I find myself in the middle of the “feminine energy.†By this I mean, riding the tide of a very important change happening in this new time of rising consciousness and greater emphasis on personal evolution. I see the feminine energy manifesting itself in the constructive and transformational force that it is meant to be. However, let me note that this energy has much less to do with sexuality as it does with the basic human approach to living life and one’s primary world view of human thought and behavior. From considering life as a place to push individual superiority and striving to take power and control in the old patriarchal ways, the new consciousness is definitely taking on a more feminine approach of inclusion and lifting the group up as a whole. I believe we are at the tipping point where women will awaken to their own power and know their role in the balancing of the messed up world we are in today. Allow me to highlight some exciting things happening locally.
For the past five years, the Philippine Commission for Women has been running a Canadian-funded program called the GREAT Project to focus on women’s economic empowerment, or what they nicknamed as “WEE.†GREAT by itself is the acronym for Gender Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women. A year back, the ECHOsi Foundation (as private sector partner) actively involved itself to support the enterprise development of women micro-entrepreneurs, launching the Great Women Brand. The result after the five-year program ended recently was the creation of the GREAT Women Platform, which brings together development directions, enterprise support initiatives in a model of inclusion and convergence of national, local, NGOs, women’s groups and private sector groups resulting in outcomes in improved local business policy, projects and services for women’s businesses.
This is an integrated platform to address the “gender issues†in enterprise development and deliver economic development that is truly inclusive. Implemented as both a gender-responsive governance and enterprise value chain support platform, it brings together all stakeholders who work to address issues of “exclusivity†and jobless growth. Its direction is to support women moving up the supply-value chain, which may be supported by technology while focused on innovative solutions, services and products. More than anything else The Great Women Platform and Brand is envisioned to be the “positive speak†to help change the Filipina’s image internationally.
This platform has been presented as our country’s gender platform in various international gatherings such as APEC Women’s Economic Forum in St. Petersburg and Bali, APEC related meetings in Taipei and the United Nations, at Oxfam’s Conference in Jordan and the Middle East region among others. I do hope that other multi-agency groups in government support this wholeheartedly through their gender and development (GAD) budget.
Meanwhile, the Women Corporate Directors Philippine Chapter was formed, and the recent WCD Asia Institute gathering was held in Singapore. The main focus of WCD is to identify and help bring more women directors in boards of both private and publicly listed companies aside from making corporate boards more diverse (multi-skilled, multi-ethnic, multi-generational). We need at least three women in these boards, and in the Philippines, we are trying to gather some kind of data to see how we are faring. WCD’s other role is to help build up and develop the pipeline of younger women who can be brought to positions of leadership and decision-making. When more women sit in decision- making roles, this enhances corporate governance and benefits the economic outcomes.
Now, I find myself adding on to my already hectic schedule (so typical of woman multi-tasking) by spearheading another non-profit, this time for business and professional women, the BPW Makati group, which is linked to the International Federation of BPW. Through this, Filipina professionals become part of a global group with presence in five continents. BPW International is the NGO signatory to the UN Global Compact, specifically under the United Nations Women that focuses on women’s empowerment principles.
When we put the core group together, the main task was to rally the Filipina professionals and businesswomen toward leadership competencies while supporting women SME’s capacity and enterprise building. And we created an advocacy rally cry for all: Women Stepping Up! So we begin this with a whole day forum with international speakers as well as leading Filipina professionals coming up on Nov. 12, with mentoring workshops throughout the year focused on financial investments and understanding, professional capacity building, public speaking and the like. Hopefully, through this advocacy, the Filipina’s international image changes and we build a strong credible base of younger women leaders. After all, the 21st century is said to be the Century of Women.
(All business and professional women are invited to a whole day forum entitled “Women Stepping Up: Conversations on Women Leadership and Empowerment†on Nov. 12 at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. The event is co-sponsored
by the BPW Makati PH Club and the RCBC. Register online at www.womensteppingup.org.)