March is National Women’s Month but the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) stands together with women all-year-round to promote and celebrate the empowerment of women.

In line with this, the DSWD recently conducted last month and on to April, various activities to commemorate Women’s Month, which has for its theme,  “We Make Change Work for Women”. This theme is composed of several elements that signify women empowerment.

WE: stands for Women Empowerment – or giving women more authority or freedom. This also symbolizes that women empowerment starts with us.

Make Change Work: (or MCW) stands for Republic Act No. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women. This is a comprehensive women’s human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and promoting the rights of Filipino women, especially those in marginalized sector.

Change: stands for Compassionate and Harmonized Actions and Networks for Gender Equality.

The celebration started with DSWD staff signing a “We Make Change Work for Women” banner to signify DSWD’s support to women empowerment. Also, DSWD staff and their spouses attended a seminar-workshop on Gender Sensitivity for spouses.

A slogan-making contest was likewise held where representatives from various programs of DSWD competed to write a slogan,  capturing the essence of women empowerment. Several sports activities and parlor games such as badminton, chess,  and darts were conducted.

A lecture and quiz bee regarding Republic Act 9262 (also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004) were also conducted, to enhance the knowledge of DSWD staff regarding the provisions of this law.  This law aims to protect women and children from physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse.

A culmination activity was held at the ARCIVU Hall in Palo, Leyte, highlighted by a retro-dance competition, featuring representatives from different programs. Winners from the various activities were awarded and the night was capped by musicians who performed a serenade.#