Unctad’s Women’s Day event features economic empowerment
GENEVA—The Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, represented by Deputy Permanent Representative Maria Teresa Almojuela, joined in the celebration of International’s Women Day by serving as a high-level panelist at the “Dress Up for Sustainable Labels” event organized by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) at the Palais des Nations on March 7.
The event featured multinational panel members who discussed the promotion of sustainable labels, followed by a fashion show that presented designs from African international trends market Afrodyssée.
In her remarks, Almojuela emphasized on the critical role of women’s participation and empowerment in the Philippine economy, as well as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector, where the majority of registered Philippine business establishments are female-led.
The Philippine deputy permanent representative to the UN highlighted the focused support being provided by the government to women entrepreneurs, underpinned by a robust national policy framework on women economic empowerment in the Philippines.
On sustainability standards, Almojuela pointed out that the vast majority of Philippine MSMEs are microenterprises, which makes it very important for the government to establish an enabling environment to assist enterprises in securing sustainability certifications and realizing long-term gains as part of the programs to support them in accessing international markets and global value chains.
She cited the ongoing collaboration with Unctad on fostering “green” exports, particularly in helping Filipino farmers and entrepreneurs gain organic certification for virgin coconut oil products.
Unctad is undertaking a wide range of technical-cooperation projects, assisting small-scale producers in developing countries, such as the Philippines, meet the rapidly growing global consumer demand for sustainable products, considered as growth drivers in trade and ensuring benefits for all stakeholders. DFA