250 Farmworkers, sugarcane industry workers benefitted from SRA’s Gender-Sensitivity Training
PHILIPPINES – A total of 250 sugarcane industry workers received training on gender sensitivity, forwarding the capacity and capability of farmers, sugar mill workers, and bioethanol plant workers to participate in the legal and social frameworks that protect and empower women.
The sets of training were conducted all over the Philippines within the districts of Cagayan, Isabela, Batangas, Tarlac, and Bukidnon all year round in 2024.
The sets of training were prepared to specifically cater to the gendered issues the sugar industry faces, such as gendered divisions of labor, violence against women, and scholarships for their children.
To ensure that these topics were given the right care in their exploration, the SRA-GAD Focal Point System was given training by the Philippine Commission on Women and other non-governmental organizations, equipping the team with knowledge on facilitation, knowledge dissemination, and technological applications.
Board Member and Chair of SRA’s GAD Committee, Mitzi Mangwag, was present during these proceedings, welcoming focal persons and facilitating the agenda of the training for trainers through her direction.
During the training of sugar industry workers beginning in July 2024, invited speakers covered topics such as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, the Safe Spaces Act of 2019, the Magna Carta of Women, and the Philippine Sugar Industry Development Act of 2015 (SIDA).
The chosen covered policies during the sets of training aim to enhance participants’ understanding of gender and issues surrounding it, giving them the capacity to solve gendered issues within their community and eventually improve gender mainstreaming within the sugar sector.
Notably, on top of receiving certificates and knowledge, farmers in particular received raincoats to aid in their service in farming sugarcane.
The year 2024 was a productive year of gender-sensitivity training for SRA’s GAD Committee, one of the many services it provides for the sugar industry and its gender mainstreaming. As of December 2024, gender mainstreaming in the sugar industry continued to progress, showing in other aspects outside of GAD.
On December 16, 2024, the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations on SIDA’s Socialized Credit Program, chaired by BM Mitzi Mangwag, acknowledged the role of women in farming, opening credit lines to women organizations engaged in sugarcane farming, showing the progress of gender mainstreaming within the Sugar Industry.
