UNFPA Philippines -- PDS and Advocacy

Overview

Gender grows out of cultural ideas that stipulate the social meaning and expectation of each sex. Our society’s views of gender permeate public and private life thus we tend to see them as normal, natural, and right. However, there is a need to transform social views of women and girls because around the world they experience systematic and deep-rooted discrimination because of their sex and gender. UNFPA is working for gender equality, equity and empowerment of women.

A critical gap in fulfilling the promise of gender equality and women’s empowerment lies in the area of reproductive health and rights:

• Women are often not in a position to decide if, when and with whom to become pregnant or to determine the number, spacing and timing of their children
• Early marriages, too many childbirths and violence signal the violation of a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body

As affirmed at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the 1995 Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, a woman’s ability to make autonomous, informed decisions about sexuality and reproduction, free of any form of discrimination, coercion and violence, is central to her enjoyment of human rights. And a woman’s exercise of her reproductive rights is key to her political and economic empowerment, and thus to unleashing her full potential and capacities as an agent of poverty reduction and development.

Culturally sensitive approaches seek to understand the diverse meanings people give to rights, reproduction and health, and the different ways in which social groups make claims on the reproductive body, sex and childbearing and engage local power structures to act as agents of change from within.

What UNFPA is doing in the Philippines

The Gender and Culture thematic area in the Country Programme Action Plan aims to contribute to strengthening of institutional mechanisms and socio-cultural practices to promote and protect the rights of women and girls and advance gender equity and equality. The two major outcomes of this component are:

Enhanced enabling environment to promote and protect the rights of women and girls and to advance gender equity and equality.

Strengthened socio-cultural practices to promote and protect the rights of women and girls and to advocate gender equity and equality

At the national level, achievement of these two outcomes entails the development and pre-testing of VAW protocols and capacity building among the IAC-VAWC members in the use of said protocols and in addressing VAWC concerns. At the local level, the programme is geared towards strengthening existing Women and Child Protection Units in provincial hospitals, establishment of VAW Centers, and creation of VAW Committees, and training of VAW service providers.

Linkages to livelihood programs and to faith-based groups have also been developed to ensure economic empowerment and to address cultural and religious realities which play significant roles in the promotion of women’s human rights.

The key implementing partners for this thematic area are the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local social welfare offices in the 6th Country Programme's 10 provinces, 30 municipalities and Olongapo City.

Challenges

The country scores relatively well on international gender equality measures and indices. For instance, the Philippines ranks 47th among 157 developing countries for percentage of female to male gross enrolment ratio at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in 2006. In 2008, the country maintained its 6th rank in the Gender Gap Index conducted by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Index examines gaps in outcomes between women and men in four fundamental categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival.

The 2008 Joint Country Gender Assessment in the Philippines, however, states that there is much to be done both to sustain the achievements to date and to enhance the implementation of policies and programs for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Laws on gender-based violence were passed and gender-sensitive rules and guidelines by the police, investigation bodies, and state prosecutors were implemented but gender-based crimes continue to be underreported. Broader social structures and practices still sustain cultural acceptance of gendered violence.