Over 100 ASEAN delegates attend PH-led gender mainstreaming confab

ASEAN GENDER MAINSTREAMING. (From left) H.E. Lim Jock Hoi of ASEAN Secretariat; Civil Service Commission Chairperson Alicia dela Rosa-Bala; Philippine Commission on Women Chairperson Rhodora M. Bucoy; Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Undersecretary Florita Villar; and Office of the Cabinet Secretary Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado; pose during the Senior Officials Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Sectoral Bodies held at Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City on Wednesday (June 27, 2018). (PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.)

MANILA — More than a hundred senior officials from the region and different sectoral bodies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) participated in a Philippine-led conference, which is focused on establishing more gender-responsive policies and programs in the region.

The three-day “Senior Officials Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Sectoral Bodies” officially opened at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City Wednesday.

In an interview, Emmeline Verzosa, Executive Director of the Philippine Commission on Women, said holding the event in Manila sends a message that the country is committed to advance gender equality in the region.

“We want all the different (ASEAN) sectoral bodies, who are classified according to issues, to open their minds to really sign their projects so that they can incorporate a gender perspective,” she said.

“It’s the first time that we brought together representatives from all 10 ASEAN member-states from at least 12 sectoral bodies,” she added.

“It’s the first of its kind, and I think not just in the Philippines but also in ASEAN. Here we invited everyone to influence each other.”

The conference was organized by ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW), through its Philippine focal point, PCW. The initiative was part of the three-part series of conferences to support the development and implementation of gender mainstreaming initiatives across all sectoral bodies in the three ASEAN pillars.

One of the event’s highlights was the launching of the progress report on women’s rights and gender equality.

According to Versoza, this report was also the first of its kind at the ASEAN level.