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PHILIPPINES’ PIONEERING ROLE REMEMBERED IN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATIONS IN CHONGQING

Clockwise: CG Flerida ACP Mayo tackles gender issues from the Philippine perspective at She Leads-Crowne Plaza’s International Women’s Day Celebration on March 8; CG Mayo (in blue) joins Dr. Rosie Xing, Ms. Sharon Fraser, Italian Consul General Adriana Lori and Ms. Shi Xuelian in a panel of mentors for working women; Mrs. Mayo speaks on Philippine progress in closing the gender gap at the Foreign Affairs Office’s Chinese and Foreign Women’s Exchange Program on March 9; and ladies of the consular corps in Chongqing network with the Chongqing Women’s Federation, the Yuzhong District Women’s Federation, the High-tech Zone Women’s Federation, and the Eling Testbed Factory Women’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Base on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
 

10 March 2022 – In observance of International Women’s Day, the Philippine Consulate General in Chongqing headlined celebratory events dedicated to the cause of gender and development.

On March 8, Consul General Flerida Ann Camille P. Mayo joined, as speaker and panelist, the 2022 International Women’s Day forum which SheLeads and Crowne Plaza co-hosted.    In keeping with the forum’s #breakthebias theme, Consul General Mayo cited illustrations of gender stereotypes that are perpetuated in grade school textbooks.   She supported the institutionalization of gender audits in order to surface unconscious biases, including those that have been baked into school books and activities that shape young minds.

At the 2022 International Women’s Event hosted by the Chongqing Foreign Affairs Office and co-organized by the Consulates General of the Philippines and Japan, Consul General Mayo joined Chongqing’s female leaders in a roundtable discussion on Women’s Career Development and Protection Mechanisms for Women’s Rights and Interests.  There, she pointed to the raft of laws and policies that have helped Philippine efforts to close the gender gap across the key dimensions of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.  “Through whole-of-government efforts, the Philippines ranked 17th in the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Gender Gap Report.  While the Philippines has closed 78.4% of its overall gender gap, broader efforts are required to achieve gender parity in terms of labor force participation, income and wage, and political empowerment,” she remarked.

On both occasions, Consul General Mayo touted the Philippines’ lead role in shaping the global agenda on gender equality.  “For over 55 years, the Philippines has been a stalwart champion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls,” she said.  Consul General Mayo recalled in this regard the pioneering efforts of Helena Benitez, Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Patricia Licuanan and Rosario Manalo who were among the Filipino women who have strenuously advanced women’s advocacies in the international community and at home. 

The twin events afforded participants the opportunity to share personal and national experiences before expatriate and Chinese audiences.  “I wish that our gathering today will presage even more meaningful interaction that will help fulfill our common aspirations for women’s empowerment through enlightened policies and progressive actions, including science and innovation-based initiatives, that actually work for women and girls,” the Consul General  suggested. END