Peace negotiator Coronel-Ferrer receives Clinton Award

Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (center) presents the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security to Dr. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer (left), the Philippine government's chief negotiator in the Mindanao peace talks, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC on Wednesday. Photo by Win McNamee, Getty Images/AFP

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer received the 2015 Hilary Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security on Wednesday at a luncheon ceremony held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Ferrer, the Philippines' chief negotiator in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), received the award for her "indefatigable work to bring about peace in the Philippines and for [her] historic role as the first female chief negotiator to sign a comprehensive peace agreement," said Ambassador Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and former US Ambassador for Global Women's Issues.

"It is a great honor not only for me but also for the Philippines to receive this award," Ferrer wrote in an e-mail. "It reflects the wisdom in the path to a negotiated political solution that we have forged in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro."

According to Ferrer, the award acknowledges the role that women must play in attaining peace and security in their communities and in the world.

"I speak especially of the women in the Bangsamoro, who have endured the burden of strife, and who must now secure their places in the public sphere as equal partners in peace and development," she said.

Ferrer is sharing the 2015 Clinton Award with Ambassador Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy to the Syria Crisis.

De Mistura was appointed in July 2014 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

Ferrer, a professor of politics at the University of the Philippines, has also been a visiting professor in several Asian universities.

As chair of the government peace panel, Ferrer oversees the different mechanisms that have been established to implement the agreement.