Rufa Cagoco-Guiam

Rufa Cagoco-Guiam is a peace and conflict impacts specialist with expertise in the Mindanao conflict and peace process and how they have impacted marginalized women. Ms. Guiam is director of the Center for Peace and Development Studies at Mindanao State University-General Santos City, a position she has held since 2001. In addition to her academic work, Ms. Guiam has evaluated USAID projects in Mindanao from 2000 to 2007 for Management Systems International in Washington, DC; assessed the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement for the UN Development Programme in Manila, with the Institute of Autonomy and Governance in Cotabato City; and consulted for the UNDP-Manila on a variety of issues, including, most recently, the gender impact of Mindanao’s post-conflict transition. Ms. Guiam has been associate professor at MSU-GSC since 1997 and has concurrently been director of the Research and Development Center (1997 to 2001) and coordinator of the graduate program in public administration (1998 to 2001). Prior to joining Mindanao State University, Ms. Guiam was a dean and instructor at Notre Dame University in Cotabato City. From 1991 to 1995, she was editor-in-chief of The Mindanao Cross, a community newspaper. She was a visiting research fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University (2006-2007) and is currently a Senior Asian Public Intellectual fellow of the Nippon Foundation (2008-2009). She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in education from the Divine Word College of Tagbilaran City and a master’s degree in anthropology from Silliman University. She has also completed additional advanced studies in anthropology at the University of Hawaii.