BY: JUJU MANUBAG-EMPUERTO
CEBU CITY, March 19 (PIA)
--- Despite being a major contributor in the development of the country,
most women in the region still do not have a decent means to earn a living or
engage in livelihood activities.
This was revealed in
the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty
Reduction (NHTS-PR) data of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) conducted in 2009.
The data showed that of the 3.5 million assessed individual in Central Visayas, 49%
or 1.7 million of them are women.
The 2009 assessment showed that the
women sector aged 18 to 59 constitutes 390,368 or 45% of the poor
households in Central Visayas.
In the countryside, women
partner with their husband as they work in farms, forests, and in the
fishing industry.
Others performed menial jobs such as
laborers, unskilled work, and shop or market sales workers.
From the 45% poor women ages 18
to 59, 2.3% or 8,852 did not finish or completed their education in any
grade levels while 51.9% or 202,557 of them were able to finish their primary
grades.
The 43.2% or 168,466 just finished high
school or the secondary level.
Local Government Units (LGUs),
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and legislators are urged by DSWD to use
the available data to formulate appropriate social protection programs and
services specifically to address the welfare of the women sector.
Currently, all 132 towns and
cities in Central Visayas have already forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
for the Listahanan and DSWD has provided them with the datasets.
Other than government agencies, NGOs
like the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), Outreach Program on Trainings,
Integral Organizing and Networking for Solidarity Inc. (OPTIONS), Alay Lakad
Foundation, Euphrasia Parent Association Inc., Tzu Chi Foundation and Little
Bamboo Foundation have also signed a pact with the office for the use of the
Listahanan.
The data in the Listahanan is updated
every four years.
This second quarter of 2014, another round of household assessment
in the region will be conducted. (rmn/JSME/PIA-Cebu/DSWD7)