Journey
Dr. Grace is nationally acknowledged as a figure in peace education. As an officer of the Centre of Peace Education (CPE) and Sulong CARHRIL, she led non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in developing the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security in the Philippines to enhance women’s roles in conflict decision-making. She co-organised consultations from Kalinga to Marawi, co-wrote the plan, and secured its adoption as a government executive order. With CPE and Pax Christi-Pilipinas, she supported the peace process. She worked with the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) toward a peace agreement that grants greater autonomy to the Moros. She lobbied for an engendered Bangsamoro Basic Law to ensure women’s participation in governance.
She has also demonstrated her proficiency in peacebuilding on the international stage, holding various roles. At the UN level, she coordinates with the Civil Society Organisation Group for the Preparatory Committee in formulating the Philippines’ National Action Plan (NAP) on the UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820, enhancing women’s roles in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. She is co-convener and former National Coordinator of Women Engaged in Action on 1325 (WE Act 1325) for NAP implementation and co-convener of #womeninspiringwomen, advocating for women’s contributions to peace. She assisted the government and the UN in developing a National Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism, leading workshops that addressed radicalisation. She also serves on the Board of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and represents coalitions like the Control Arms Coalition and UNDP’s N-PEACE.
She is a member of the International Advisory Council for the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and a coordinator of the IANSA Women’s Network. In this organisation, she has worked with civil society to promote an Arms Trade Treaty to curb the trade in weapons related to gender-based violence and human rights violations. Additionally, she is a member of the Global Funding Board of the Global Acceleration Instrument for Women, Peace, and Security. She also advocated for the Treaty Prohibiting nuclear weapons with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), contributing to ICAN’s 2017 Nobel Peace Prize win.
Success Stories
She takes pride in seeing former students engage in peace initiatives and advocate for human rights legislation. She believes that the impact of her work should be evident in students mediating conflicts, participating in public actions, and supporting conflict-affected communities; this illustrates the rationale behind schools establishing Centres for Peace Education and integrating peace into their curricula.