Magsisilbing host country ang Pilipinas sa International Conference on Women, Peace, and Security (ICWPS), simula ika-28 ng Oktubre hanggang ika-30, sa PICC sa Pasay City.
Sa press briefing sa Malacañang, sinabi ni Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo na dadaluhan ito ng nasa 25 minister, vice minister, at senior officials, mula sa mga bansa sa Amerika, Europa, Asya, at Africa. Kung saan tatalakayin ang implementasyon ng mga programa sa linya ng women, peace, and security agenda.
“The Philippines’ longstanding comprehensive engagement on women’s rights also includes our role in spearheading biennial UN General Assembly resolutions addressing violence against women, migrant workers and trafficking in women and girls especially in situations of armed conflict and in actively championing gender equality and women’s empowerment in any of UN Commission on the Status of Women meetings.” —Sec. Manalo
Ayon kay Philippine Commission on Women Chair Ermelita Valdeavilla, layon ng Pilipinas sa conference na ito na makabuo ng mas marami pang network upang mapalakas pa ang kampanya para sa papel ng mga kababaihan sa mga mahahalagang aspeto ng lipunan.
“And I have from experience, I have found out that women are very comfortable with informal processes, informal discussions, informal negotiations. And these processes bring about ideas that will not come out in a formal setting. So, we are in the position to influence part of the agenda of the conference that’s going to happen in November and armed conflict is one of the topics of the conference.” —Valdeavilla
Sa panig naman ni OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. isa sa mga layunin ng conference na ito ay maibaba at maipararamdam on ground ang kanilang mga tatalakayin sa mga ganitong pulong.
“Isa rin iyon sa mga challenge natin. Normally, kapag tayo, high level iyong ating conference, ano ba ang impact nito sa ground? The good thing is that even the international community is aware of that. In fact, one of good thing that we have seen tight now is the tripartite agreement between JICA, KOICA and also USAID which is basically concentrating on women health, maternity kaya maganda iyong nagiging ano natin awareness ng even international community, it gave us that leverage na nakita natin iyong vulnerability natin especially sa BARMM, iyong mga conflict-affected areas ay nabibigyan ng atensiyon. So, that is 1.6 billion na talagang magandang package joint by the three countries and we are very happy that those ano has greater implications.” —Secretary Galvez
Sa panig naman ni DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, binigyang diin nito ang commitment ng Pilipinas sa pagsusulong sa boses ng mga kababaihan.
Mula aniya sa 103 na nag-develop ng kaniya-kaniyang national action plan para sa women, peace, and connectivity, ang Pilipinas ang unang Asian country na nag-adapt nito.
“And, of course, with the BARMM that we have now, we have been providing their budget. In fact, for next year, the block grant for BARMM will increase to up to 94.1 billion pesos so it’s a seventeen percent increase from when they started the BARMM government. So, yes, in fact, one of the thematic sessions in the conference is the thematic discussion number three which I will handle together with my counterparts. It is investing and impact financing strategies on women, peace and security initiatives. Basically, we want to look at some areas where we can invest more on women, peace and security, and find ways to explore innovative financing solutions to enhance our WPS investments.” —Sec. Pangandaman | ulat ni Racquel Bayan
