Municipality of Abra de Ilog GAD LLH:
Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment and Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The Municipality of Abra de Ilog was one of the seven (7) LGUs recognized by the PCW in March 2019 for its notable efforts and sustained implementation of Likha Iraya, a program that promotes women’s economic empowerment through community-based enterprise development and management.
Likha Iraya is a livelihood program of the municipality Abra de Ilog set up to give indigenous women the opportunity to generate income and enable the IP communities to preserve their culture through the unique expression of their identity by showcasing women’s innate talent on handicrafts. Likha Iraya recognizes that the IP women’s skills to produce handicrafts should be sustained through intergenerational transfer.
To transform the Likha Iraya program into a resilient IP women-run enterprise, the municipality of Abra de Ilog organized four (4) IP women organizations with around 200 members and facilitated the transfer of the program under the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office to Mangyan Office Affairs.
The LGU of Abra de Ilog partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to capacitate Likha Iraya’s beneficiaries and IP women organization members in community-based business development and management, product costing and pricing, distribution system, and product integration to market. Training on branding was also provided to give the Likha Iraya products sellable image and help the IP women elevate the quality of their products.
These efforts resulted in the improved quality and packaging of products, expanded the market and increased the income of IP women. It also enables the Likha Iraya products to be exhibited and sold regularly in various fairs and exhibits, and often chosen as a regional and a national prototype of other handcrafted products. The Likha Iraya program plays an essential part in championing the strategic goal of Improving the Participation, Leadership and Benefits of Marginalized Women in Government Policy and Service given that the program ensures inclusive representations of IP’s in the livelihood program of the Municipality of Abra de Ilog.
GAD LLH Coordinator:
Information Officer Celeste Arile-Moreno
Email Address: lgu.abradeilog@gmail.com
Cellphone Number: 0918-456-7424
GAD Local Learning Hubs:
Abra de Ilog (Likha Iraya)
Aklan (ACCW and MOVE-Aklan Chapter)
Baybay City (BMIS and WEE Program)
Davao City (IGDD, OSC-VAW, CMC, and Ray of Hope Village)
Iloilo (Convergence for Women’s Economic Empowerment Program)
Mabalacat City (Early Childhood Care and Development Program)
Misamis Occidental (PGADO)
Naga (Bantay Familia, GROW Negosyo Program, and Breast Feeding Program)
Palawan (LWC)
Pangasinan (PCIC)
Quezon City (QCPC and Social Hygiene and Sundown Clinics)
Quezon Province (PGADO, LKB Program, and 2-in-1 Program)
