Legarda Represents Phl at World Assembly for Women in Tokyo

Senator Loren Legarda will share the Philippine experience in fighting for women’s rights and closing the gender gap as she represents the country in the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo, Japan from September 12-14, 2014.

The Conference will open on Friday (September 12) with statements from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, International Monetary Fund Chairman Christine Lagarde, and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a dialogue with the First Lady of Japan, Akie Abe, and former First Lady of UK, Cherie Blair.

Legarda, champion of women’s rights and author of various related laws in the Philippines, is the only Filipino who will participate in the high level international symposium. At the Great Round Table on Saturday (September 13), she will deliver the opening statement for a sub-group discussion on “A Society where Self-Determination of Women is Assured.”

In his invitation message, Prime Minister Abe said that the symposium intends to “identify the challenges for women to shine and work together to generate and disseminate new ideas, which will help enlarge shining societies in Asia and the rest of the world.”

Legarda said, “It is a privilege to represent the Philippines in this assembly on women empowerment. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is known for advocating women’s rights. We support him in creating a ‘society where women shine’ and we are more than willing to share our country’s good practices and challenges with Japan and other nations to help improve the lives and secure the rights of women around the world.“

The Senator will share the Philippines’ achievements and challenges in promoting women empowerment, especially in the area of disaster risk reduction and management.

She stressed that the vulnerability of women to disasters is another challenge to women empowerment that must be addressed with urgency.

Legarda sponsored the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, which provides for a gender-responsive and proactive response in lessening the impacts of disasters and climate change.

The Philippines has a multitude of laws for the protection of women and Legarda authored and sponsored many of these including the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act, Magna Carta of Women, Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and the Domestic Workers Act.

The World Economic Forum ranked the Philippines 5th in its 2013 global survey of countries successful in closing the gender gap. In South and Southeast Asia, the Philippines was number one in 2013—an achievement recognized at the Women in Parliaments Global Forum Annual Summit in Brussels, Belgium where Legarda also represented the Philippines and received the award on behalf of the country.