Reaffirming, Rekindling, Reinforcing:
PCW and Women’s Organizations Renew Partnership
through Ugnayan para sa Kababaihan
Philippine Commission on Women, NGOs, and CSOs gathered for the first Ugnayan para sa Kababaihan sa Hilagang Luzon.
Paving the path for meaningful partnership and collaboration, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) brought together leaders of non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Northern Luzon to the first Ugnayan para sa Kababaihan: A Dialogue with Women Leaders to Accelerate Women’s Empowerment. This is a two-day consultation in advancing PCW-women partnership, held at Hotel Seoul Clark, Pampanga on October 27-28, 2025.
As partners for gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE), PCW recognized the role of NGOs and CSOs as grassroots advocates in the implementation of laws and policies on GEWE, emphasizing that true gender equality can be achieved through strong collaboration between the government and civil society.
Bringing Back Linkages: Why We Are Here
For over 50 years, PCW remains rooted to its connection with women, women’s organizations, NGOs, and CSOs. Using the metaphor of “having the same DNA,” PCW Chairperson Ermelita V. Valdeavilla emphasized how PCW shares the same passion and vision with these organizations, as she enjoined the participants to “stick together so we can work better”.
PCW Chairperson Ermelita V. Valdeadilla delivers her welcome remarks with enthusiasm and hope for better partnership with women’s organizations.
Chair Valdevilla also stressed on the power of women’s voices, be it in the government, in any sector, and in the community, as well as the importance of their perspectives and insights on challenges that need to be considered in regional, national, and international discourses and policies.
True to the spirit of “ugnayan”, this consultation workshop built a stronger bridge between policy and practice—between the government vision and grassroots voices.“Our goal is not simply to share what PCW is doing, but to invite you to co-create solutions—to listen, learn, and move forward together”, Chairperson Valdeavilla said.
As the Commission envisioned this partnership grounded in shared responsibility and mutual empowerment, NGOs and CSOs were called to be co-architects of change and to amplify accountability. They were called to ensure that gender equality is not just a commitment inked on paper, but a lived reality empowered and experienced until the grassroots level.
Building Knowledge: What They Need To Know
Interactive discussions sparked the interest of the participants to further know and explore avenues where their organizations and the Commission can mutually work together. These discussions covered PCW’s policies and programs including the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women, GEWE plan, and international and regional commitments; Women’s Priority Legislative Agenda; and the PCW’s strategic mechanisms at the regional level.
Plenary Speakers share their knowledge on PCW policy and program, 20th Congress WPLA, and the Regional Strategic Mechanisms.
The realization that there are still policies and mechanisms on GEWE that the women’s organizations lacked knowledge of amplified the commitment of the Commission to strengthen partnership with this sector.
Women leaders engaged in plenary discussions, sharing insights and recommendations.
Bridging the discussions made in the plenary, participants were divided into groups to discuss issues and initiatives under the following themes:
- Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
- Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) – On Livelihood, Employment, and Entrepreneurship
- Women’s Political Participation and Leadership, and
- Emerging Issues – Climate Change, ICT, and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), and Youth
Participants take part in identifying issues, barriers, current efforts, and proposals on different themes on GEWE.
This session surfaced evidence-based challenges—seen, encountered, and experienced by women and women’s organizations at the local level—and opportunities, which highlighted the gaps and strengths of the region where they operate.
Representatives of each sector presented their outputs, emphasizing the priority issues and forward-looking recommendations.
Learning from different perspectives of sectors, the workshop also presented current efforts and forward-thinking proposals and recommendations that would help in eliminating these pressing issues of inequality. Reinforcing this partnership, breakout groups shared their commitments through posters signifying their strong support towards this partnership and collaboration.
Committed to preserving this undertaking, PCW assured participants that issues raised during the consultation will be raised, especially those that concern other relevant agencies. PCW ensures continuous communication with CSOs/NGOs, promising to make them part of the Commission’s directory for future engagements and have a mechanism to which both parties will easily connect to each other.
Participating CSOs/NGOs pledged their intentions to serve as VAWG watch groups, in addition to the existing watch groups the country already has. They also signified willingness to serve and help in monitoring and resolving issues, such as violence and abuse against women, commonly present in barangays. They expressed interest to be trained as resource persons on women’s laws, policies, programs and initiatives for women across the country and the PCW commits to develop their capacities for such purposes.
Women’s organizations, NGOs, and CSOs seal commitments through creative posters.
Power to Empower: Moving Forward Together
workplans. Consolidated outputs and key findings will be presented in national gender and development (GAD) events, the ASEAN report, PPGD and GEWE Plan reviews, together with the next consultations in Metro Manila, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
PCW Executive Director Nharleen-Santos Millar assured the participants that the results of the consultation workshop and their recommendations will be reviewed, regarded, and incorporated into national, regional, and local GEWE strategies, including the on-going crafting of the successor plan to Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (1995-2025).
PCW Executive Director Nharleen Santos-Millar wraps up the consultation with ways forward and commitments from PCW.
This dialogue with women’s groups is the first of a series of planned consultation workshops that will cover Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Through this initiative, PCW intends to strengthen collaboration with women’s organizations throughout the country, to aid in amplifying the voices of women at the grassroots level—listening and learning from them—recognizing that they are the heart and soul of the women’s movement, and are strong pillars for a truly gender-responsive and inclusive Philippines.