DSWD:45% of women in Region-7 are poor

CEBU, Philippines - A listing project of the Department of Social Welfare shows that 45 percent of women in Central Visayas are considered poor.

The figure is based on the database project of DSWD called Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) as of 2009 assessment.

Of the total 3.5 million individuals subjected to the listing, 49 percent or 1.7 belonged to the women sector. Of these, 45 percent or 390,368 are women belonging to the working age (18-59 years old) in the region.

Of the population number, 2.3 percent or 8,852 of them were not able to finish or complete education in any grade levels.

Further, 51.9 percent or 202,557 were able to finish primary schools while 43.2 percent or 168,466 just finished high school or secondary level.

Cebu has the most number of women in this sector constituting 187,798 or 21.8 percent, followed by Negros Oriental with 105,058 or 12.2 percent.

Bohol ranked third with 91,513 or 10.6 percent, while Siquijor has 5,999 or 0.7 percent.

NHTS-PR survey assessment is updated every four years, which means the next update will be within the year.

DSWD-7 urged legislators, local government units (LGUs), and non-government organizations (NGOs) to use the available data to formulate appropriate social protection programs and services specifically to address the welfare of this sector.

This database of poor households shows various poverty thresholds like the composition of poor households, the household members’ highest educational attainment and occupation, features of the housing structure and access to basic services or facilities like water, electricity, and sanitary toilet, households’ ownership of assets, tenure status of housing, among others.

Currently, all 132 towns and cities in Central Visayas forged a Memorandum of Agreement with DSWD and were provided with datasets.

Other than government agencies, NGOs like the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), Outreach Program on Trainings, Integral Organizing and Networking for Solidarity Inc. (OPTIONS), Alay Lakad Foundation, Euphrasia Parent Association Inc., Tzu Chi Foundation and Little Bamboo Foundation have also signed a pact with the office for its use.  (FREEMAN)