The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) will pay more attention to less popular concerns such as those about youth, handicapped, elderly, indigenous people, electronic violence against women and climate change. This was declared by the PCW Chairperson Remedios Rikken during the agency’s recent celebration marking its 37th anniversary.
“It seems like such a long time ago when the world first started to recognize that women are partners of men in development,” chair Rikken recalled. “When the United Nations declared the First International Conference on Women in 1975, and the first generation of women leaders in the Philippines lobbied the national government for the establishment of what the UN calls the National Machinery for Women, the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women was born,” she stated.
One of the critical development challenges of the Philippines is rapid population at a fertility rate of about 3.7. Maternal mortality ratio is 172 per 100, 000 live births. More than six million women are considered at high risk should they become pregnant, as they are either too young or too old. The Philippines has a very young population. About sixteen million, young (15-24) are of reproductive age. More than three million belong to the age group of over 65 years.
In 1987, the government took the initiative of drafting the Philippine Development Plan for Women (PDPW), with the view to creating a planning environment that is sensitive to gender concerns. The blueprint is the strategic guide for the efforts of the national machinery for women. Since the adoption of the PDPW, the Philippine government has already listed milestone achievements in institutionalizing gender concerns.
The Philippine Commission on Women was instrumental in the Philippine ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Countries that ratified CEDAW commit to improve the status of women and end discrimination and violence against women.
The Magna Carta of Women, a landmark legislation, changed the name of NCRFW to PCW and transformed it from an advisory to a policy-making body. With new and complex issues emerging, PCW has equipped its staff and provided technical assistance to partners in government and civil society organizations in mainstreaming gender concerns in all aspects of economic, social and political life of the nation.
The PCW, aside from its policy-making functions, is also a coordinating body on women and gender equality concerns under the Office of the Philippine President. As an oversight body in women’s concerns, the PCW acts as catalyst for gender mainstreaming.
