11 August 2016 — The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong SAR, in partnership with PathFinders Limited, conducted a Maternity Protection Workshop for OFWs on July 21 at the PCG Conference Room.

PathFinders Limited is a non-governmental organization whose mission is “to ensure that the most vulnerable children born in Hong Kong, and their migrant mothers, are respected and protected.”

The workshop was facilitated by officials from PathFinders, namely, Ms. Carmen Lam (Senior Community Development Manager), Ms. Rebecca Pu (Program Officer) and Ms.  Stephanie Law (Case Manager). They discussed the rights of pregnant foreign household service workers in Hong Kong, including measures to prevent unlawful dismissal from employment due to pregnancy. 

During her opening remarks, Consul General Bernardita L. Catalla emphasized on the need to increase awareness on local laws that cover pregnancy in order for pregnant OFWs in Hong Kong to safeguard their health and employment, as well as find better options for their unborn children.

The Consulate organized the workshop to enlighten OFWs on their rights as women workers, especially against possible dismissal from their jobs due to pregnancy, and to prevent incidents of abortion or abandonment of unborn or newborn babies in public places in Hong Kong.   

Forty (40) OFWs, several of whom are pregnant, actively participated in the workshop which used a combination of lecture, role play, and Q&A where queries on social welfare assistance and civil registration of Filipino children born from OFWs in Hong Kong were respectively addressed by the Consulate’s Social Welfare Attaché Elizabeth L. Dy and Legal Officer Charlene A. Beriana. 

The Maternity Protection Workshop was organized under the auspices of the Consulate’s gender and development (GAD) program. END