Gender Equality and Women Empowerment: Top Priority Program of Catbalogan
ONE of Lady Mayors in Asia and the Pacific, Stephany Uy-Tan,has become cochair of Standing Committee on Women in Local Governmentsof UCLG ASPAC.Conducting her duty as part of Committee to empower women in local government, Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan has implemented various strategies and programsto increase the level of participation of women, a point which has become one of the mayor’s top concern. It is, then, unsurprising that recognition for women’s participation became evident in numerous development programs under the social protection sphere of the city government through a concrete implementation of gender and development plan. Catbalogan City’s Gender and Development Council has arranged an annual gender and development plan and budgeting process to ensure the program is aligned to her personal advocacy for women’s welfare and empowerment. A monitoring and evaluation of the same plan is also conducted annually to guarantee a no let-up implementation to reach down to grassroots level.
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These programs include skill development training and capacity building for women, to prepare them to serious responsibility forcommunity development beyond their usual work at home like child rearing. Although the Mayor admits that women should take care of their children, she also believes that child rearing is the responsibility of both parents and this should not hinder the mother to improve herself, help the community, and engage in local governance activities. Significantly, the City’s gender and development program also provides financial assistance to women as capital build-up for their businesses. Home finances should not only be the concern of men but also women, the same way that household chores should not only be shouldered by women but also men. Moreover, gender sensitivity orientation and workshops are regularly conducted with participation from the Barangay (village) officials to city officials and even community organizations to create awareness on the important role of both women and men in attaining progress within their communities and the whole city. Further, the Mayor also ensures that the whole community is well aware of Violence Against Women (VAW) free community campaign, which is vigorously implemented by her administration. To guarantee full protection of women against violence, she allocated a budget for their protection in terms of legal matters and social concerns. These programs according to Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan are crucial in her campaign for gender equality and gender mainstreaming. It is evident, says the Mayor, that we still have a long way to go in terms of gender equality, though she is grateful of the women empowerment movement that started decades ago. She assures the public that she is willing to pursue further actions to fill the gaps in the efforts to increase participation and protection of women in the quest for women empowerment and gender equality.