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Arroyo spreads news in New York about her admin's feats


"Start spreading the news..." that's how Liza Minelli's 1977 song "New York, New York" goes. That's what former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did. At two recent events in New York in the United States, Arroyo highlighted the achievements of her administration. Taunted in the Philippines for corruption issues, Arroyo found two international venues — the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) conference and the Important Dinner for Women — to cite her administration's achievements, especially for women. Arroyo attended the two international gatherings from September 20 to 22. Arroyo's classmate, former US President Bill Clinton, and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan invited her to these events. Both events focused on addressing women issues related to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states, and at least 23 international organizations, have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. These goals include: (1) Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; (2) Achieving universal primary education; (3) Promoting gender equality and empowering women; (4) Reducing child mortality rate; (5) Improving maternal health; (6) Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; (7) Ensuring environmental sustainability, and (8) Developing a global partnership for development. Presenter of commitments In the 5th CGI conference, Arroyo was the "presenter of commitments" on enhanced education for about one million girls. In a press release, Elena Bautista-Horn, Arroyo’s spokesperson, said the "commitment" was shared by Barclays (a financial services institution), Goldman Sachs (a global investment banking and securities firm) and Room to Read (a non-profit organization based in the US). Women empowerment During the 5th Important Dinner for Women, Arroyo was a discussant on the lagging targets on women empowerment and maternal deaths. The discussion was participated in by Netherlands Prime minister Emily de Jongh-elnage, and Ida Odinga, wife of Kenya’s Prime Minister, among others. During the event, the former president shared her administration’s accomplishments. Arroyo said the country was among the world's top in providing economic opportunities for women. She said the 2006-2007 global entrepreneurship monitor noted that the Philippines was the only country in the world where the women are more active in starting business than men. She added there was a significant increase of women in the labor force, with 49% of all women now working, topping gender equality among managers, professional and technical workers. Arroyo admin's achievements Arroyo also cited that the Philippines has been at the top of the ranking of developing countries in the World Economic Forum’s "global gender gap index" for four consecutive years. She added that the Philippines also has the highest ranking in Asia. Arroyo further said the government tops in gender equality among legislators and senior officials, adding that women dominate civil service at the technical level. “The Philippines continues to be the top performer in gender equality in literacy rate and enrollment in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The country also tops gender equality on life expectancy with women outliving men," the former President said. She also said that her administration also made landmark legislations for women, such as the enactment of the Magna Carta for Women, a comprehensive women’s human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women. ] The magna carta seeks to recognize, protect, fulfill and promote the rights of Filipino women, particularly those in the marginalized sector. She also cited the Anti-Violence against Women and the Trafficking Persons Act of 2003, recognizing that women are the number one victims of human trafficking. Empowerment of women She said the Philippines is the only country that automatically appropriates 5% of its annual budget for the empowerment of Filipino women. Yet, like many other countries, the Philippines faces the difficult challenge of reducing maternal mortality from 160/100,000 in 2009 to 55/100,000 in 2015, she said. Arroyo said maternal deaths affect not only women empowerment but also the promotion of an intact family unit, the breeding ground of an individual’s values and direction for the future. She said most of maternal deaths are caused by the absence of birth experts and proper birth facilities. Arroyo said her administration has thus made health care services more available for women. They also made pregnancy quality for public health insurance. Arroyo also put priority to facility-based, rather than home-based delivery of babies, by upgrading the gynecological, obstetrics, and surgical services of government hospitals. Aside from attending the two events, Arroyo also held meetings with philanthropists and non government organizations to discuss possible projects addressing the concerns of women and overseas Filipino workers. Arroyo also discussed possible infrastructure, relief, and reconstruction projects. –VVP, GMANews.TV

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