28 March 2014 – The Philippine Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar, in celebration of the 2014 Women’s Month organized a talk on Republic Act 2710 or the Magna Carta of Women, and on “Domestic Work for Domestic Workers” on March 25 at the Embassy Chancery. The talk was conducted by Minister and Consul General Maria Lourdes M. Salcedo.
Consul General Salcedo shared the good news that the Philippines ranks 5th in the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global Gender Gap Report, making it the best performer in Asia-Pacific in 2013 in gender equality. She said, however, that there are still some serious issues that must be addressed, such as domestic violence, human trafficking, unsecured jobs for women and poverty.
She explained that Magna Carta of Women is the “Bill of Rights for Filipino Women” and a compendium of Philippine commitments to Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The Consul General also discussed International Labor Organization Convention 189, a milestone convention setting labor standards for domestic workers, which entered into force on 5 September 2013.
The convention, she noted, is a victory for Philippines, which deploys a sizeable number of domestic helpers overseas or around 30% of land-based overseas Filipino workers in 2012.
Helpful information on cervical cancer was also shared by Mr. Graeme Lade, Chairman of Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation, to those present during the event.
The event was attended by the members of the Filipino community in Myanmar and was ended by a simple dinner hosted by the Embassy. END