CFO chief: OFW gender concerns should be part of development plans

Saying that the needs of women OFWs and of their families have often been “overlooked” in government programs, the head of the Commission of Filipinos Overseas has called for mainstreaming gender concerns in the national and local development plans.

In a speech delivered at the preparatory Asia Pacific meeting on gender and development in Thailand, CFO Secretary Imelda Nicolas also reminded the participants of the call to action of the 2008 Manila Conference, particularly those that aim to address the impact of international migration on women, children and their families.

“It is really important that this preparatory meeting take stock of other international conferences on gender and migration,” she said.

She noted that as of December 2011 OFW stock estimate of 10.46 million, women have far outnumbered the men migrant workers, a phenomenon that has created an impact on children and their families.

Citing a study by the Scalabrinian missionaries, Nicolas said that with the feminization of Philippine migration, care giving in OFW families has deteriorated, affecting the psycho-social growth of children.

She said that some of the Manila Call to Action that are “often overlooked” by governments are the establishment of sex-disaggregated databases on migration for more focused intervention; the provision for family reunification and protection for the rights of children; and psyco-social support for the OFW family.

Also, she said there is a need for the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, along with labor-sending and-labor-receiving countries to “strengthen monitoring on the situation of migrants and gender analysis of migration trends and include these in State reports to relevant UN and ILO treaty bodies.”

Moreover, she said governments and international institutions on migration should also give access to ‘psycho-social’ support programs for children of absent parents.

There should also be “measures to increase capacity of fathers to engage effectively in domestic work and child care when the mothers go for jobs abroad.” — LBG, GMA News