Section 3 - Educating and Partnering for CEDAW

The UN Gender Mainstreaming Committee (UN-GMC) members all pitched in to
help CEDAW SEAP in its first salvo to make CEDAW known in the Philippines. It
was the beginning of the partnership with UN agencies that will be known as the
UN Joint Programme on CEDAW which will be discussed in the last chapter.
Multi-stakeholders consultations
To stimulate awareness and exchange of ideas on how to make CEDAW work
in the country, the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College was
among the first implementing partners commissioned by CEDAW SEAP to
conduct consultations with national government, local governments, women
NGOs, and schools in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao on CEDAW implementation
in the Philippines. This led to the development of an overview-framework paper
aimed at strengthening CEDAW implementation for achieving Filipino women’s
human rights.
Josefa “Gigi” Francisco coordinated the project and invited Atty. Eleanor Conda
to lead in the preparation of the Framework Paper. Jeanne Frances Illo, Atty.
Carol Ruiz Austria and Annie Serrano, who were among the key resource persons
during the workshops, also provided inputs to the paper. The team conducted
a series of brainstorming meetings for both the development of the framework
paper and the design of the multi-stakeholders’ consultation workshops. The
design of the workshop evolved into the following:
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