NCRFW-LGU celebrate 2008 Women’s Month

The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), the government’s machinery for the advancement of women, brings the 2008 celebration of Women’s Month to the local government units to push for financing initiatives for women’s empowerment and gender equality especially in marginalized sectors.

The 2008 LGU Women’s Day Celebration with the theme “CEDAW ng Bayan: Yaman ng Kababaihan” will be hosted by the Provincial Government of Batangas headed by Governor Vilma Santos Recto on March 13, 2008 at the Provincial Capitol in Batangas City.

According to NCRFW Chairperson Myrna T. Yao, bringing the Women’s Month celebration to the local level will reach a wider portion of women that must benefit from the gender and development (GAD) budget allocation of local governments.

Chair Yao noted that the NCRFW, as an oversight agency, is mandated to promote policies, programs and projects that will address the issues of women and uplift their status in Philippine society through gender mainstreaming.

“Gender mainstreaming aims to transform society and its institutions so they could work for women’s empowerment and gender equality. It makes women’s and men’s concerns and experiences an integral part of the design, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs of government for women in all sectors of society,” Chair Yao said.

LGUs are encouraged to intensify efforts in implementing programs, projects and activities toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are likewise expected to increase their budgetary allocations for basic social services responsive to MDGs.

“The NCRFW has concretely promoted gender-responsive governance by putting gender concerns in the development agenda of the Philippine government. It has initiated measures and mechanisms to ensure that development plans consider the differential impacts of policies and programs to women and men thus are gender-responsive. Aside from influencing development plans, the NCRFW also promotes mobilization of resources for gender and development initiatives,” she added.

As part of the MDGs, LGUs must accomplish its goal to eliminate gender disparity in education by 2015. Local governments should also provide livelihood for marginalized women, establish Women’s Desk, conduct livelihood and vocational training activities for women, and fully implement and enforce laws on violence against women and children (VAWC).

LGUs are expected to uphold women’s and men’s equal access to training and employment opportunities, and ensure participation of women in local special bodies (LSBs) to promote gender equality.

Comprehensive economic projects seek to involve women from the planning to the implementation stage, and that should be the considered by government agencies and LGUs in mapping their own GAD plans and budgets,” Chair Yao emphasized.