The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Philippines convened its latest "Breakfast for Her" meeting last April 17, bringing together international development partners to address the critical issue of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country. 

The “Breakfast for Her" series is organized by UNFPA Philippines to facilitate discussions with partners on how to create lasting change and empower the Philippines to effectively respond to gender equality, SRH, GBV and other critical issues.

During the latest meeting, UNFPA Philippines Country Representative Dr. Leila Joudane presented a road map to catalyze change towards ending GBV. 

“Achieving gender equality requires collective action. Each of us play a significant role in challenging harmful gender and social norms, empowering women and girls and advocating for laws and policies that protect their rights,” said Joudane.

The UNFPA roadmap presented was a result of consultations with government, civil society and other partners which revisited the three Key Result Areas outlined in the Inter-agency Council for VAWC (IACVAWC) Strategic Plan 2017-2022, underscoring the importance of a holistic approach to tackling GBV. For GBV prevention, the absence of a comprehensive, national and government-led program addressing harmful gender norms was evident across the multiple consultations. The response system for gender-based violence struggles with limited access to and availability of comprehensive, quality support services for GBV survivors and a weak monitoring system. Finally, under the cross-cutting structures, it was articulated that there is a need to strengthen coordination among the various stakeholders working on GBV, beginning with the IACVAWC and address the issue of data availability and harmonization.

To address these challenges, UNFPA identified priority areas for intervention. First action is to enhance policy advocacy and prevention efforts by generating evidence and building capacity for social and gender norm change through the conduct of research on gender-transformative approaches, positive masculinities, and survivor-centered responses. Comprehensive sexuality education is also currently being scaled up to reach young people in-school and out-of-school. Second, UNFPA committed to support the IACVAWC in developing and implementing the National Action Plan to End Violence Against Women which aims to provide a framework for a common strategy and serve as an accountability tool. Lastly, UNFPA will also work closely with the IACVAWC to form a strategy for harmonizing, collecting and analyzing GBV data. This includes conducting surveys and organizing an international conference on data for targeted interventions and policy advocacy for GBV. 

UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Deputy Regional Director Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza, who attended the meeting, said it is important to strategically allocate resources and support the government for knowledge and resource mobilization. He also shared best practices of UNFPA in different countries, as well as his experiences visiting project sites in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, through the dialogue with the development partners, they shared their own insights in tackling GBV and reaffirmed their continued support and commitment to support the Philippines in promoting gender equality and ending any forms of violence against women.  

Representing the development partners were Embassy of Finland Ambassador H.E. Juha Pyykkö, Royal Danish Embassy Ambassador H.E. Franz-Michael Mellbin, Embassy of Spain Deputy Head of Mission Carmela Barcia, Australian Embassy Acting Deputy Ambassador Thanh Le and Senior Programme Officer Jore-Annie Rico De Leon, Embassy of Canada First Secretary Vlad Ionescu and Diana Castillote, USAID Office of Health Director Dr. Andrea Halverson, World Bank Senior Social Development Specialist Mary Morrison, Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines Focal point for Civil Society, Gender Equality, Youth - Cooperation Section’s Lucile Martin, Embassy of the Republic of France Political Advisor Francesca Fuentes,  Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Senior Policy Officer Jaymie Reyes, Embassy of Sweden Communication Officer Athena Cartagena, and British Embassy Human Rights Officer Novi Avila.

UNFPA will work closely with partners to support the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a National Action Plan to End Violence Against Women, ensuring its alignment with the collective goals of enhanced advocacy, collaboration, and innovation.