PH Mission to WTO Organized Expert Discussion on “Orange the World”

GENEVA, 20 December 2022 – The Philippine Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) organized an expert discussion on the “Orange the World” Project to advance Philippine government’s campaign to end violence against women (VAW) on 16 December 2022.

The Gender and Development (GAD) activity is part of the Mission's agency-focused capacity development program aimed to improve the performance of official functions of its personnel within the WTO system. “We hope that through this activity and future similar activities, the Mission would be able to help the Philippine government implement a comprehensive and structured campaign for international consciousness on anti-violence against women, especially in the area of trade,” said Charges d’Affaires Oliver C. Delfin in his welcome remarks. 

The resource persons of the GAD activity were Adriana Quiñones, Director of UN Women’s Liaison Office in Geneva, and Anoush der Boghossian, Head of the WTO Trade and Gender Unit. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations Amb. Evan Garcia and Consul General Felipe Carino attended the activity. 

Ms. Quiñones said that with the COVID-19 pandemic many countries suffer from drawbacks on their efforts to defend women’s rights despite the progress made before the pandemic. “In fact, two out of three women experienced violence at some point in their lives. That’s half of the women population of the world, as we see more cases of sexual harassment, verbal abuse, denial of basic needs and physical abuse, ” she stressed. 

On the trade aspect of VAW, Ms. der Boghossian said cross-border traders suffer from physical, sexual and economic abuses, including cyber-crimes and risks of financial data loss despite the fact that national trade policies are addressing the issues. Hence, there is a need for more focused interventions on VAW, taking into consideration women issues in the export sector. “Because of Covid, awareness of governments on aid for trade has positive improvements as donors now try to require that projects address constraints of women to seek assistance on sexual harrasment and other abuses.” 

Both speakers stressed one of the most immediate and urgent needs for governments to address VAW is to enhance efforts towards accomplishments of SDG5 on gender equality in a holistic, multilateral and coordinated manner. END

For more information, visit https://wtopm.dfa.gov.ph/.