Oxfam in the Philippines

A babysitter’s diary: girl power & hope in the age of the open market

By Glenn Maboloc

Spring had begun in Istanbul when we arrived last April, a break from the summer that was starting to test people’s patience in Manila.

We had traveled more than 13 hours to reach the former capital of Turkey for one of the world’s largest recurring feminist gatherings of its kind, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Forum.

Read the rest of the entry »

‘Inclusive growth’, an ADB catch phrase on the verge of real meaning

"For ADB and for many countries in Asia, the real challenge is how to realize the idea of inclusive growth, beyond the general prescription of promoting high and sustained economic growth, to create economic opportunities and benefits for poor men and women." Photo: Lan Mercado/Oxfam

ADB and the challenge of inclusive growth  Read the rest of the entry »

Women at the forefront of change

Zenaida ‘Zeny’ Mansiliohan is the vice president of the National Rural Women Congress, an organization supported by Oxfam in the Philippines to advance the rights of  women from the countryside who produce half of the country’s food. Under its campaign GROW, which aims to find better ways of growing, consuming and managing food, Oxfam brought Zeny to meet with other women leaders to talk about the world’s failing food system and other economic issues confronting poor women at the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. In her own words, Zeny reflects on her experience at AWID, held from 19 to 22 April.

Read the rest of the entry »

A woman is a mother — and more

Rebecca ‘Becca’ Miranda, president of a national federation of rural women, through the support of Oxfam in the Philippines under its GROW campaign, attended the 12th Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum in Istanbul, Turkey from 19 to 22 April 2012. The AWID Forum saw some 2,200 women take on what eminent Southern feminist Gita Sen called a ‘fierce new world’ in which poor women must fight for access to and control of resources being wrested away from them by an aggressive global political and market order.  What follows is a reflection of Becca on her participation at the AWID Forum. Except for minor editing, this piece is wholly the work of Becca.

Read the rest of the entry »

Filipina leaders join int’l women’s conference in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Turkey  - More than 2,000 women’s rights activists and grassroots leaders from across the world have come together for the 12th Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum opening today, 19 April, and running until 22 April.

Themed Transforming Economic Power, the AWID Forum seeks to identify ways for women to engage, challenge and change the dominant global economic system which has fallen under greater scrutiny since it unraveled in 2008.

Read the rest of the entry »

‘Sendong’ epilogue: resilience and gratitude

I spent two days last week visiting some of the people who’ve been affected by tropical storm Sendong (international name: Washi) and whom Oxfam has been assisting in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. They lost their houses and, in many cases, even family members, including children, to rampaging floods that had been unleashed by Sendong. Hearing them talk about the terror and helplessness they felt in the face of nature’s fury was heart-rending.

Read the rest of the entry »

Cherry Pie Picache, Ping Medina open country’s first women’s market

The mood was festive, the air charged with good cheer and excitement as the Women’s Market, a project of Oxfam in the Philippines  and partners, set up shop for the first time in Mindanao. Oxfam ambassadors Cherry Pie Picache and Ping Medina got the crowd on its feet when they put on an impromptu musical performance.

Read the rest of the entry »

Women key to new ‘agricultural future’

Women food producers like Aida Fernandez (a seaweed farmer from Mindanao, the Philippines' food basket) produce half of the country's food but receive less support than men.

Even as some Filipino women have broken glass ceilings and won presidencies, many more remain invisible and marginalized, left to fend for themselves. This is the lot of women from the countryside, the women who grow the nation’s food and yet have scarcely enough to eat, because selling all their harvests barely earns them enough to support their families.

Read the rest of the entry »