13 July 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in New Delhi hosted back-to-back gender and development seminars for the Filipino community and their families on June 30 and July 04.

Chargé d’Affaires Ma. Agnes M. Cervantes gave a talk about financial literacy to Filipino community members last June 30, reminding them not only on how to budget wisely but also to set aside funds for retirement savings and medical funds. She also solicited the opinions of the Filipino community on what improvements they want to see on the implementation and membership to the Social Security System (SSS) and Pag-IBIG funds as Filipino nationals living abroad.

Continuing with the theme of preparation and awareness, Chargé d’Affaires Cervantes also went over the Embassy’s contingency plan.  The contingency plan designates the Embassy as the meeting point for all members of the Filipino community in case of natural disasters or civil unrest. 

Chargé d’Affaires Cervantes highlighted the example of the Filipino community in Nepal in the aftermath of the April 25 earthquake in Nepal. The Embassy was able to verify the safety and location of Filipinos immediately since the members of the Filipino community in Nepal are registered and maintain close ties with the Embassy. 

On July 04, the Embassy hosted another gender and development seminar, this time with focus on women empowerment. The Embassy invited three speakers from United Nations (UN) Women Office in New Delhi, Ms. Anju Dubey Pandey (Program Specialist on Ending Violence Against Women – EVAW), Atty. Risha Syed (UN Women Consultant and EVAW Expert), and Ms. Subhalakshmi Nandi (Program Specialist on Women’s Economic Empowerment).  Mr. Jeevan Kanakkassery distributed brochures and information materials on “He For She”, the UN Women Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality.

Ms. Pandey happily noted the presence of the Indian spouses of the members of the Filipino community.  This could help spread the knowledge on gender equality and ending violence against women in traditional Indian society.

To change the mindset that women who stay at home have little worth, Ms. Lakshmi emphasized three Rs: recognition, reduction and redistribution (recognition and respect for work done, reduction of burden through modern conveniences and redistribution of labor, wherein more than one person takes responsibilities for chores).

The most notable part of the seminar was the lively question and answer portion with Atty. Syed.  The concerns ranged from which agencies provide assistance to women and children under stressful situations to how children of Filipino-Indian families could inherit property in India and the Philippines.

CDA Cervantes distributed certificates of appreciation to all attendees at the end of both seminars. END