UN women’s forum features Coca-Cola Philippines 5by20 partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
The United Nations Commission on
the Status of Women (UNCSW) recently concluded its 61st session at
the UN Headquarters in New York City.
A local delegation to the UNCSW
session was led by officials of the Philippine Commission on Women; the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD); the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA); and Coca-Cola
Philippines.
During the two-week forum, a
parallel event session entitled "Here4Her: Making Reintegration Work for Filipino
Women Migrant Workers" featured the partnership of Coca-Cola Philippines
and DOLE under the Women Entrepreneurs Reintegrated and Economically Active at
Home (WOMEN REACH) program.
Through the panel discussion,
Coca-Cola and DOLE were able to share the journey and accomplishments of the
WOMEN REACH program during its first year of implementation.
Among the panelists were DOLE
National Reintegration Commission for OFWs Executive Director Chona Mantilla;
Coca-Cola Philippines Sustainability and 5by20 Lead Gilda Custodio-Maquilan;
DOLE Assistant Secretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado; and moderated by Cabinet
Undersecretary Gloria Tango of the Office of the President of the Philippines.
"The WOMEN REACH program
partnership was conceptualized to help facilitate women economic empowerment
and the effective reintegration of returning women overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) by providing them access to livelihood programs, building their entrepreneurship
know-how and connecting them to resources that will help them establish their
own small enterprises," shared Gilda Custodio-Maquilan, Coca-Cola
Philippines Sustainability and 5by20 Lead.
The WOMEN REACH program is a
collaboration of the 5by20 Sari-sari Store Training and Access to Resources
(STAR) Program initiatives of Coca-Cola Philippines and the Assist WELL
(Welfare, Employment, Legal and Livelihood) centers of DOLE. Central to the
program intervention is to help improve the plight of returning women OFWs and
mitigation measures to help address the impact of the feminization of migration
to women OFWs and their families.
The STAR Program is part of the 5by20
global initiative of The Coca-Cola Company to help economically empower five
million women by 2020. Present in over 80 countries, the Philippines is a lead
market in the said global initiative. DOLE’s Assist WELL center, on the other
hand, is an integrated resources accessing mechanism established to address the
challenges faced by returning women OFWs in the areas of welfare, employment,
legal, and livelihood needs. The expertise and resources of these two programs
posits a promising intervention that will help women OFW stakeholders under the
WOMEN REACH Program.
The UNCSW panel discussion
served as a platform for the sharing and exchanging of ideas and experiences
both from the panel speakers as well as the audience in the constantly evolving
world of work for women overseas workers.
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