SEC. YASMIN BUSRAN-LAO (Philippines)


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Lao, an AB Psychology Magna Cum Laude graduate from Far Eastern University, pursued higher education in Clinical Counselling Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University. She has also completed subjects on Islamic Studies and Muslim Personal Laws at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Mindanao State University respectively.

 

For two and a half decades now, Lao consistently engaged herself in the development of the full potential of women in various capacities as educator, researcher and development practitioner. To mainstream this brand of advocacy, she established resource centers that facilitate service delivery and other interventions together with non-government and government institutions. Hence, the Al-Mujadilah and Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro.

 

Her capacity to engage policymakers, humanitarian agencies and CSOs on both local and global level are demonstrated through her productive collaborations with Change Politics Movement, Human Development Network, Consortium on Bangsamoro Civil Society, among others.

 

Presently, she is the appointed Secretary of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos and an ex officio panel member in the Government Peace Negotiating Panel for Talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPNP-MILF). Lao’s knowledge on Islamic injunctions and principles contributed significantly in situating the Philippine government on the context of the Bangsamoro struggle. The Bangsamoro people’s long-standing aspiration is to exercise its inherent right to self-determination – reclaim political birthrights, and live their cultural and religious way of life free from institutional oppression.

 

In 2010, Lao bid for a senatorial seat in the national government. She never faltered in her pursuit for her advocacies for the underrepresented Muslim minorities and its women. She co-founded Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Women for Truth and Justice in the Bangsamoro), a network of Muslim women leaders advocating for women’s rights in the context of Islam and culture. The organization conducts intensive research on the lived realities of women in the ground, and studies the basic teachings of the Qurán and human rights principles as a basis for policy-making. She then co-authored “Women in Islam: A Gender Sensitivity Training Manual” published in PILIPINA and Al Mujadilah publication in 1999. As a research team member of the Socio-Economic Research Center in Notre Dame University in 1996, Lao also did case studies in “Gender Situational Analysis of Maranao, Maguindanao, and Tausug in some Selected Communities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

 

Know more about her:

The Muslim 500, http://themuslim500.com/profile/yasmin-busran-lao

 

GPH-MILF Peace Deal: Groundwork Begins, http://www.rappler.com/video/talkthursday/49529-gph-milf-peace-deal-groundwork-begins-ferrer-lao-bacani

 

Statement on the Turnover of the Proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress, http://www.opapp.gov.ph/resources/statement-ncmf-secretary-yasmin-busran-lao-turnover-proposed-bbl-congress

(Please see attached)

 

Philippines Seeks ties with Qatar on Education,

http://qatar-tribune.com/viewnews.aspx?n=FF45F12B-6899-40E2-B458-91CDC909EA1F&d=20151010#.VhjEL2g-XJc.facebook

 

The Visit of Honorable Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao to Zamboecozone,

http://zfa.gov.ph/index.php/news/10-news/98-the-visit-of-honorable-secretary-yasmin-busran-lao-to-zamboecozone.html

 

Reactor in a public forum, “GRP-Moro Conflict: Is there an end in sight? Human Security and Human Development Revisited”. Uploaded 29 September 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbzI2_7pO4s