Leyte inks second MOA with GREAT Women Project

The Provincial Government of Leyte, headed by the Leyte Governor and the three municipal mayors of Barugo, Baybay and Tanauan, inked a second Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the GREAT Women Project (GWP). The signing of the second MOA provides for the annual budget and deliverables of partner LGUs under the GREAT Women Project.

The MOA renews the partnership of Leyte and Philippine Commission on Women under the GREAT Women Project and sets off the implementation of the second work and financial plans of Leyte and its pilot municipalities. Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla and PCW Executive Director Emmeline Verzosa led the MOA Signing on December 3 at the Governor’s Hall within Capitol Grounds in Tacloban City.

Leyte Governor Petilla welcomed the MOA signing as a result of the “the successful implementation of the first work and financial plan in the province and in the pilot municipalities and the positive results of the Project midterm evaluation.” 

Toward the end of 2008, the PCW, the Province of Leyte and the pilot municipalities sealed a partnership to implement GWP for three years. The GWP is a governance and capacity development project that aims to promote and support a gender-responsive enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment (WEE), particularly, women-led micro-enterprises. 

Within the first two years of project implementation in Leyte, the GWP assisted partner LGUs in crafting gender- and WEE-responsive legislations such as Gender and Development (GAD) Code, creating of pools of trainors’ on GAD and WEE, increasing the local GAD plan and budget, crafting a gender-responsive comprensive development plan, strengthening GAD Councils, and in strengthening stakeholder convergence to aid women microentrepreneurs (WMEs). The new MOA seeks to promote continuous improvement of gender mainstreaming in respective plans, programs, activities and services for WMEs. (With reports from PIA 8 and Henry Abawag, GWP-Leyte Local Area Coordinator.)