It's raining women at the UN
The 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women opened on March 11, 2024, and officially concluded on March 22. The priority theme for this 68th year was to consider "Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective."
The Commission had previously recognized this unassailable fact about gender equality: globally, 10.3 percent of women currently live in extreme poverty and are poorer than men. Progress toward ending poverty now needs to occur 26 times faster to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To quantify this, data from 48 developing economies project that an additional $360 billion per year is needed to achieve gender equality, empower women, and eradicate poverty and hunger.
Governments need to prioritize education, family planning, fair and equal wages, and expanded social benefits for women. Closing the gender gap in employment could boost Gross Domestic Product per capita by 20 percent across all regions. And that's just one reason why it makes sense to prioritize women.
Governments, civil society organizations, experts, and activists all have a role to play here, and CSW68 served as a venue to bring policy, best practices, and the brightest minds together to help create a blueprint for success — a success that we must now acknowledge is falling behind schedule. The 68th session needed to devise an action plan that each nation could take home and adapt to its own specific needs and circumstances.
The Philippines chaired this 68th CSW, marking the first time since 1995 that we have held this honor. Under the leadership of the Philippines' permanent representative to the UN, Antonio
Lagdameo, we brought together various government bodies including the Philippine Commission on Women, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Presidential Communications Office (PCO). Budget Secretary (and Manila Bulletin columnist) Amenah Pangandaman set the tone with the country's statement last March 11, affirming the nation's commitment to gender-responsive governance and promoting the rights of women.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-loyzaga chaired a dialogue on March 14 with youth representatives focusing on the primary theme. Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Emeline Aglipay-villar, National Anti-poverty Undersecretary Girlie Amarillo, and House Representatives Geraldine Roman and Anne Matibag played crucial roles, participating in the dialogues and side events.
An important side event took place on March 18, focusing on "Women in TVET: Unlocking Digital Empowerment," which highlighted effective public-private partnerships, particularly between the Technical Education Skills Development Authority and Coca-cola Philippines. At the core of this partnership is the Sari-sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR) program, which has been operating for over a decade. The overarching goal is to drive economic growth and empower microretailers, following the principle of “it takes a village,” by collaborating with five other civil society organizations.
As a digital platform, ISTAR serves as the digital roadmap agreed upon by TESDA and Coca-cola. When the pandemic struck, the ISTAR program was ready to be rolled out. It is accessible across 17 regions and within 147 cities and municipalities, offering business coaching, access to microfinance institutions, business resources, and peer mentoring. From 2021 to 2023, over 150,000 individuals completed the course. Coca-cola's Senior Director Ivanna Dela Torre and Senior Manager Joy Munsayac-cacal led a lively discussion, featuring earnest testimonials and case studies from program participants.
The following day, the PCO hosted "Going Digitall: Women's Empowerment Through Digitalization," providing a closer look at how digital transformation in government systems and processes reinforces institutions to promote gender equality. This also makes both public and private resources available for programs that uplift the lives of women and girls. Speakers from Cambodia and USAID emphasized that while help and resources are available, identifying and bringing parties together may be the challenge. ANC, of course, underscored the importance of recognizing that women are vulnerable in the digital world and highlighted the presence of "predators."
The Department of Science and Technology hosted a hybrid forum titled "Mind the GAP (Gender and Poverty)," discussing how science, technology, and innovation can be utilized for the economic empowerment of women and girls. The forum also emphasized that poverty is a human rights issue.
In my brief conversation with Permanent Representative to the UN Antonio Lagdameo, he expressed pride in the Philippines' chairship this year. Following Argentina's chairmanship last year (with Saudi Arabia set to chair the 69th session), several representatives had already offered their thanks for the efficient management of the two-week affair.
Being strict about the speaking times of those involved had been favorably commented on, as it meant sessions did not extend until late at night. Kudos to the Philippine delegation, as I was witness to how smoothly run this CSW68 was, and to the applause our speakers would garner, as they presented the progressive Philippine scenario in policy regarding gender equality and women empowerment. The question left was really one of enforcement and ensuring these policies are used intelligently.