Journeys out of the Ordinary | Tasini

Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2019

People tell me not to think about what happened. They say that it won’t help to think about it and that I should be strong and try to be happy like before. I know they mean well, but it will take some time before I can forget about the physical abuse I experienced when I was abroad. It will take some time before I can forget about having to sleep on a cold cement floor that caused my body to ache constantly. My employers beat me, and my body is covered in the evidence of that cruelty.

Journeys out of the Ordinary | Carina

Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2019

After my husband and I separated, life was hard for me and my children, so I decided to go abroad to work. It was painful leaving my children, but I didn’t know how else to take care of them. I was a domestic worker in Dubai, for a Libyan family. It was a good job, and the family was good to me. Then one day the son in this family came home in the middle of the day, which was unusual. He was with a friend and no one else was home. I didn’t think much of it at first and went to tidy up, and...

Journeys out of the Ordinary | Abegail

Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2019

My journey started when a woman in my village connected me and several other women to a “recruitment agency” offering waitressing jobs in Malaysia. We were brought to Manila, to “process our paperwork”. Some of the women were actually minors, and when some of us didn't have money for the “processing fees”, the recruitment agency said that they would cover all of the expenses and that it would be deducted from our salary when we started to work in Malaysia. My younger sister was with me,...

UN Women helps bring a rainbow to Metro Manila during Pride march

Date: Monday, July 15, 2019

The sun may not have been shining on the Metro Manila Pride March in Marikina City, but the horizon was nonetheless illuminated with bright rainbow flags and costumes celebrating the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community. Roughly 56,000 people took to the streets in the 29 June march to celebrate diversity of sexual expression and gender identity, and to rally for the rights of the LGBTQI community. This year’s theme was Resist Together, a call for advocates and supporters to fight discrimination against LGBTQI people.

Take Five: “It’s time for the Philippines to say, ‘MeToo!’”

Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Maica Teves, Executive Director of SPARK! Philippines, was primarily focused on women’s economic empowerment until she teamed up with other organizations to create a Filipino version of the #MeToo campaign to address gender-based violence. Through collaboration with SPARK!, UN Women, Empower, and the Embassy of Sweden in Manila, the #RespetoNaman (Respect Me) campaign was born.

Bangsamoro Women’s Summit raises grass-roots women’s voices and pushes for women’s participation in peacebuilding

Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2019

On the heels of the swearing in of a new transitional authority for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), UN Women hosted an Inaugural Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Women’s Summit from 28-29 March in Davao, southern Philippines, bringing together over 100 grass-roots women and maintaining momentum for their full participation in the new government. The Summit produced a women’s agenda, which called for: spaces to ensure women’s needs are met in laws.

From where I stand: “That is what we all want: a peaceful life.”

Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Narimbai Dimao, 48, is a mother and entrepreneur from Barangay Bulalo in the Bangsamoro area of the southern Philippines. She is a leader and active participant of UN Women’s programme to prevent violent extremism through women’s economic empowerment.

From where I stand: “We could be heroines, and we can create peace”

Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Islamia N. Kamakan, 28, is a mother and new entrepreneur from the Bangsamoro region of the southern Philippines. Her family fled fighting in another village, walking three days without food, to live in the Buayan community.

From where I stand: “Thanks to the women’s determination, we brought peace to the community”

Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Almira Maricor, 49, is a mother and entrepreneur from Orandang community in the Bangsamoro area of the southern Philippines. Almira, along with other women from Orandang, had the courage to mobilize the local government and successfully reduce conflict in their village.

Women in the Philippines raise their voices in the new BARMM to recognize women’s contribution to nation-building

Date: Friday, March 29, 2019

Over 100 women from various communities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) gathered today in Davao City to call for women’s meaningful participation in the newly established political entity. The Inaugural Bangsamoro Women’s Summit, led by UN Women in collaboration with the governments of Norway, Australia and Canada, brings together women from the communities in the Bangsamoro.