COTABATO CITY—Women leaders and rights advocates will gather for the first Bangsamoro Women Summit on March 30-31, 2021 in Cotabato City.
The activity intends to look into specific challenges faced by women and discuss means to promote greater representation of women in the region’s economic and political sphere.
The event has been organized by the Bangsamoro Women Commission (BWC), BTA-Office of MP Bainon G. Karon, in partnership with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) and Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) with support from the UK Government.
WFD is the UK public body dedicated to support democracy around the world.
This will be the first Bangsamoro women summit under the present regional government which aims to create opportunities for different regional stakeholders to share their experience and expertise, and to explore opportunities in the Bangsamoro transition process to strengthen women’s economic and political participation.
Participants will include women members of the Bangsamoro Parliament, delegates from the different ministries and offices of the Bangsamoro Government, local government units, civil society organizations, peoples organizations, and other non-government organizations.
The two-day summit will also support the advocacy on women’s meaningful political participation and examine the economic dimension of the current political participation of women in the region.
A 2011 UN General Assembly resolution emphasizes that “the critical importance of women’s political participation in all contexts, including in times of peace and of conflict and at all stages of political transition, concerned that many obstacles still prevent women from participating in political life on equal terms with men, and noting in that regard that situations of political transition may provide a unique opportunity to address such obstacles.” (Bangsamoro Information Office)
