Women Rise Above COVID: A Visual Summary of Online Discussions for the Women and Girls at the Center of COVID-19 Prevention Programme in the Philippines

In the Philippines, UN Women implemented the Government of Japan-funded “Women and Girls at the Center of COVID-19 Prevention” programme which aimed to increase women’s capacities, resources and skills to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in communities at risk, allow women’s groups and networks to influence and contribute to gender-responsive policies on COVID-19, and leverage national and regional platforms to advance research and tools to inform inclusive and gender-responsive national and regional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for socio-economic responses. Prior to the culmination of the project in May 2021, UN Women hosted a series of online discussions to discuss continuing gaps and challenges experienced by women and girls in the Philippines’ COVID-19 response, to determine ways forward in terms of policy and advocacy and women and girls’ continued access to information, and to identify relevant collaborations with other stakeholders as UN Women continues its work during the pandemic. This report summarizes the four sessions organized by UN Women from April to May 2021.

UN Women is sincerely grateful to Pushpin Visual Solutions for this creative summary of the online discussions, and Tofu Creatives for providing graphic recordings of each session. We are also grateful for the team behind the successful online discussions, namely:

1. Ms. Rasheede Caritativo, COVID-19 Communications and Advocacy Consultant of UN Women;
2. Atty. Patricia Miranda, Policy Consultant;
3. Ms. Ana Margarita Vineles, Programme Support Consultant;
4. Ms. Maricel Aguilar, who facilitated our online discussions;
5. Mr. Alfredo Raymond Mahinan III and Mr. Bayani Generoso Jr., who provided Filipino Sign Language interpretation for the events; and
6. Ms. Camille Adle, Programme Analyst, COVID-19 Prevention and Humanitarian Action.