UN body, NGO launch digital training modules on gender, dev’t

In support of the government’s campaign on a VAW-free community, the UNFPA conducted a series of educational activities to raise awareness and to enhance capacity building on the issues of gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response on Dec. 9. (Photo: UNFPA Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The United Nations Population Fund in the Philippines (UNFPA) and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) have introduced digital training modules on “Gender and Development” to support the capacity building of the government and non-government organizations to respond to gender-rights issues.

About six digital training modules were launched in PDRF’s e-learning platform—iADAPT (Innovations Academy for Disaster Awareness, Preparedness, and Training), as part of the annual celebration of the 18-Day Campaign Against Violence Against Women (VAW).

In support of the government’s campaign on a VAW-free community, the UNFPA conducted a series of educational activities to raise awareness and to enhance capacity building on the issues of gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response on Dec. 9.

It said quarantine measures have compelled educators to explore digital alternatives to traditional teaching.

Various service providers and GBV practitioners have had to convert their training material into online formats to be able to continue delivering updated information and strategies to combat gender-based violence, it added.

Aimee Santos, UNFPA Gender Unit National Programme Officer, cited one in four married women in the country have experienced sexual, physical, or emotional violence which was grown worse amid the pandemic.

“We see women whose abusers have taken advantage of the quarantine. They refuse to drive them to work, they keep them locked down in their homes, they stop them from talking to their family and friends,” she said in a statement Thursday.

Meanwhile, PDRF president Rene Meily noted that violence against women is one of the “unspoken secrets” of Philippine society.

“If we can help protect the vulnerable against the powerful and criminal-minded, we should do it. The partnership between PDRF, UNFPA, and CATW-AP (Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific) is a step in the right direction,” he said.

The CATW-AP has developed modules covering the topics on Gender Sensitivity, Gender in Islam, Laws on Women’s Rights and GBV, Establishment of VAW desk and their referral pathways, Psychological First Aid, and Gender-Responsive Case Management and Community-based Solutions to VAW.

Jean Enriquez, CATW-AP executive director, vowed to continue promoting women’s rights.

“The passion for learning prevails. Despite all odds, what triumphs is our collective desire to be able to open hearts and minds, to nourish them on women’s rights issues, how to skillfully assist in VAW desks, in Women Friendly Spaces, in GBV watch groups, as social welfare aides,” Enriquez said.

The study of UNFPA and the University of the Philippines Population Institute projects an additional 12,000 women who will suffer intimate partner violence, every month, under quarantine restrictions and service disruptions necessitating a much greater response from national and local government agencies.

Globally, the UN agency predicts a 20 percent increase in gender-based violence (GBV) because of the Covid-19 pandemic.