DepEd Memorandum No. 017, s. 2023
2023 National Women’s Month Celebration
MAR 13 2023
DepEd MEMORANDUM
No. 017, s. 2023
2023 NATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH CELEBRATION
To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau and Service Directors
Regional Directors
Schools Division Superintendents
Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Heads
All Others Concerned
1. The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) spearheads the annual National Women's Month Celebration(NWMC) from March 1 to 31, 2023, which honors women and their contributions to nation-building. It highlights the need to protect, promote, and fulfill women's rights so they can maximize their potential and welfare, enabling them to be agents of the country's development. This celebration also coincides with the worldwide observance of International Women's Day (IWD).
2. The national celebration is pursuant to Presidential Proclamation (PP) No. 224, s. of 1988, declaring the first week of March each year as Women's Week and March 8 as Women's Rights and International Peace Day; Proclamation No. 227, s. of 1988, providing for the observance of the Month of March as Women's Role in History Month; and Republic Act (RA) No. 6949 (1990), declaring March 8 of every year as National Women's Day.
3. In addition, the country also celebrates Girl Child Week and Women with Disabilities Day within Women's Month pursuant to PP 759, s. of 1996, declaring every fourth week of March as the Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week, and PP No. 744, s. of 2004, declaring the last Monday of March of every year as Women with Disabilities Day.
4. This year, the PCW launches a new recurring theme for the celebration, WE for gender equality and inclusive society, along with the official hashtag #WEcanbeEquAll. The 2023-2028 theme is a positive affirmation and a call to action. It is a testament to the milestones achieved in closing gender gaps in the country and in gathering more support for the advocacy. The theme encapsulates the following elements:
a. WE stands for Women and Everyone emphasizing the role not only of women themselves but of everyone in the pursuit of gender equality. WE also stands for Women's Empowerment which can only be achieved when agencies, mechanisms, institutions, private partners, and duty-bearers from the national to the local level provide and ensure equal rights and opportunities, and women take these opportunities to further themselves.
b. Gender Equality. Gender equality is the first half of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) advocacy, and it is the ultimate goal when we advance the rights of women. The term gender equality is also preceded by the word for, signifying our call to women and everyone to vote for, take action on, and promote equality and inclusivity.
c. Inclusive Society. A society that overrides differences in sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE), class, ability, generation, status, and culture; a society where every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play.
5. The recurring theme will seek to tackle areas where the need for gender equality and inclusivity is pressing, emerging, and crucial. Therefore, for 2023, the focus will be on DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, in line with the International Women's Day theme. The 2023 National Women's Month Celebration will call for the empowerment of women and girls toward maximizing their benefits from innovation and technology and bridging the gender gap in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and connectivity.
6. To promote public awareness about this celebration, all Department of Education (DepEd) offices, including the central, regional, schools division offices, and schools are encouraged to undertake the following activities based on PCW Memorandum Circular No. 2023-01 or the Guide for the 2023 National Women's Month Celebration:
a. NWMC-themed Flag Raising Ceremony - Include NWMC announcements in their respective Flag Raising Ceremonies on February 27 or March 6, 2023. The use of the All-Women Cast Lupang Hinirang Video in NWMC activities is highly recommended. The music video can be downloaded from https://library.pcw.gov.ph/lupang-hinirang-all-women-cast/.
b. For Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System (GFPS) Members - GFPS members of agencies with mandates relative to technology, innovation, and ICT are invited to attend the onsite event for the International Women's Day (March 8), to be conducted in collaboration with UN Women (subject to the availability of slots). Due to the limited seating capacity of the event venue, the activity attendance will be by invitation. Updates on the details will be posted on the NWMC webpage: https://pcw.gov.ph/2023-national-womens-month-celebration/.
c. Participation in the NWMC #DigitALL Forum Series - Join the NWMC #DigitALL Forum Series to be held on March 15, 22, and 29, 2023. Participation via livestream viewing is free of charge and no registration will be required.
d. GAD Forum/GAD Agenda Setting - Organize onsite, virtual, or hybrid activities where they can tackle gender issues that they can help resolve or minimize, in line with their mandates, as well as assess inte.mal gender concerns that need immediate attention.
e. #GADtoKnow - Produce, distribute, and/or share information materials (online and print) featuring the list of their gender-responsive programs and services benefiting women, as well as simplified steps and requirements to avail of such. Information materials can be accessed through this link: https://library.pcw.gov.ph.
f. 2023 NWMC banner of support - Display the National Women's Month Celebration banner in front of offices, landmarks, and other areas and upload the digital counterpart to the agency's/organization's official website and social media accounts.
g. #PurpleWednesdays or #PurpleYourlcon - Wear anything purple on all the Wednesdays of March to signify support for women's empowerment and gender equality. Participants can also light up or decorate offices or landmarks in purple in celebration of women and their contribution to the society as well as to serve as a springboard for discussion on the NWMC.
h. Musika ng Kababaihan Wednesdays (#MNKWednesdays) – Play the songs from the MusikJuana Songwriting Contest and other PCW advocacy songs in office premises, and even on social media every Wednesday of March. Get these hymns of women's empowerment: https://library.pcw.gov.ph/search/?g=musikjuana.
i. Offer your own "Serbisyo para kay Juana" - Offer direct services, transactions, and products to the public through freebies, discounts, special lanes, and other promos to women and girls on International Women's Day (March 8) and/or other dates in March to serve as their" appreciation in this special month of celebration.
j. Coordinate with regional and local GAD mechanisms, such as the Regional GAD Councils, in holding inter-agency activities aimed at strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Magna Carta of Women and other laws on women and GAD programs in their respective areas.
k. Conduct Fora, Workshops, Lectures, Contests, or anything similar about GAD. For schools, essay-writing, poster-making, or other contests and creative activities that cultivate young peoples' interest in GAD may also be explored.
1. Organize activities in support of the Girl-Child Week and the Women with Disabilities Day Celebration - Everyone is encouraged to join the Girl Child Week, observed every fourth week of March, which is led by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), as well as the Women with Disabilities Day Celebration spearheaded annually by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA).
m. Use the official collateral design released by PCW - Stakeholders are advised to use the standard branding design released by the PCW for the 2023 NWMC. The branding guide, standard banner, and sample collateral designs can be downloaded from: https://pcw.gov.ph/2023-national-womensmonth-celebration/.
n. Use the official hashtag: #WEcanbeEquALL - Participants can share their commitments and plans of action in working for gender equality and an inclusive society. This new hashtag motivates women and everyone (WE) to push for equality and inclusivity where ALL, regardless of gender, ability, status, and situation, are respected and afforded their rights. With our battlecry #WEcanbeEquALL, no one should be left behind.
o. Support PCW's online advocacy - Maximize digitALL by echoing the advocacy online and sharing PCW's official social media accounts, and developing agency-fit NWMC campaigns. Participants can also use the 2023 NWMC Advocacy Profile Photo and other online materials (online sticker pack, online collaterals, etc.) They can also showcase their activities online and join the online thread using #WEcanbeEquALL.
DepEd-Initiated Activities
p. Regional offices must send two short (not more than one minute) inspiring video message, about How Women and Everyone (WE) participate for achieving gender equality and inclusive society. The selected regional entries will be posted and featured on the official DepEd Facebook page. Kindly upload your entries through this link: https://bit.ly/DepEdNWMC2023 on or before March 15, 2023.
q. The Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD-EWD), through its GAD Secretariat, in coordination with the ESD Global Asia Pacific, will be conducting a training course on Empowerment Self-Defense Training of Trainers. A separate memorandum for the conduct of the proposed activity will be released with the details and final schedule and venue, subject to the approval of the conduct of the said activity. This is in recognition of the need to build competencies of the DepEd personnel to be equipped with the concepts, knowledge, and skills to gain insight into how the ESD methodology can be integrated into the classroom.
r. Also, the International Cooperation Office (ICO), in collaboration with the United Nation Association of the Philippines (UNAP), PCW, and partner agencies will be holding a hybrid activity on March 8, 2023, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Manila Time). The event will be a discussion on women empowerment, gender equality, and the need for inclusive and advancing technology in digital education.
7. For the PCW-organized activities and schedules and further information on the guidelines, you may visit the PCW page at https://pcw.gov.ph/2023-nationalwomens-month-celebration and PCW social media accounts at www.facebook.com/PCWgovph and www.twitter.com/PCWgovph.
8. For more information on DepEd-initiated activities, please contact the GAD Secretariat of the BHROD-EWD through email at gfps.secretariat@deped.gov.ph or telephone number (02) 8633-7229.
9. Immediate dissemination of this Memorandum is desired.
By Authority of the Secretary
(SGD) GLORA JUMAMIL-MERCADO
Undersecretary
Reference:
DepEd Memorandum No. 009, s. 2021
To be indicated in the Perpetual Index
under the following subjects:
BUREAUS AND OFFICES
CELEBRATIONS AND FESTIVALS
EMPLOYEES
OFFICIALS
PROGRAMS
SCHOOLS
TEACHERS
Full copy of DepEd Memorandum No. 017, s. 2023 below:
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