01 December 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa successfully hosted an information session on Gender and Development (GAD) for the Filipino community last November 22.
Approximately 300 Filipinos from across southern Africa, including those from the neighboring countries of Mozambique and Swaziland, attended the event.
The Embasssy briefed the community on the basics of GAD and encouraged the community to be mindful and to be sensitive to gender differences in dealing with their family and community members. The information session emphasized the interdependence of men and women and the recognition that the existing reality shows an imbalance in relations which is mostly favourable to men and that there is a need to recognize, respect and implement women’s rights and to empower disadvantaged women.
The Embassy noted that despite the Philippines’ achievements in protecting and promoting women’s rights, as highlighted by the 2014 World Economic Forum report which ranked the Philippines first in the Asia-Pacific region and 9th out of 142 economies in terms of gender equality globally, there is still much work to be done in advancing women’s rights and that gender sensitivity should be nurtured from the grassroots.
The information session on GAD is the third event that the Embassy hosted this year to raise awareness on gender equality and women’s issues, following the celebration of International Women’s Month in March and the information session on the Philippine Magna Carta of Women held last June. Both men and women members of the community had expressed their appreciation of the Embassy’s efforts to raise awareness on gender equality and women-specific issues. END