BUDGET Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Wednesday (Manila time) told delegates to the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) in New York that the Philippines is committed to accelerating gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
During the first ministerial round table, Pangamdaman, head of the country's delegation, said these gender goals are incorporated in the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028 and Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Plan 2019 to 2025.
The Budget secretary cited the country's numerous initiatives to promote gender equality, including the 1995 Gender and Development budget policy or "The Women's Budget," established to carry out projects and programs focused on gender equality and women's empowerment.
The law was supported by the Magna Carta of Women and consistent guidelines for developing annual gender and development plans, budgets, and accomplishment reports.
Pangandaman noted that 24 percent of the national government's budget in 2022 was used to implement gender-responsive initiatives covering women empowerment and gender equality, as well as integrating gender-responsive elements into flagship programs.
These include the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a conditional cash transfer program now benefiting 4.4 million households, and the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program, which supports the vision of a gender-responsive micro, small and medium enterprises sector.
Pangandaman also said the Philippine government has put in place grant programs from the secondary to postgraduate levels to combat gender-related poverty by promoting science-based education among women.
The grants aim to produce more female graduates pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In the health sector, Pangandaman noted that a substantial portion of the Philippine budget goes to securing the well-being and nutrition of pregnant and lactating women. The fund is geared toward delivering socioeconomic services that are culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender considerations, monitored through a gender budget tagging initiative.
The largest annual event on gender equality and women's empowerment, CSW fosters important conversations among governments, civil society organizations, experts, and activists worldwide — dialogues focused on the necessary actions and investments to eradicate women's poverty and champion equal rights for all genders.
Read The Rest at :
