23 September 2015 - Philippine Ambassador to Poland Patricia Ann V. Paez, together with Gender and Development Officer Catherine B. Ramintas, Principal Assistant for Economic Diplomacy Evelyn L. Vega and Rachelle Javier-Gonzales, participated in the 7th Congress of Women held from September 11 to 12 in Warsaw. The two-day event was attended by at least 10,000 women from all over Poland.
The president of the Congress of Women, Ms. Dorota Waramonska, welcomed participants during the opening ceremony which was graced by Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, Marshall of the Seijm Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, Vice-Marshall of the Sejm Wanda Nowicka, Minister of Science Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, and a host of other officials and key figures from the cross-section of the Polish society.
The Congress held various panel discussions on wide ranging topics such as: “World.Europe.Poland 2015”, “Triple voice: Many faces of the Feminism”; “Mom, dad, child support”; discussions on education, parenting, entrepreneurship and innovations etc.
The Embassy harnessed the event as a platform for cultural and culinary diplomacy as well as for tourism promotion with the theme “Filipino Women in Solidarity with Polish Women”. The Embassy offered a sampling of Filipino cuisine, specifically chicken/pork adobo and lumpiang prito and distributed the “Its More Fun in the Philippines” brochures.
The Congress of Women is the largest non-partisan civic movement in Poland that “brings together women from all over Poland irrespective of their views, origin, class, profession and membership in parties, organizations, and background.” Every year, the Congress of Women holds a Great Conference which draws at least 10,000 women “to raise the consciousness of women, exchange information about the activities and concerns of women in Poland, provide mutual support, engage in community-building and lobbying, formulate proposals, and create mechanisms to pursue these objectives.”
A major accomplishment of the Congress of Women was the enactment of a law in 2011 which guarantees women 35% share on the electoral list to ensure gender parity.
The first Congress of Women was held in June 2004 and the Congress of Women Association was established on January 28, 2010. The main objective of the Association is the “promotion of the goals of the Congress of Women, notably by promoting women’s professional and political activities at the local, regional, and national levels, and by supporting their activities in other fields.” END