The director of the UN Center of Excellence for Gender Equality calls on the Philippine ambassador to South Korea

The Philippine Ambassador to South KoreaTheresa Dizon-De Vega welcomed the Director of the UN Women Center of Excellence for Gender Equality, Jeongshim Lee, at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul on April 18, 2023.

Established in November 2022, the UN Women Korea Hub is the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region as a hub established to improve enforcement of policy and regulatory frameworks and address discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate gender inequality in the region. Also participating in the meeting were the Embassy’s Third Secretary and Vice Consul, Reisha Olavario, in charge of gender and development issues, and Dr. Vu Phuong Ly, gender training specialist at the UN Women Center in Korea.

Director Lee informed Ambassador De Vega of the plans and activities of the UN Women Center for the current year, which include training courses on various topics, such as the eradication of violence against women, climate change and the reduction disaster risk, women, peace and security, and a train-the-trainer program on gender data collection and household statistics.

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For her part, Ambassador De Vega assured Director Lee of the Philippines’ support for the Center’s plans and activities and shared the Embassy’s own projects, including Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso’s series of special lectures on Women, Peace and Security, recently concluded, and his GAD seminar series.

Ambassador De Vega also highlighted that the Philippines is considered an advanced country when it comes to gender-sensitive governance, as it is consistently listed as one of the best performing countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap report.

the UN Women Center in Korea is the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region

She also shared the importance that the Philippine government attaches to gender mainstreaming, from planning to programming, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The ambassador also drew attention to the unique and participatory role of Filipino women living and working in South Korea in their respective communities, often balancing family life, work, and leadership roles in community organizations that foster a sense of belonging for multicultural families.

The Philippine Embassy in the Republic of Korea continues to support and advance the gender and development agenda through gender-responsive plans and programs that benefit the Filipino community in Korea.

Collaborator in ReporteAsia.