PH Embassy in Seoul Commemorates International Women’s Month 2023
Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega and co-panel of experts including the Ambassador of Brazil, Ireland and The Netherlands, Sookmyung University President Yunkeum Chang and Ms. Yvonne Kim, Executive Director of Asia Society Korea share the stage to cap the 2nd Sookmyung International Women’s Day Forum. (Seoul PE photo)
SEOUL, 30 March 2023 – Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Theresa Dizon-De Vega was one of the panel of experts invited by the Sookmyung Women’s University (SWU) for the 2nd Sookmyung Women’s University International Women’s Day Forum held on 08 March 2023. This is the second time Sookmyung university hosted the forum in honor of women’s contribution to the society and to commemorate 2023 International Women’s Day and the second time for Ambassador Dizon-De Vega to be invited to the forum.
During the panel discussion, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega shared insights on one of the critical issues in addressing gender equality – the digital gender divide. She stressed the importance of allowing women to fully participate in the digital economy and encourage public and private sector cooperation in bridging the digital gender divide.
To emphasize the Philippines’ active support for gender equality and technology, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega shared the country’s commitment to guarantee universal connectivity by ensuring women’s inclusion in ICT.
To date, there have been significant achievements on Philippine gender policies such as the inclusion of provisions of affordable, accessible, and reliable internet services to our communities, including marginalized women. One of the notable achievements of the Philippines is the launching of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Digital Innovation for Women Advancement (DIWA) to increase Filipino women’s role in ICT and the completion of the Philippines’ national 2022 Women and ICT Development Index (WIDI) Survey, the first-ever national survey that aims to generate indicators on how women are able to access and use ICTs and its result show that women in the digital space form the backbone of our digital economy.
Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega and fellow diplomats in the Republic of Korea poses for a photo to commemorate the International Women’s Day 2023 event hosted by UN Women.
Moreover, Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega graced the first International Women’s Day event hosted by the United Nations Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in the Republic of Korea, referred to as “The Centre” on 8 March 2023 at the Hotel President in Seoul. Other diplomats, international development experts, women STEM achievers, and heads of international organizations joined the event to commemorate the celebration of International Women’s Day with the theme "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.
The Philippine Ambassador is a staunch supporter of women in advanced fields of science and technology, including in the field of ICT. The Philippine Embassy in Seoul continues to create projects and support initiatives that will help the next generation Filipino women in STEM reach their full potential in the global sphere.
The participants backed the UN Women “Together for Gender Equality” advocacy as a show of commitment in support of the UN’s mission to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
The UN Women Centre in ROK was established in 2022 with the support of the ROK government. It aspires to become a knowledge hub to facilitate research, education & training, sharing of innovations and lessons learned, networking, and development of multi-stakeholder partnerships.
ROK Foreign Minister H.E. Park Jin (left) and Philippine Ambassador H.E. Theresa Dizon-De Vega (right)
Furthermore, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega presented ROK Foreign Minister Park Jin with a copy of the book ASEAN Centrality: An Autoethnographic Account by a Philippine Diplomat authored by Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buenceso at a luncheon with Women Ambassadors hosted by H.E. Susana Vaz Patto, Ambassador of the Portuguese Republic in ROK, on 10 March 2023.
Ambassador De Vega took the opportunity to highlight the importance of ASEAN’s role in Women, Peace and Security, as well as Philippine initiatives in the peace process including in the establishment of the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR), initiated by Ambassador.
[Top L-R photos] Ambassador Dizon-De Vega and Ms. Jasmin Lee sharing insights on women, children and multiculturalism in ROK. [Bottom photo] Ambassador Dizon-De Vega (center in white) joined by a group of women Ambassadors in ROK, Ms. Lee, and officers from the Philippine Embassy, Philippine Agriculture Office and Migrant Workers Office.
Lastly, the Philippine Embassy in Seoul hosted at the official residence an Afternoon Tea and Conversation with Ms. Jasmine Lee, former National Assembly of Korea Member, and women Ambassadors and diplomats in Korea. Ms. Lee has been recently appointed by the administration of President Yoon Suk-Yeol as a Member of the Presidential Committee on National Cohesion.
In her opening message, Ambassador Theresa Dizon-de Vega noted that the demographic sea change taking place in Korea will impact women, children, and multicultural families.Ms. Lee spoke about the challenges and the efforts going into multicultural policy-making in Korea as the demographics in the country drive changes in Korea across all facets of life. Likewise being the first non-ethnic Korean to be a member of the National Assembly, Ms. Lee provided insights on her experiences in public service. END
For more information, visit https://www.seoulpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philembassy-seoul.com, or https://www.facebook.com/PHinKorea/.