CEDAW/C/SR.327
English
Page 10
"assessment of materials" referred to in the fourth periodic report of the
Philippines (CEDAW/C/PHI/4). Women were not equitably represented at higher
levels of school management, despite their overwhelming majority in the teaching
profession as a whole. That disparity could be addressed by the use of merit
points for promotion and government scholarship awards.
62. No statistics or impact assessments were as yet available on the Plan of
Action for All (1991-2000) or the Philippine Plan for Gender-responsive
Development (1995-2025). The female literacy programme in the provinces of
Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basila, Tawi-Tawi and Ifugao had enrolled
15,000 illiterate women, or 12 per cent of the targeted illiterate female
population in those provinces. A pilot literacy programme for women had been
set up in the fishing villages north of Manila, and non-formal education
programmes had been conducted for fishermen. Literacy programmes for the
disadvantaged also existed, focusing on teacher training and alternative
education delivery schemes for cultural communities. Career-development
initiatives for women included career counselling, training in better-paying
jobs, and coaching and mentoring.
63. Ms. NICOLAS (Philippines) said that 60 per cent of Filipinos working
overseas were women, and referred members of the Committee to Fact Sheet No. 3
"Women and employment". The Government had negotiated some bilateral labour
agreements with other countries to secure better terms for women migrant
workers, and a number of ministries had signed a "Declaration of Commitment" to
stamp out illegal recruitment and provide better protection for overseas
Filipino workers.
64. The Assistance to Nationals Task Force had prepared orientation manuals and
conducted skills enhancement seminars for personnel of Philippine embassies and
consulates. Numerous victims of illegal recruitment were being assisted, and
many establishments engaged in illegal recruitment had been shut down.
Moreover, the Department of Foreign Affairs was training its officers in gender
awareness and the basic human rights instruments, including the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
65. The Civil Service Commission had issued a memorandum granting married women
60 days of maternity leave with full pay. The Department of Labour and
Employment was undertaking a continuous campaign of information and advocacy to
effectively implement the principle of equal pay for equal work. In order to
deal with the undervaluation of women’s work, that Department had also conducted
an occupational wage survey in all private-sector non-agricultural
establishments employing 10 or more workers. A survey of labour conditions in
the free-trade zones was also in progress and was expected to provide
recommendations for improving monetary and working benefits for workers in those
zones. Laws had been passed to increase maternity benefits in the private
sector, increase the minimum wage of house-helpers and provide social security
benefits to those earning at least 1,000 Philippine pesos per month, and grant
seven full days of paternity leave with pay to all married male employees. No
data on the impact of those laws were available.
66. The Department of Social Welfare and Development maintained a regular daycare centre evaluation programme, and had recently proposed that national
government agencies and Government-owned or controlled corporations should
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