Event: Launching of TRANSCEND
Date: 27 March 2024
Venue: New World Hotel Makati 

Background on TRANSCEND: 

The German Development Cooperation (GIZ) will be leading a 5-year project to address the challenge of high vulnerability to climate change impacts and biodiversity loss in the Philippines. The project titled Transformative Actions for Climate and Ecological Protection and Development (TRANSCEND) will use a whole of society approach to adaptation, mitigation, and biodiversity. It will pilot a national transition process to a climate resilient, low carbon, and biodiversity friendly society. The results will be upscaled to sectoral and national policies and programs for institutionalization of positive gains.  

The University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) will be part of the consortium of 17 implementing partners of TRANSCEND. It will be responsible for gender mainstreaming in all work packages that will be delivered by consortium partners. 

[With a report from Maidy Lynn E. Lim]

As part of its celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted two Basic Pottery Workshops on 22 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room. The events were facilitated by Odangputik Pottery. The morning session was attended by members of the UP System administration gender and development (GAD) focal point system (GFPS) while the afternoon session was attended by members of the queer community and their partners. The workshops offer stress relief and relaxation. Women and gender advocates may find pottery classes to be a calming and rejuvenating activity amidst their advocacy work and daily life stresses.

As part of its celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted two Art Therapy Workshops on 21 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room. The events were facilitated by Liz Rañola, a visual arts facilitator. The morning session was attended by gender-based violence victims/survivors while the afternoon session was attended by persons with disabilities (PWD) caregivers/guardians. The art therapy workshops’ objective is to facilitate the therapeutic process by using art as a method for exploration and discovery of personal experiences and emotional expression.

In celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) held a viewing of “Bagahe,” a film by director Zig Madamba Dulay, as part of its Kapihan ng mga Peminista series on 20 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room.

Bagahe tells the story of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Mercy Agbunag. As the whole family celebrates her homecoming, NBI agents appear on the doorstep inviting Mercy for some questioning about a case of a newborn child found in the trash bin of an airplane toilet.

As part of its celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted a lecture on Women Visual Artists in the 19th Century Philippines on 19 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room. Resource person is Dr. Eloisa May P. Hernandez of the Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman. 

As part of its celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) launched the Review of Women’s Studies Volume XXXII, Number 2 on 19 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room. 

The Review of Women’s Studies (RWS) is a refereed journal published by the UPCWGS. The journal serves as a forum where ideas on issues and concerns affecting the lives of women, seen from the analytical perspectives of different disciplines, may be exchanged. It encourages and seeks to publish research that employs feminist methodologies and that adheres to the principles of feminist research, bearing in mind the intersectionality of gender, class, religion, age, and education. 

As part of its celebration of Women’s Month, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted an Art Therapy for Senior Citizen Community Leaders on 12 March 2024 at the UPCWGS Conference Room. The event was facilitated by Dr. Marianne Charisse N. Cuezon, an expressive arts facilitator from The Arts and Health Institute (TAHI) by Magis Creative Spaces. Participants were senior citizen community leaders from Brgy. UP Campus. The art therapy session is designed to facilitate the therapeutic process by using art as a method for exploration and discovery of personal experiences and emotional expression.

The United Nations (UN) Gender Thematic Group (GTG), in collaboration with several partners including the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS); Bayi, Inc.; SafeCity; the UP Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, Inc. (UPCWSFI); and the UP College of Fine Arts, organized an experiential exhibit titled “Walk in Her Shoes” to support the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW). A program at the closing of the exhibit was held on 29 February 2024 at the College of Fine Arts, UP Diliman. Members of women’s groups, persons with disability, youth including young men allies, and LGBTQ were invited to the event. Participants were given art materials and were asked to paint images that respond to the prompt “Pangarap Kong Komunidad na Ligtas sa Karahasan.” There were also a song number, a dance number, and solidarity messages from event partners.

The exhibit, initially launched in December 2023 and previously housed at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), showcases stories from various sectors of women and girls, highlighting the different forms of gender-based violence they encounter on a daily basis. The primary goal of the exhibit is to raise awareness about the pervasive nature of VAW, encourage reflection on the prevailing social norms that perpetuate this harmful behavior, and mobilize action to eradicate VAW.

The United Nations (UN) Gender Thematic Group (GTG), in collaboration with several partners including the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS); Bayi, Inc.; SafeCity; the UP Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, Inc. (UPCWSFI); and the UP College of Fine Arts, organized an experiential exhibit titled “Walk in Her Shoes” to support the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW). A program at the exhibit opening was held on 20 February 2024 at the College of Fine Arts (Arts and Design Building), UP Diliman. Speakers during the event included Asst. Prof. Lisa Ito-Tapang of the UP College of Fine Arts; Dr. Marie Aubrey J. Villaceran, Director of the UPCWGS; Jose Roi Avena, Assistant Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and Ma. Rosalyn G. Mesina, Country Coordinator of UN Women.

The exhibit, initially launched in December 2023 and previously housed at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), was relocated to its new venue at the UP College of Fine Arts and is accessible to visitors until 29 February 2024. It showcases stories from various sectors of women and girls, highlighting the different forms of gender-based violence they encounter on a daily basis. The primary goal of the exhibit is to raise awareness about the pervasive nature of VAW, encourage reflection on the prevailing social norms that perpetuate this harmful behavior, and mobilize action to eradicate VAW.

“Yung pinaka-paborito ko po ay yung malaman kung paano mag-handle ng emotion, kung paano po i-express ang sarili gamit po ang action or movement na ginagawa namin at natutunan. Yun po yung tumatak sa akin,” Jacquilyn, a young Ati woman, shared her experience after going through the creative movement. 

Last 31 March to 2 April 2023, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted creative movement, visual, and life stories workshops with the indigenous people (IP) cluster in pursuit of the arts-based research project. 

The arts-based research project aims to pioneer a more innovative, engaging, and accessible approach to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention discourse through its arts-based methodology, while also widening the constituency for advocacy by drawing on the feminist standpoint epistemology to find approaches appropriate for sectors with different perspectives. 

The video highlights were developed and produced by the Feminist Media Lab for the UPCWGS and OXFAM Pilipinas. 

You may view the video highlights of the workshops here.