CEDAW/C/PHI/4 English Page 72 308. Through the Self-Employment Assistance Program for Women, the Department of Social Services and Development appropriated funds for interest-free credit without collateral for livelihood projects among the very poor. 309. The Canadian International Development Agency - Entrepreneur Support Project is currently being implemented in Regions VI, VII and XI through the Bureau of Small and Medium Business Development of the Department of Trade and Industry. This project aims to strengthen the delivery capability of public and private institutions supporting micro, cottage and small enterprise development. It also provides continuing awareness through seminars on gender and environment consciousness. 310. The developments reflected in this report are indicative of the increasing attention being given to rural women as potent in attaining rural development. XII. ARTICLE 15 Women's equality before the law; equal opportunities to exercise legal capacity such as in concluding contracts and property administration; equal treatment in court procedures, among others 311. Women's awareness of their rights is a crucial prerequisite to their fulfilment and enjoyment of equal status with men. Thus, while the Philippines is said to have basic rights of women entrenched in its laws, women are not able to exercise these rights fully as indicated by their relatively lower status in the different spheres of life and development sectors such as education, business and employment. For example, there is a larger number of unemployed women, relatively low salaries of female employees, and low ratio of women in supervisory and management positions, including in the foreign service and in the judiciary. 312. The passage in 1992 of the Women in Development and Nation-building Act, Republic Act 7192, ushered in a number of significant initiatives pertaining to women's rights. These are as follows: (a) Republic Act 7305 (1992), or the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, further allows public worker couples to be employed or assigned in the same municipality; (b) Republic Act 7322 (1992) amends the Social Security Law and increases the maternity benefit of women workers; (c) Republic Act 7655 (1993) increases the minimum wage of domestic househelpers and makes social security available to them; (d) Republic Act 7688 (1994) gives representation to women in the Social Security Commission; (e) Republic Act 7877 (1995) makes sexual harassment unlawful in the employment, education or training environment; /...