INTERVENTION. Johaira Wahab I Nisa UI Haqq Fl Bangsa More PHILIPPINES AGENDA ITEM # 6: National Practices and Experiences - Positive Measures/Affirmative Action and Role ModelS Thank you, Madame Chair. Today, we are not only in conversation with governments, we are also negotiating with cultures. In relation to Draft Recommendation no. 30, I would like to share the experience of Nisa UI Haqq Fi Bangsa More (NISA) in our campaign for the amendment of Presidential Decree no. 1083 or the Code of Muslim Personal Laws in the Philippines. NISA works with clear recognition that advocacy for women's rights in minorities treads not just law and policy but also the domain of minority cultures:Such discourse on cultures does not take place with governments, nor with majority communities. Rather most of it happens, among the members of the minority itself. We in NISA are all women from minority communities. We acknowledge the legitimacy of our cultural and religious identities, the dynamics of discourse and the structures of political and social influence. We acknowledge these realities, and we have been developing our campaign around them. In advocating for change, here are some of the strategies we found useful: 1. Targeted and focused advocacy: In the past 4 years, NISA has specifically targeted the issue of gender justice in the Muslim family as a way to advance