PH sewers’ coop project among finalists in UN women tilt
Posted on 04. Aug, 2012 by admin in Education Work, Globalization 10, News Releases, Press Statements
A livelihood project for women by the staff of a Philippine NGO has made it to the list of finalists in a UN Women-sponsored tilt in Singapore.
Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research’s (EILER) “Project Stitch”, a sewer’s cooperative project for women in Manila’s poor communities, was chosen by Project Inspire as one of the finalists in its “5 Minutes to Change the World” call for video entries. Project Inspire is sponsored by the Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard. EILER’s Staff who entered in the competition is composed of Soleil Erika Manzano, Marian Santos, and Jose Maningat.
“We are very happy with the inclusion of Project Stitch in the list of finalists. By making it to the finals, we have already contributed to raising awareness on the plight of Filipino garment workers who carry the burden of raising their families amid limited economic opportunities,” said EILER Staff Team Representative for the Project Stitch, Soleil Erika Manzano.
Manzano said Project Stitch aims to aid Filipino women workers displaced from shutdown of several garment factories by organizing them in cooperatives and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills. The project also aims to enable the displaced women garment workers in empowering their fellow women in the poor communities by equipping them livelihood skills.
Last year, a Philippine project dubbed as “Hapinoy” won the grand prize in the search for innovative ideas on women empowerment and social change.
Aside from the grand prize, a People’s Choice Award will be given to the project with the most Facebook votes.
“We do hope another Philippine project will win again in the competition. In Facebook, we can help the project win by voting “Project Stitch” in Project Inspire’s Facebook account,” Manzano said.
Project Stitch page for voting: http://www.5minutestochangetheworld.org/get_involved_2012finalists_ProjectStitch.php
Project Inspire’s main page:
http://www.5minutestochangetheworld.org/index.php
