THE yearly observances of the Women’s Role in History Month mandated by Proclamation No. 227 s. 1988, the first week of March as Women’s Week and March 8 as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day mandated by Proclamation No. 224 s. 1988, and March 8 of every year as National Women’s Day mandated by Republic Act (RA) 6949 s. 1990 seek to emphasize gender equality and further bring to fore the significant and indispensable role of the women in the society.
In 2017, the PCW Board Members and Inter-Agency Technical Working Group identified the NWMC theme “We Make Change Work for Women”, which shall be used from 2017-2022. It highlights the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development. This pursuit of development is also anchored on the commitment of “Malasakit at Pagbabago” or True Compassion and Real Change.
The 2017-2022 NWMC generally aims to inform and engage women as stakeholders of government programs and services – to promote citizen-centric governance and make “change” a conscious effort to know, understand, and provide what ALL citizens need; create and facilitate platforms to discuss good practices, gaps, challenges, and commitments in pursuing gender and development (GAD) – to strengthen implementation of the Magna Carta of Women; and inspire and empower women and girls to be agents of change – to contribute in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of all women. Thus, government agencies and local government units shall ensure that their programs and activities for the NWMC contribute in achieving these objectives and the focus of the 2020 celebration.
On a more personal point of view, the call to intensify women’s participation, more so their credible qualifications to occupy crucial roles as leaders, policy makers, and implementers should be given emphasis. As a woman, I join the plea in strengthening the inclusion of women as leaders and decision makers in our nation. It is most probably the right time to consider this call and give it a shot. Who knows, when we have more women in the government, we will be able to gradually eradicate the various problems and issues that make our lives seemingly miserable and hopeless.