CEDAW/C/PHI/Q/6/Add.1 (8.4%). Of the seventeen regions, women were found to be better off than the country’s general population in only 5 regions, namely NCR, Regions II, III, IV-A and XI. The regions where women worse off were mostly found in the Visayas and Mindanao islands, where many areas are considered rural. Statistics generated by the Assessment of Vulnerability to Poverty in the Philippines Study revealed that vulnerability to poverty is still higher the rural areas (62.0%) than urban areas (26.3%). Families in the rural areas also tended to be more highly vulnerable than those in the urban areas as the former generated a high-vulnerability incidence estimate of 39.4%, even much higher than the estimated national incidence of 27.0%. The vulnerability incidence in the urban areas was notably even compared with that in rural areas. The Philippine report’s section on Article 13 provided information on anti-poverty programs of the current administration. One of these is the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI –CIDSS). The KALAHI program serves as an anchor program for poverty reduction and is being implemented through the convergence of services and resources provided by government in partnership with other stakeholders in the poor barangays in the lowest income municipalities of the country. Rural women are expected to benefit from this program which mainly targets the poorest barangays/communities of the country. As of 2005, 42 provinces, 101 municipalities and 2,367 barangays have already institutionalized the program. The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) as the prime mover of the KALAHI Program forged Basic Sector – Local Government Partnership through the BASELINK (at the national level) and the Regional KALAHI Convergence Groups (RKCG), a mechanism created in all 16 regions of the country to facilitate the implementation of poverty alleviation projects in poor areas targeted under the program. Said partnership allowed the basic sector representatives to participate in the preparation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of poverty alleviation plans. Impact assessment of implementation of the KALAHI is yet to be done. However, the local government units have adopted and implemented the Core Local Poverty Indicators Monitoring System (CLPIMS) and the Local Poverty Reduction Action Plans (LPRAPs) to ensure tracking of the country’s poverty reduction goals. NAPC developed the LPRAP design and assisted in the conduct of training in the provinces of La Union, Agusan del Sur, Oriental Mindoro and all KALAHI barangays in CARAGA. NAPC also formulated the LPRAP/LPIMS implementation strategy, capacitated the LGUs on these, and advocated for the funding of the LPRAP process. The Commission has operationalized a prototype anti-poverty program monitoring database entitled “Enhanced-Integrated Monitoring System for Anti-Poverty Programs and Projects (E-IMSAPP). The database can already be utilized as soon as all agencies are able to submit information on the activities, projects and programs. 26. The report mentions a bill pending in the House of Representatives that seeks to protect and promote the rights of rural women by recognizing the roles and contributions of rural women to the country’s economic development and food security and offers measures to enhance and develop their skills, provide employment and enable them to contribute to their communities to the fullest of their capabilities (para. 511(d)). Kindly provide information on the status of this bill and describe what specific measures have been taken to implement it. 25