3 municipalities selected for GREAT Women project
Participants from the Province of Iloilo flank the
representatives from the National Commission on the Role
of Filipino Women (NCRFW) namely Tess Salud, Deputy
Executive Director (4th from left), Luzviminda A. Villanueva,
Project Manager (5th from left) and Mel M. Silva, Project
Consultant (6th from left) after Gender Responsive Economic
Action for the Transformation of Women (GREAT Women)
Project Orientation for Iloilo on August 13, 2008.
Three municipalities in the province of Iloilo were selected as pilot towns for Gender Responsive Economic Action for the Transformation (GREAT) of Women Project in a meeting with the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) representatives last week.
These municipalities are Barotac Viejo (5th district), Pavia (2nd District) and Miagao (1st District). They were selected based on high potential for development, women in business, local chief executive's support to Gender and Development, peace and order, poverty incidence, convergence with other existing projects or programs (local or foreign funded), and absorptive capacity of the LGU to handle or manage foreign assisted projects, as criteria.
The said municipalities will be recommended to Gov. Niel D. Tupas, Sr. and the interest of their respective mayor to the project will be validated. However, if the mayors are uninterested, the project will then be moved to the next highest scoring municipality. Other municipalities that belonged to top 5 are Badiangan and Alimodian.
The Memorandum of Agreement between the NCRFW and pilot municipalities will be on September 29, 2008 while the project briefing with the PTWG will be on September 30, 2008.
The Great Women Project is a five-year project (2006-2011) of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) as the project's local executing agency with funding support from CIDA. It is a capacity development initiative that aims to support and promote the economic empowerment of women, especially those in micro-enterprises, by contributing to the creation of a gender-responsive enabling environment for micro-enterprise development. It has three components: (1) Capacity development for NCRFW, (2) National enabling environment for women's economic empowerment (WEE) and (3) Local enabling for WEE.
Meanwhile, Provincial Administrator Manuel P. Mejorada on his remarks stressed the importance of empowered women.
He said they (women) are effective partners in driving the economy forward.
Mejorada said further the province of Iloilo is fortunate to be a partner of the GREAT Women Project as this can change the thinking of women, to not always look for dole outs or money but more in how they can change their attitudes and outlook; to empower them to grab opportunities to propel themselves and their families economically.
He hopes that Iloilo will set as model for women's economic empowerment. With the success of the project in pilot municipalities will indicate that Iloilo is indeed on the right track, Mejorada added.
The orientation also served as venue for partner agencies to present their initiatives in gender and WEE in terms of policies, people, enabling mechanisms and programs and projects.
The orientation was attended by the members of Iloilo GAD Team, representatives from DOLE, DTI, DepEd, TESDA and UGSAD.
Guests from NCRFW, who also sponsored the orientation, were Luvy A. Villanueva, Project Manager, Tess Salud, Deputy Executive Director and Mel M. Silva, Project Consultant. (Capitol News)