Culminating the National Women’s Month, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), in partnership with the Global Affairs Canada (GAC)launched the Women’s Rights Action and Advocacy Project (WRAAP) at the Sequoia Hotel – Quezon City on March 24, 2022.

WRAAP calls for initiatives that address gender gap and aims to improve the full realization and enjoyment of the rights of women and girls across the country.

The project established the Women’s Fund Facility(WFF) that works on three grants streams; UpWISE or Upscaling Women’s Institutions of Services and Advocacies for Empowerment; ICON or the Institutional Capacity-building of Networks; and WE-EngAGE or Women’s Empowerment Engagements with Advocates for Gender Equality, to support the advocacies and programs of partner women’s rights organizations and networks(WROs/WRNs).

Since its founding, PBSP has supported numerous initiatives that advocates empowerment of women in the Philippines. It has spearheaded multiple health and nutrition projects for women and children and has worked with various organizations for livelihood and skills training programs.

 For GAC, support for women’s rights organizations and women’s movement have been part of their partnership with the Philippines for decades. Starting in the late 1990s, GAC has provided institutional support for the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and the partnership has continued today with the Philippine Commission on Women.

In partnership with PBSP, GAC supported the Improving the Availability of Reproductive Health Services in ARMM or the ARCHES Project to empower women and girls to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. It also provided access to life-saving services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Cad$8.2 million dollars for over five years, WRAAP will provide stable predictable funding for 72 women’s rights organizations and coalitions in the country to implement their respective advocacies and programs. Through this project, GAC also wants to expand the programs and services that WROs and WRNs offer and improve their organizational capacity in many different areas, from management to finance, to sustainability.