Section 3 - Educating and Partnering for CEDAW

• A matrix mapping Muslim women initiatives and rights in the provinces of
Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur was done.
• A sectoral implementation framework for CEDAW for the provinces of
Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur was outlined.
The Muslim women partners recommend that actions be undertaken on the
following:
• Research on the cultural practice on early, arranged and forced marriage and
its discriminatory effects on women
• Possible use of OP-CEDAW mechanisms for violations of Muslim women’s
rights
• Constituency-building among Muslim women and their communities through
the conduct of IEC activities and module-making
• Mainstreaming CEDAW in local government units and the ARMM regional
government system
• Study, formulation and draft recommendations for Temporary Special
Measures based on Article 4 and General Recommendations No. 25 of
CEDAW
The conduct of preliminary consultations with rural and Muslim women gave a more
updated picture of community-based realities, especially on the cultural attitudes
and relative openness as starting point for organizing on women’s rights issues.
From this list of recommendations, the project on “Promoting Gender-Responsive
Governance for Rural, Indigenous and Muslim women in the Philippines” was
submitted to the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) Round II and granted U$ 300,000.
It will cover two years from October 2008 to September 2010. The PKKK will
handle the rural women component; Nisa will lead the Muslim women component,
in collaboration with AMDFI and other women’s groups.
The project will address issues of marginalization, gender discrimination and
violation of human rights among rural, indigenous and Muslim women in the
Phlippines. It has two distinct components: one on rural and indigenous women,
and another on Muslim women. Both components will run on parallel tracks
with similar strategies in the areas of (1) baseline research and benchmarking of
CEDAW implementation; (2) advocacy for adoption of gender-responsive policies,
programs, structures and other measures for rural, indigenous and Muslim women;
and (3) capacity-building of women’s groups.
Both will engage local governance processes with participatory planning as an
entry point. In this way, it is expected that women’s economic, political and social
rights will be integrated into new policies, programmes, structures and measures
that will be adopted, with particular emphasis on women’s property rights to land,
natural and coastal resources and ancestral domain claims.
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