Starting Point
Ms. Yasmin Busran-Lao, a Maranao, founded the Al-Mujadillah Development Foundation, a women's group based in Marawi City. She graduated magna cum laude with a Degree in AB Psychology from Far Eastern University and pursued further studies in Clinical Counselling Psychology at Ateneo de Manila University. Furthermore, she has completed Islamic Studies and Muslim Personal Laws courses at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Mindanao State University.
With over 25 years of experience, she has dedicated her career to empowering women as educators, researchers, and development practitioners. She established resource centres to enhance service delivery and interventions, collaborating with government and non-government organisations.
Peace Journey
Ms. Busran-Lao has effectively engaged policymakers, humanitarian agencies, and civil society organisations locally and globally. She has collaborated with the Change Politics Movement, Human Development Network, and the Consortium on Bangsamoro Civil Society, among others.
She served as the Secretary of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos and is an ex officio panel member of the Government Peace Negotiating Panel for Talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPNP-MILF). Her understanding of Islamic principles has helped contextualise the Philippine government’s approach to the Bangsamoro struggle.
Success Stories
Ms. Busran-Lao persistently championed the rights of marginalised Muslim minorities, especially women. Among her notable projects are the Al-Mujadillah and Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro. She co-established Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Women for Truth and Justice in the Bangsamoro), a network of female Muslim leaders advocating for women's rights within Islamic and cultural contexts. The organisation performs extensive research on women's real-life challenges and analyses the teachings of the Qur'an alongside human rights principles to inform policy-making.
In 1999, Lao also co-authored “Women in Islam: A Gender Sensitivity Training Manual." Additionally, as part of the Socio-Economic Research Centre at Notre Dame University in 1996, she investigated gender issues through case studies involving the Maranao, Maguindanao, and Tausug communities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
She received the 2005 Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Fellowship Award in recognition of her commitment to public service.