PCW Memorandum Circular No. 2019-01: 2019 National Women’s Month Celebration

To	All Heads of Executive Departments, Agencies, Bureaus, Offices, State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Government-Owned and/or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs), Legislative and Judiciary Branches, Constitutional Bodies, Local Government Units and All Others Concerned
Subject	2019 National Women’s Month Celebration
Date	22 February 2019

1. Purpose

This Memorandum Circular is issued to provide a general guide for stakeholders regarding the National Women’s Month Celebration on March 1-31, 2019.

2. Background and Policy Mandates

The Philippine Commission on Women, in coordination with various stakeholders, spearheads the National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC), which is conducted annually in recognition of women’s significant contributions to nation-building.

The following issuances serve as legal bases for the celebration:

• Proclamation No. 224 s. 1988 – Declaring the first week of March each year as Women’s Week and March 8 as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day;

• Proclamation No. 227 s. 1988 – Providing for the observance of the Month of March as Women’s Role in History Month; and

• Republic Act 6949 s. 1990 – Declaring March 8 of every year as National Women’s Day.

Relative to the above, the country also celebrates the Girl Child Week and the Women with Disabilities Day within Women’s Month pursuant to the following:

• Proclamation No. 759 s. 1996 – Declaring every fourth week of March as the Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week. This underscores the need to provide every girl who is below 18 years of age with equal opportunities and adequate protection to prepare her for a role in community development.

• Proclamation No. 744 s. 2004 – Declaring the last Monday of March of every year as Women with Disabilities Day to emphasize the inclusion of women with disabilities within the society who deserve equal rights in the field of law and in all aspects of human endeavor.

3. NWMC Theme and Objectives

3.1 Campaign Theme

The NWMC theme for the period 2017-2022 is “We Make Change Work for Women,” highlighting the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development. This pursuit of development is also anchored on the government’s commitment of “malasakit, pagbabago, at patuloy na pag-unlad”. This can be made possible by empowering women – enabling them to meaningfully engage with other development stakeholders, and by fully implementing the Magna Carta of Women (MCW).

3.2 Elements of the Theme

We or WE also stands for Women’s Empowerment – empowering women enables them to confidently and meaningfully engage with appropriate institutions to ensure that they contribute to and benefit from development and changes. Thus, women’s empowerment will make the change that we are espousing or any development effort responsive of women’s concerns.

Make Change Work = MCW = Magna Carta of Women – making change work for women necessitates strengthening the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) at all levels. It means putting in place functional mechanisms as well as implementing and making known to citizens, programs and services that address the strategic gender needs of women.

Change – also means Compassionate and Harmonized Actions and Networks for Gender Equality.

We/us or kami/tayo in Filipino – who is going to pave the way for an enabling environment for women to be empowered? Who is going to ensure that the MCW is implemented at all levels? Who is going to make change work for women? It all of us, in our various capacities, whether as government officials and employees, members of the private sector, the academe, non-government organizations, or as private individuals, can be partners for a change that is gender-responsive. It emphasizes our collective effort, collaboration, and participation to ensure that women will not be left behind in the pursuit of change.

3.3 Objectives

All NWMC activities should contribute to achieving any the following objectives:

• inform and engage women as stakeholders of government programs and services – to promote citizen-centric governance and make “change” a conscious effort to know, understand, and provide what ALL citizens need;

• create and facilitate platforms to discuss good practices, gaps, challenges, and commitments in pursuing gender and development (GAD) – to strengthen implementation of the MCW; and 

• inspire and empower women and girls to be agents of change – to contribute in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

3.4 NWMC Focus for 2019

The 2019 NWMC shall focus on strengthening efforts to improve and track the progress of implementation of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), and other relevant laws and commitments to the international community such as the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Government instrumentalities primarily mandated to work in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services, and sustainable infrastructure can also be guided by the International Women’s Day theme and focus for 2019 – “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change,” by finding innovative ways to advance gender equality and empowerment of women in these sectors.

4. Guidelines and Suggested Activities

Government agencies and instrumentalities, non-government organizations, sectoral groups, private and civil society organizations at the national, regional, and local levels, including local government units, are enjoined to conduct any of the following activities in line with the objectives and focus of the 2019 NWMC:

4.1 Production of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Materials

• Hanging of 2019 NWMC official streamer in all government agencies, including regional offices, local government units, and Philippine embassies and consulates
• Development, production and distribution of IEC materials for 2019 NWMC which include collaterals designed by PCW and agency-specific materials like flyers that feature agency services offered to their women clients

4.2 Participating in the #PurpleFridays initiative

• Wearing Purple T-shirts/blouses/polo every Fridays of March (March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29) in support of #PurpleFridays. Agencies providing advocacy shirts for this initiative shall use the prescribed T-shirt/polo shirt design which they can download from the PCW website
• Agencies are encouraged to either suspend implementation of their respective uniform policy on the said dates, or wear purple accessories or accents like button pins, scarves, wristbands, or ribbons with their uniform for the day

4.3 Participating in Women’s Month online advocacy

• Uploading of the official logo, advocacy video and other NWMC advocacy materials in government agencies’ website, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter pages and using 2019 NWMC Facebook Camera Effects
• Following PCW’s official social media accounts and sharing updates and posts about the NWMC
  • Facebook page
  • Twitter
  • Youtube Channel
• Participating in the online campaign thread about the observance using the hashtag #WomenMakeChange
• Featuring the organization’s calendar of activities and activity implementation reports and Women’s Month advocacy materials on their official websites, social media accounts, and publications, and sending links to the reports to PCW through e-mail events.pcw@gmail.com.

4.4 Organizing or co-organizing NWMC activities at the agency, regional, or local level

• All government agencies and local government units are encouraged to include NWMC announcements in their respective Flag Raising Ceremonies on Mach 4, 2019 (the first Monday of March).
• Agencies and LGUs are also encouraged to organize their own NWMC activities and information drive to promote their gender-responsive programs and services for their clients.
• Those at the regional and local level may consider coordinating with their respective regional and local GAD mechanisms, such as the Regional GAD Councils in holding inter-agency activities aimed at strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Magna Carta of Women in the area
• The use the All-Women Cast Lupang Hinirang Video in NWMC activities is also encouraged. The music video can be downloaded here.
• Activities in support of the Girl Child Week and the Women with Disabilities Day Celebration are also encouraged. Agencies and LGUs may contact the Council for the Welfare of Children and the National Council on Disability Affairs for guidance.

4.5 Participation of key Officers in the PCW-hosted event Making Changes Work for Women: The 2019 National Women’s Day Conference on March 8, 2019 at the PICC (by invitation only)

The National Women’s Day Conference will serve as the venue for the PCW to launch the Gender Responsive Local Government Unit (GERL) Toolkit; the Certification of new GAD Local Learning Hubs; and the launching of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Plan, and GEWE Monitoring and Evaluation Compendium. PCW will send a separate invitation to agencies and awardee-LGUs relative to this activity.

GERL Toolkit. The GERL Assessment Tool aims to measure the extent of gender-responsiveness of the LGUs, both provincial and city/municipal levels, in terms of its capacities as an organization and its delivery of basic services and facilities. Specifically, the objectives of the GeRL Assessment Tool are the following: (1) gather data and information on the level of LGUs’ GAD mainstreaming efforts and practices; (2) serve as a monitoring and evaluation tool to measure the extent of gender responsiveness of the LGU as an organization and in the delivery of basic services and facilities; and (3) identify the gaps and corresponding strategies to achieve gender-responsive local governance.

Certification of new GAD Local Learning Hubs. The GAD Local Learning Hubs (GAD LLHs) showcase innovative GAD structures, processes, and programs that have been sustained or improved by LGUs through the years. GAD LLHs are meant for sharing and replicating good practices, ultimately giving other LGUs the opportunity to think outside the box when implementing GAD initiatives. LGUs seeking to imbibe GAD innovations can learn from the GAD LLHs and get inspiration on how to infuse GAD in local governance and public service. This year, PCW shall award seven (7) LGUs to join the roster of PCW’s certified GAD LLHs. 

LGUs that wish to share their innovative GAD initiatives are encouraged to await the call for profiling for the next batch of LLH which shall be announced through PCW’s website and social media accounts. They may also contact PCW’s Technical Services and Regional Coordination Division for inquiries about the LLH certification process

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Plan 2019-2025. The GEWE Plan serves as guide and key reference in formulating GAD Plans and Budgets of agencies, and is aligned with and supports the vision of the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. It provides concrete strategies to realize the objectives of the long-term perspective plan on GEWE, the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development 1995-2025. It will also contribute to the realization of the AmBisyon Natin 2040, the Beijing Platform for Action implementation, and the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal No. 5 on Achieving Gender Equality.

Compendium of GEWE indicators. The Compendium presents a menu of indicators to aid development stakeholders in monitoring and evaluating the results of the interventions and investments undertaken towards the realization of GEWE in various sectoral and thematic areas of concern in the Philippines. It is a tool and reference guide to inform planners and policymakers on their need to design, approve, implement, monitor and evaluate policies, plans, programs, and projects supporting GEWE outcomes and other results. 

5. Use of Gender and Development Budget

The NWMC is one of the annual advocacy events spearheaded by the PCW. It promotes public awareness on women’s issues and recognizes the vital role of women in society. As such, expenses related to the 2019 NWMC may be charged to the Gender and Development (GAD) Budget of government agencies and LGUs and may be reflected in the 2019 GAD accomplishment report of the government offices, provided that the activities conducted are in line with the theme and focus area of concern provided in this Circular.

6. Inquiries and Feedback

Stakeholders are advised to visit the National Women’s Month page for more information and updates about the 2019 NWMC. 

For questions and clarifications, agencies may contact PCW’s Corporate Affairs and Information Resource Management Division (02) 735-85-09, (02) 735-16-54 local 131, 0917-845-4814 (Nikki Delos Santos-Francisco or Trisha Reyes) or email media@pcw.gov.ph.

For your guidance and appropriate action.

(Sgd) RHODORA T. MASILANG-BUCOY
Chairperson

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