In celebration of International Women’s Month and the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (BFPA), a historic roadmap that set the global agenda for the realization of women’s rights, the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) jointly hosted a round-table discussion (RTD) on national initiatives in promoting women’s rights at the Amb. Francisco L. Benedicto Room of the Carlos P. Romulo Library on 23 March 2015.
The RTD brought into light how these national initiatives can feed into regional and local actions and support the ASEAN goal of becoming a “Community of Opportunities.”
FSI Deputy Director-General Julio S. Amador III highlighted the Institute’s initiatives in gender mainstreaming, particularly the upcoming study in Albay concerning the creation of best practices regarding gender related issues that arise during calamities and crisis situations.
Meanwhile, CSC Director for Human Resource Management and Development Editha M. Dela Pena emphasized that the Philippine civil service is composed of more than 1.4 million civil servants, 60% of whom are women, and that the CSC improved facilities for women in civil services throughout the region, particularly elevating the role of women in political, economic, and socio-cultural activities.
Participants of the round-table discussion shared information on national women’s machinery mechanisms in place in their respective countries, three national initiatives over the past thirty-five years that have promoted gender equality and women’s empowerment, and significant policies and programs on public sector human resource management that have addressed key gender issues in the field of human resources.
The round-table discussion was attended by representatives from the embassies of ASEAN member states of Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar, embassy officials from Japan and South Korea, officers of the FSI and the CSC, and Assistant Secretary Luis Cruz of the Office of ASEAN Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs.
