Girl Power is as strong as ever, and it is encouraging to see support locally being given to young women, as they gear up for the future.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), together with the Korea International Cooperation Office (KOICA) and the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd), held a groundbreaking ceremony on 14 April 2021, celebrating the start of the construction of the Girls Education Center (GEC) in Palo, Leyte, Philippines.

“The Government of the Republic of Korea, through its development cooperation agency KOICA, supports the enhancement of learning opportunities for young women in vulnerable communities around the world. In the Philippines, Korea is glad to partner with UNESCO to implement KOICA’s project to provide alternative learning opportunities for girls out of school in Tacloban City,” said Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines Inchul Kim.

The GEC is part of the “Better Life for Out-of-School Girls to Fight Against Poverty and Injustice in the Philippines” project funded by KOICA, and implemented by UNESCO together with the Philippines’ Department of Education. The project aims to increase the passing rate among out-of-school girls in the Accreditation and Equivalency Test (A&E), improve ALS girl-learners and ALS mobile teachers skills and develop new materials.

Such efforts will really empower more women to excel and achieve when they enter the workforce. Where I work, based on our 2019 Sustainability Report entitled Sustaining The Future, Meralco reported that it has more than three times as many women in its organization (at 32% of its workforce) when compared with the global average in the energy sector of 9%. Moreover, the number of women in its higher management positions rose by 17% – with 487 women managers in 2019, compared with 415 in 2018.

Girl Power will surely grow exponentially in the coming years.