A FACULTY member of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños stressed the need to empower women during the pandemic to help the country deal with the health crisis.

Dr. Rina de Luna of UPLB’s College of Veterinary Medicine shared her knowledge on how to help poor women provide for their families during the Covid19 pandemic in a recent international forum.

She discussed the “BINHI ng Pag-unlad” program during the “Voices from the Grassroots” dialogue which was hosted by the Ontario Council for International Cooperation.

De Luna said that BINHI helped provide food and livelihood to 130 families in Cabuyao, Laguna during the pandemic.

She stressed that poor women are the most vulnerable during the pandemic.

“The pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns caused many of them to lose their jobs, severely affecting their income and their access to food. These problems were compounded by domestic and social problems that they were already facing even before the pandemic,” De Luna said.

“BINHI trained the mothers in organic agriculture and taught them how to grow their own food in their backyard. BINHI was able to provide them with seeds and seedlings and other necessities by partnering with seed industries, government agencies, and private individuals,” she added.

Six months after the program started, the women became community partners and have learned how to use organic farming methods.

“From this program, they learned that the new reality that is the global pandemic also requires new solutions, and that they need to involve and collaborate with new people from across sectors to create these solutions,” De Luna said.

“It is important to empower women and recognize their potential as partners in recovering from the pandemic,” she stressed.

“I am inspired to work with women and create opportunities wherein women take the lead with the right networks. We hope to provide women with experiences and resources to learn what they need to become effective leaders,” she added.

To ensure the sustainability of the program, De Luna called for more efforts to address the inequities that contribute to the vulnerabilities of women and underscored the need for solutions that are pro-poor and gender sensitive.