Philippines

The Philippines Government has adopted a national plan for Gender-Responsive Development. Gender budgets have been used, and government departments are formally required to show how they are eliminating gender bias. The democratically elected government has enacted measures to protect the rights of women as workers, as property owners, and as family members.

Obstacles still exist, however: the progressive laws are not always enforced, and despite the existence of equality under the law, women still suffer discrimination in many areas. The Committee was also concerned about the exploitation of women in the context of economic vulnerability, highlighting rural to urban and inter country migration, with particular attention on prostitution and trafficking. It noted the deficiencies in the legal system with respect to violence against women, especially domestic violence and incest. It urged the Government to adopt a top-priority policy of creating safe and protected jobs for women as a viable economic alternative to the current unemployment of women and their participation as subcontractors and, in the informal sector, as workers in free-trade zones, as prostitutes or as overseas contract workers. Low representation of women in politics, particularly in the top levels of Government and the judiciary was also stressed

Essential areas for improvement include the analysis of the impact of government programmes and policies on women; more factual information and statistical data and the creation of monitoring mechanisms and indicators. Programme focus will encompass these areas as an opportunity to make real progress. The analysis will build on the existing baseline to focus on how CEDAW can offer new ways forward. Building on the CEDAW Committee’s concerns, capacity building will be offered to government agencies involved with monitoring the government’s programmes and policies for the advancement of women. Indicators for progress may be developed through partnerships between NGOs and government agencies.

With a sophisticated set of NGOs working to advance women’s rights, programme activities aim to extend and deepen the connections between domestic and international advocacy strategies. The women’s movement in the Philippines has achieved significant gains under domestic law, but it has not embraced CEDAW in a systematic way. Programme activities in the Philippines will therefore be focused on highlighting the ways in which CEDAW implementation can enable women’s organisations to achieve the goals that have thus far been elusive.

Launch of the UN Joint Programme on the Implementation
Of the CEDAW Concluding Comments in the Philippines
Manila, 28 May 2007

Five UN agencies (UNIFEM, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT) are pooling together resources for a UN Joint Programme to Facilitate the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Comments,2007-2009. Developed as a follow-up to the State report that the government of the Philippines made to the CEDAW Committee in August 2006, this unique undertaking for East and Southeast Asia will be launched at a ceremony in Manila on 28 May 2007.

The UN Joint Programme aims to support the government in fulfilling its obligation to implement CEDAW, the civil society groups in monitoring government action and help disadvantaged women claim their rights. The main components involve advocacy for the application of the Convention in the national legal system, capacity building among national government agencies and civil society partners to address the priority areas of women’s human rights, including concerns of indigenous, Muslim and rural women.

Moreover, the UN Joint Programme will support policy-oriented research, legislative advocacy, capacity building of state organs and civil society partners at national and local levels. The UN Country Team will mobilise resources from donor agencies. UNIFEM has been designated to manage this Joint Programme on behalf of the five UN agencies supporting this initiative.

25th Anniversary Of CEDAW

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In celebration of this occasion, several women’s and international organizations are staging a concert titled EVE-OLUTION (Celebrating Women) on September 12, 2006, 6:30pm at the UP Theater, University of the Philippines Campus, Diliman, Quezon City. The proceeds of the concert will be donated to survivors of violence against women and women living with HIV.

The primary organizers of the concert are:

• CEDAW Watch Network – composed of organizations and women advocates from the academic, legal and service professions, as well as women leaders in governmental, non-governmental and international development fields

• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) CEDAW South East Asia Progamme

• Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS)

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

• Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) – Miriam College

• UP Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, Inc. (UCWS).

• *Summary Courtesy of Philippines National Coordinators

NGO Regional Training and Advocacy Programme on CEDAW

This activity set out to boost awareness on CEDAW amongst the participant women’s groups and NGO’s as well as equip them with sufficient knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of Shadow Reporting and the Optional Protocol that would be their responsibility henceforth. The activity also includes Shadow Reporting guidelines

The exercise built up upon the foundations of the National CEDAW training organised by Women Legal Bureau (WLB) in collaboration with The International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW) in October 2005.

Regional Trainings were conducted in April 2006, eliciting the participation of 30 persons from various women’s groups in Mindanao and 31 persons in Visayas.  

CEDAW, Beijing, and MDG Fora Goes Around the Philippine Islands
May 31, June 15 and 30, 2005

The UNIFEM CEDAW SEAP Program continued its series of public advocacy fora on CEDAW, Beijing+10 and the Millennium Declaration and MDGs in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao island regions of the Philippines.

In cooperation with the World Bank – Knowledge Development Centers, three regional workshops were held in Dumaguete City in Central Visayas on May 31, 2005; in Cotabato City in Central Mindanao on June 15, 2005; and in Tuguegarao City, Northern Luzon on June 30, 2005. Each workshop had at least 70 participants coming from civil society organizations, academe, local governments and national government agencies. In all workshops, only 30 % of the participants had experienced some gender trainings, only 20 % were familiar with the Beijing Platform of Action (BPFA) and the MDG, and 5 % had heard of CEDAW. For majority of the participants, it was their first time to get a full orientation on CEDAW and its links with the BPFA and the MDG. They wished that CEDAW could expedite gender-responsive services for women in terms of health and livelihood programs, justice for Violence against Women survivors and women’s political participation.

Forum on Gender Bias in the Court
“March-to-Ten” Campaign
May 12, 2005

The University Center for Women’s Studies of the University of the Philippines invited CEDAW SEAP’s co-sponsorship of the Forum on Gender Bias in the Court held on May 12, 2005 at the College of Law of the University of the Philippines before 50 legal practitioners, law students, and GAD advocates. Women’s rights advocates from academe and NGOs and the audience agreed to the fact of gender bias in the court, which has its roots in the patriarchal social milieu, promoted by the antiquated curriculum of law schools, further institutionalized and perpetuated by court decisions, even those of the Supreme Court. Among the important recommendations was to develop an interdisciplinary legal education for law schools and continuing education courses for lawyers and judges that will effectively weave in legal, medical, social science and feminist perspectives.

Back-to-Back Forum on CEDAW, B+10 and the MDG and Transformative Justice
“March-to-Ten” Campaign
May 1-2, 2005

A back-to-back forum was coordinated by PILIPINA, the National Organization of Filipino Women in Davao City, southern Philippines. The first was a regional forum on CEDAW, Beijing+10 and the MDG with 70 women NGO and PO leaders in attendance, which was held in Davao City on May 1. The second was a national workshop on Transformative Justice involving 35 women lawyers comprising WOMYNET. The recent acquittal of an influential male rape defendant by a female judge was one of the hot issues raised throughout the meetings. Women’s rights advocates shared their opinions on how CEDAW could be applied to the case, a 9-year arduous legal battle by women networks supporting a woman rape survivor only to end up in what they perceived to be an unjust decision. The case can no longer be appealed to the higher court because of the principle of double jeopardy. During the discussion, the idea of a CEDAW Watch network emerged as an urgent agenda in the light of increasing reports of violence against women and other women’s rights violations.

Feedback Forum on CEDAW, Beijing+10 and the MD/MDG
“March-to-Ten” Campaign
March 31, 2005

The “March-to-Ten” campaign kicked off on March 31, 2005 in Quezon City with a Feedback Forum on CEDAW, Beijing+10 and the MDGs. The GO and NGO members of delegation to the Beijing+10 highlighted their respective reports and summarized the declarations passed by the Conference. There were around 160 participants, mostly from government agencies, women NGOs, and some from UN agencies. UN-CEDAW Chair Rosario Manalo, who gave the keynote address, warned against `downgrading women’ as a reaction to speculations that the national women’s machinery will be subsumed under the department of welfare. She opined that the women’s machinery should be elevated to department level to signify its importance in engaging the rest of government machinery. She also proposed that the women’s movement lobby for a Gender Equality Law that should be an omnibus legislation to supersede all discriminatory provisions in present Philippine jurisprudence.

International Women’s Day 2005
“March-toTen” Campaign
March 8, 2005

The UNIFEM under its CEDAW SEAP programme co-sponsored with the UN Gender Mainstreaming Committee a launch of the `March-to-Ten’ Campaign, an advocacy and capacity building campaign on women’s human rights and gender-responsive governance.