PH Embassy in Damascus Pays Tribute to Women on Int’l Women’s Day

Gender and Development Focal Point Officer (GFPO) Kathleen Llarena delivers a lecture on the Magna Carta of Women on the occasion of International Women’s day. (Damascus PE photo)

‪DAMASCUS 11 March 2020 — In celebration of the International Women’s Day, the Philippine Embassy in Damascus paid tribute to Filipino women by conducting a Seminar on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment with the theme “We Make Change Work for Women” on 08 March 2020 at the Philippine Embassy Chancery.

Gender and Development Focal Point Officer (GFPO) Kathleen S. Llarena conducted a lecture on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment and discussed women’s rights in the Magna Carta of Women (MCW).  The Embassy aimed to disseminate information to women and engage them in government programs and services, to empower them and to promote women’s welfare.

In Syria, a large number of Filipino women work as household service workers. The Philippine Embassy continuously conducts seminars aimed at uplifting their status, including financial literacy seminars, and advocacy against marital and domestic violence, and violence against women in general.

A total of 50 participants, of which 40 were female and 10 male, composed of the Philippine Embassy personnel, members of the Filipino community and wards of the Filipino Workers' Resource Center (FWRC), attended the event.

Ms. Llarena encouraged the Filipino women to continue working towards the achievement of gender equality and women empowerment, not just in the month of March, but everyday of the year in order to uplift the status of Filipino women in the diaspora, as well as the less privileged ones in rural areas in the Philippines.

At the beginning of the seminar, Philippine Embassy in Damascus Chargé d’Affaire, e.p. Alex V. Lamadrid conveyed the heartfelt greetings of the Embassy to all Filipino women in Syria and pledged to work tirelessly in the promotion of their welfare, particularly against human trafficking. END

For more information, visit https://www.damascuspe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSyria/.