CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6
consultations on negotiation and advocacy leadership with women union leaders and workers
from 204 workers’ associations and labor organizations. In the public economic zones, seminars
were held to promote economic rights among workers, union members and management in
locator enterprises, and general labor inspections began to include gender equality-related
issues.
Women in the informal sector
400. Labor department programs to assist women entrepreneurs in the informal sector included
introduction of practical and low-cost improvements to raise the productivity of small
enterprises; promotion of rural employment through technical assistance and entrepreneurship
training to rural workers, including women; and the women workers employment and
entrepreneurship development (WEED) program, an affirmative action to alleviate the plight of
the more disadvantaged sectors of Filipino women. WEED provides financial and technical
support in the areas of self-employment, entrepreneurship and cooperative endeavors. In 2001,
its training component has conducted 209 capability-building activities that were participated in
by 6,390 women.
401. In May 2001, the TESDA Women’s Center launched the "Kasanayan-Kabuhayan One-Stop
Shop," a referral facility that seeks to expand the employment options for displaced workers
and informal economy workers, especially women. It has since extended the following services
to 801 women: skills assessment, career counseling, information dissemination on support
services in overseas and local employment, skills training or retraining, scholarships for
training in information communication technology and entrepreneurship development, credit,
and networking.
402. In partnership with the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference, National Anti-Poverty
Commission (NAPC) Workers in the Informal Sector Council, NEDA and other stakeholders,
the labor department implemented in 2001 and 2002 a project for the promotion and protection
of the informal sector. With support from the ILO and UNDP, the project produced, among
others, the country program for the informal sector, “Institutionalizing the Programs and
Policies for the Informal Sector through the Local Governments.” The Social Development
Committee of the Cabinet approved it in July 2003. It will replicate the lessons from the pilot,
including capacity development of local government units to support their respective informal
sectors and the strengthening of organizations of informal sector workers at the local
government levels. Informal sector workers in the rural areas were identified as priority under
the country program.
403. The social welfare department assists poor and disadvantaged women through two major
programs: the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K), a community-based capability
building program in support of micro-enterprise and micro-financing development for the poor
and marginalized sector; and the Productivity Skills Capability Building (PSCB) for
Disadvantaged Women, which trains women in sewing, toy-making, food processing, ceramics,
rattan craft and other livelihood projects. With a budget of PhP460.6 million, the program
directly benefited 115,303 individuals, of whom 70 percent were women. It also organized 15
associations of mothers, each group receiving seed capital of PhP100,000 for livelihood
projects. As of April 2002, there are 104 PSCB centers nationwide.
110
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