Philippines

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WPHF is strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations in the Philippines working at the forefront of peace, security and humanitarian action — promoting women’s meaningful participation in conflict prevention and response, and supporting them in the registration process as legal entities in the country.

Our Work

In the Philippines, WPHF is partnering with INGOs to support local women’s rights organizations working to increase women’s participation in advocating for and ensuring accountability on WPS-HA commitments, as well as enhance women’s decision-making in conflict prevention and response.

WPHF is also channeling flexible financing to support civil society organizations in the registration process as legal entities in the Philippines, as well as other institutional strengthening activities, such as resource mobilization and proposal writing, to ensure their sustainability and the continuity of their activities.

Our Partners

WPHF is supporting 9 projects implemented by 14 women-led and/or women’s rights civil society organizations in the Philippines:

  • ACTED — together with UnYPhil Women — on a project aimed at building the capacity of 30 women-led CSOs in decision-making and advocacy through the improvement of their administrative and organizational capacity. This will be achieved through in-person trainings on administrative processes, proposal writing, resource mobilization, compliance, and monitoring and evaluation, as well as by increasing the CSOs’ knowledge on WPS-HA and gender mainstreaming through orientation and trainings on the Regional Action Plan on WPS; gender-sensitive Early Warning, Early Response, and GBV referral mechanisms; and transitional justice reconciliation.
  • CBCS on a project aiming to increase the ability of 30 CSOs in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to provide services and implement advocacy efforts to advance WPS commitments, as well as to enhance the CSOs’ knowledge and technical capacity to conduct gender-responsive conflict prevention, mediation, and peace advocacy. The activities will identify key training needs through conflict mapping, coaching and mentoring, workshops for local CSOs to hold community dialogues on peacebuilding, and trainings on community-based conflict prevention, mediation, and resolution.
  • Maranao People Development Center, Inc. (MARADECA) on a project to improve gender mainstreaming and programming, as well as support organizational initiatives and policies — including internal gender audits, staff trainings and focus group discussions with women and girls — to inform the organization’s capacity-building processes.
  • Pakigdait Alang sa Pag-Amoma sa Kalinaw, Inc. on a project aimed at enhancing its institutional capacity through a series of initiatives, including i) setting up a women-in-faith program on WPS and humanitarian action; ii) updating its operations manual; iii) developing a three-year strategic plan for WPS; iv) conducting proposals writing workshops; and v) hiring and training two women programmed officers.  
  • Initiatives for International Dialogue, Inc. (IID) on a project to further develop its institutional capacity to work on peace processes and/or peace agreements, and promote and protect women’s rights on issues of peace and human security. 
  • Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) on a project targeting 150 women leaders from 10 community-based women’s organizations and 20 community journalists to enhance their advocacy efforts and to ensure accountability of WPS commitments in peace negotiations. This will be achieved through a combination of several capacity-building workshops on advocacy strategies and the publication of journalistic pieces on issues related to conflict and gender. 
  • Generation Peace Youth Network, Inc. (GenPeace) on a project to support the implementation of the 2017-2022 Philippines National Action Plan on WPS, with a focus on advocating for the interests of vulnerable groups — particularly youth and young women — in situations of armed conflict and humanitarian concern resulting from conflict. The project targets 10 youth and 10 women’s rights organizations, seeking to strengthen their capacities on WPS advocacy through targeted capacity building on WPS and the establishment of a youth-led national forum for peace. 
  • Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute — together with Women Engaged in Action on 1325 (WE ACT) — on a project that supports civil society organizations and women’s rights organizations in building consensus over the WPS agenda for 2022-2028. The initiative also aims to ensure the meaningful participation of these groups by conducting consultation processes with 200 civil society organizations, as well as through advocacy work and action planning for the implementation of the new National Action Plans.  
  • Nonviolent Peaceforce Philippines — together with League of Moro Women’s Organization, Inc. (LMWOI) — on a project focused on increasing the meaningful participation and leadership of female ex-combatants in advocacy efforts, conflict transformation initiatives, and conflict prevention processes. This project aims to reach 460 people — including 80 former women combatants — through the establishment of a community-based early warning mechanism, as well as by conducting women multi-stakeholder consultations, trainings on gender equality, and gender-sensitive conflict resolution, mediation, and diplomacy. 
  • Transforming Fragilities, Inc. (TFI) — together with Lanao del Sur Local Women Mediators and Basilan Group — on a project aimed at guiding and building the capacity of 100 local women mediators to take part in participatory, community-based, baseline research on different types of conflicts. Participants will also enhance their ability to engage in mediation and conflict prevention policies and practices, as well as in conflict response and resolution mechanisms.  
  • Catholic Relief Services (CRS) — together with United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD) — on a project aimed at strengthening the capacities of 50 women’s associations and 250 women leaders in five municipalities in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to participate and lead in conflict prevention and response processes through trainings on leadership, gender, peacebuilding, conflict analysis, and early warning response systems.  

Background

With its fast growing population of 96.7 million in 2012 to 109.6 million in 2020, the Philippines, a nation made up of over 7,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, is one of the most populous countries in Southeast Asia. However, a significant number of Filipinos — almost 10% of the country’s population — are migrant workers living overseas, from where they send massive remittances that significantly contribute to their home country’s economy.

Women in the Philippines face persistent challenges regarding the feminization of migration and the lack of bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding between key countries and regions to which Filipino women migrate. As a result, women workers pursue employment opportunities through informal channels and are subsequently survivors of various forms of exploitation, violence, and trafficking.

Migration also further exacerbates issues around free trade, which negatively impact employment opportunities for women in rural and remote areas. On the one hand, unemployment rates and unequal wage gaps are prominent for women within the working sphere; on the other; female workers are often stigmatized and ineligible for social security and healthcare due to the overrepresentation of women in the informal economy.

Transitional justice is a critical component to strengthen the rule of law in a post-conflict setting and an integral element to peacebuilding, as it aims to redress for past human rights violations. Yet, women in the Philippines have limited access to justice in cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in conflict zones. In this scenario, it is imperative that women’s rights to justice is recognized as part of achieving and sustaining peace and ensuring accountability for crimes committed against women and girls in settings of conflict.

Our Vision

In the Philippines, WPHF is ensuring the institutional financing and coordination of  civil society actors working as leaders in the fields of WPS-HA — addressing humanitarian needs in their communities and championing efforts to respond to conflict and build sustainable peace across the country.