THE Federation of Rural Improvement Clubs (RIC) in the Cordillera convened to promote linkages, friendship, rights and roles of members in the modern society on August 17-19 at the Supreme Hotel, Baguio City.
The RIC Regional Convention cum Livelihood Training participated by 135 RIC members in six provinces in the region with the theme "Role of women in mitigating impact of climate change in agriculture" was also graced by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Executive Director Dr. Lorenzo Caranguian.
Caranguian stressed the need for men to partner with women in order to achieve complete community development.
The training was capped with lectures from the Gender Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women (GREAT Women) Project 2 and the Magna Carta for Women (MCW).
GREAT women project 2 focal person Susan Balanza discussed to RIC members the goal of enhancing the enabling environment for Women Economic Empowerment (WEE), by making women micro-entrepreneurs and workers in microenterprises.
The project started in 2007 by the Philippine Commission for Women (PCW) and some help from Canada and was able to launch women into the business world by capacitating them with trainings and hands-on exercises in planning, financing and budgeting, programming, gender and executive aspects of microenterprising.
By the end of the GREAT women project 1 in 2013, the project executives recommended it needs a follow-up project to build capacities of women as entrepreneurs that would focus on business strengthening to make them more competitive by considering the value chain approach and for NGAs to hone their expertise in directly helping LGUs to provide services to WMEs and build partnerships with the private sector.
"A woman is economically empowered when she has both the ability to succeed and advance economically and the power to make and act on economic decisions," Balanza said in her discussion.
Civil Service Commission legal officer Atty. Emily Balungay, who discussed the Magna Carta for Women, pinpointed the rights of women that are protected by R.A 9710 or also known as the Magna Carta for Women signed on August 14, 2009.
The Magna Carta of Women is a comprehensive women's human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and promoting the rights of Filipino women, especially those in the marginalized sectors. (Danica Tomin/DA-CAR)