DSWD briefs UN on PHL gains in upholding women’s rights

The Philippines briefed the United Nations on the gains the Philippines had achieved in upholding women’s rights, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman led the Philippine delegation in briefing the 56th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women from Feb. 27 to March 9 in New York.

Soliman presented a Country Statement on the advancement of Filipino women, highlighted by the paper “CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) and Sustainable Social Enterprises: A Key to Rural Women’s Empowerment,” the DSWD said in a news release.

Also, she said the Philippines affirmed its continuing commitments to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) and the achievements of time-bound and measurable development goals and targets to promote gender equality through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Soliman expressed appreciation for the continuing attention given by the UN body to the advancement of rural women.

“Filipino rural women are major drivers of economic growth. They are in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors,” Soliman said.

Every year, representatives of UN member states assemble at the UN headquarters in New York to assess progress on the status of women.

They also identify challenges, and agree on priority actions to fill in gaps hindering the advancement of women’s rights worldwide.

For this year, the theme was “Empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

The DSWD said the theme was based on prior intergovernmental discussions and outcomes such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted for the formulation and implementation of policies and programs that support rural women’s role in agriculture and fisheries and natural resource management.

Poverty stats

The DSWD cited poverty statistics from its National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) showing that of 14.34 million women poor households, 10.4 million are in the rural areas.

Soliman said the Philippine government has comprehensive and holistic laws, policy strategies, programs and services at the forefront in addressing poverty and hunger to achieve inclusive growth for all sectors.

These include:

– Magna Carta of Women that makes closer to full realization the empowerment of women, access to opportunities and elimination of discrimination

– Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities that provides for educational opportunities, social services and other privileges for PWDs

– Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act that provides for the efficient mobilization of resources, gender-responsive and proactive responses to mitigate the socio-economic and environmental impact of disasters

– National Anti-Poverty Commission that ensures at least 30 percent representation of women in the 14 basic sectoral councils

– Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and Related Industries which creates a sex-disaggregated database of list of farmers, farm laborers and fishermen.

Convergence approach

The Philippine government also adopted the convergence approach, which harmonizes poverty reduction approaches and social protection programs.

With the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, government identifies who are poor and where they are, and optimizes the delivery of resources and services.

Under this approach, government agencies partner with private sector, academe and financial intermediaries to establish Climate Resilient Agricultural Communities.

On social protection, Soliman said the CCT gives extremely poor families social assistance through conditional cash grants to improve children’s health, nutrition and education.

To date, the program covers 2.3 million poor households, 82 percent of which are rural women.

“The convergence strategy emphasizes gender equality and aims to ensure the empowerment of women as a sustainability factor for the family and the community’s development,” she said.

Another integrative approach is the country’s Gender-Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women (GREAT Women) Project.

Meanwhile, Soliman said the impact of globalization, climate change and economic and financial crisis raised a need for better social protection, including labor opportunities, social security, social safety nets and social insurance services.

“With continued collaboration, coordination and communication, the international community should enable translation of commitments and responsibilities to more progressive action plans.  With focus on upholding women’s rights, we are confident that we can empower rural women to reach their full potential,” she said. — LBG, GMA News