right to health (Sec. 17), thereby ensuring comprehensive health services covering all stages of women’s life cycle, as well as the right to decent work (Sec. 22). 3. SITUATION OF WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD AND NUTRITION 3.1 CEDAW ARTICLE 11 – Right to Work The right to decent work and wages is fundamental for the realization of the RTFN and forms an inseparable and inherent part of human dignity. Women in the Philippines play an important role in ensuring food for their families. Any gender-based discrimination in relation to the right to work has considerable consequences on asserting women’s rights in general, and their RTFN in particular. 3.1.1. Legal framework In the Philippines, the right to employment and livelihood is guaranteed through the ratification of a number of international conventions (e.g. ILO conventions on the Equal Remuneration [C100] and Discrimination [Employment and Occupation] C111).15 The Constitution affirms equality between men and women16 and the full assertion of the right to work for women is guaranteed in Sec. 22, the Right to Decent Work in the MCW, and the Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers 2013 (known as Batas Kasambahay). Batas Kasambahay safeguards the working conditions of household domestic workers, most of whom are women, and ensures they are paid at least the minimum wage. Despite existence of the afore-mentioned gender-sensitive laws, operationalization through concrete actions that result in actual gender equality is yet to be seen.17 In wage employment in the non-agricultural sector, despite women outnumbering men at the tertiary level18, women earn only 60% of what their male counterparts are paid and the employment rate for women (46.7%)19 is significantly lower than men. Gender discrimination is prevalent in many institutions as men are often still preferred for hiring, particularly for higher paying jobs. Apart from this, cultural and social pressures prevent educated women from prioritizing a professional career over the family. 3.1.2. Urban sector Women also make up most of the urban informal sector20. In order to stretch the family income, women look for every possible means to earn and contribute to the nutritional well-being of their families. They work as sidewalk vendors, peddlers, sari-sari store operators, launderers/pressers, and domestic helpers, or workers in small-scale industries. These female workers are not accounted for in labor force statistics and are largely unrecognized, unprotected and underpaid.21 Women in the informal sector are also at high risk in times of illness, disability, work injury, maternity, unemployment and old age.22 15 See ILO (1951; 1958), http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11200:0::NO::P11200_COUNTRY_ID:102970 [Accessed: 11.05.2016]. The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, http://www.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/ [Accessed: 11.05.2016]. 17 See ADB (2013): Gender Equality in the Labor Market in the Philippines. Mandaluyong City: Asian Development Bank, http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/31194/gender-equality-labor-market-philippines.pdf [Accessed: 17.05.2016]. 18 Philippine Commission on Women (2014): Statistics on Filipino women and men’s labor and employment, http://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201405/statistics-filipinowomen-and-mens-labor-and-employment [Accessed: 12.05.2016]. 19 ADB (2013): Gender Equality in the Labor Market in the Philippines. Mandaluyong City: Asian Development Bank, 9, http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/31194/gender-equality-labor-market-philippines.pdf [Accessed: 17.05.2016]. 20 The Philippine informal sector accounted for 61 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006, representing almost 4 billion PHP income: Philippine Commission on Women (2013): Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy. Policy Brief, No. 1, August, http://pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/wpla/2013/October/webmaster/magna_carta_workers_informal_economy.pdf [Accessed 03.06.2016]. 21 Miclat-Teves, Aurea G. (2011): Introduction: Overview of the Philippine Women’s Movement. In: Voices of Women on the Right to Adequate Food in the Philippines. Quezon City: FIAN Philippines, 9. 22 See Philippine Commission on Women (2013): Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy. Policy Brief, No. 1, August, http://pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/wpla/2013/October/webmaster/magna_carta_workers_informal_economy.pdf [Accessed 03.06.2016]. 16 -3-