“Many Colors, Many Circles, One Mindanao” was this year’s theme of the Kamindanawan 2010 conference hosted by the Mindanao Commission on Women on 4-5 February 2010. The hall, inside the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City, was festooned with ribbons of different colors with the women all showing up in their best Filipiniana or ethnic attire during the opening ceremony. It was an opportunity to meet, to listen, to discuss – finally an opportunity to think about an updated Mindanao agenda from a women’s perspective. (more…)

Mindanao women leaders will converge in Davao City, February 4-5, for the Kamindanawan 2010. They will decide on actions that will ensure women’s interests and leadership are taken into serious consideration in the challenges currently facing Mindanao. (more…)

“Women should support women running for public office. But not just any woman. Women we support must be steeped in notions of social justice, human rights and gender equality. ” said Irene M. Santiago, chair and CEO of the Mindanao Commission on Women during the National Women’s Summit held recently at Miriam College, Quezon City. (more…)

“You are a demanding movement and there is no turning back.” UN Undersecretary General Noeleen Heyzer said this in her keynote speech delivered during the opening program of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15 to the applause of more than 500 participants. (October 22 to 24 at the Miriam College, Manila.) “Women have learned to blend challenge with joy and commitment towards freedom from want, fear and discrimination,” added Heyzer. She is also the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Executive Secretary.

Irene M. Santiago, Leticia Ramos Shahani, Noeleen Heyzer, Patricia Licuanan at the opening of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15

Flanking Heyzer in this photo are three Filipino feminists who held top positions in UN conferences and NGO fora for women: Irene M. Santiago (MCW CEO and Chair) as executive director of the NGO Forum on Women in Beijing 1995; Leticia Ramos Shahani, the secretary general of the 1985 World Conference on Women in Nairobi, Kenya; and (more…)

NGO women from all over the Asia Pacific will meet on October 22-24 in Manila to take stock, celebrate gains and reflect on the how far they have come to meet the objectives, vision and spirit of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 15 years after the United Nations conference on women.

“Women will share their successes and failures in advancing gender equality and human rights,” said Irene M. Santiago, chair and chief executive officer of the Mindanao Commission on Women.  “They will also look at the new challenges facing women such as the global financial crisis, peace and security, and climate change.” (more…)