(SDN) — Bangsamoro Interior Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo is in the United States to participate in the United Nations-sponsored Climate, Peace and Security Experts Academy.
He arrived over the week in New York City, the Big Apple, on what he described “a backbreaking” 24 hours of flying time.
“The flight started morning of June 12, Monday, and concluded at around 8:50 a.m. this June 13 here in New York,” Sinarimbo, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), relates. MILG is one of the 15 primary governance organs of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Sinarimbo said in his meeting with Wignaraja they “discussed ur ongoing partnership and outline future collaborations in the Bangsamoro and the Philippines.”
He narrated that he brought Ms. Kanni last year to the Libungan Marsh, which is part of the sprawling Ligawasan Marsh, in Barangay Datu Mantil, Pigkawayan Cluster of the SGA (Special Geographic Area), to formally launch our joint project of Ice Block-making Facility.
“The facility has been helping fisherfolk in this village preserve their fish catch so it can fetch a better price in the market,” he points out.
Sinarimbo and Wignaraja agreed on the importance of the type of projects, while at the sae time acknowledging that it is “strategic to move towards a more comprehensive and integrated approach to peace building and development in the Bangsamoro that also addresses climate change vulnerabilities.”
A search on the web showed that the Academy is an initiative by the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) aimed at responding to the impact of climate change on peace and security (source: dppa.un.org).
The UN has described climate change as “the defining challenge of our time”, citing its interconnected consequences – intensified extreme weather, rising sea levels, food and water insecurity, biodiversity loss and heightened health risks – jeopardize human life, livelihoods and ecosystems and have an adverse impact on national, regional and global stability.” (/)