NMP Personnel Undergo Gender Sensitivity Seminar
Tacloban City – The National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) has once again shown its unwavering commitment in advancing gender equality and promoting women empowerment as it conducted a one-day Gender Sensitivity Seminar (GSS) on 19 September 2019 at Room 109, NMP Training Building, Cabalawan Tacloban City, this city.
The training was participated in by forty-seven (47) NMP personnel with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Region VIII Regional Director Victoria F. Esber as the Subject Matter Expert (SME).
“This training is not intended to uplift the women and put down the men,” Dir. Esber underscored while she emphasized the importance of the training. She also highlighted that both men and women have the stake in the struggle for gender equality as both sexes have been victims concerning gender equality issues.
The training primarily focused on understanding the underlying principles of sex and gender, gender inequality issues cited in the comparative developmental stages of both men and women, giving importance to the marginalized sector of the society, and the salient features of RA 7877 otherwise known as the Anti-sexual Harassment Act of 1995.
Dir. Esber expressed her regard on NMP’s effort of conducting the said training. “This training is very important because the frame of mind needs to be genderized. I am glad to see very young faces and I truly appreciate that even employees on Job Order capacity, you still train them, very important because NMP is a training institution” she stated.
“We need to judge people not based on their gender but by their capabilities,” she also emphasized.
The conduct of the said training, spearheaded by NMP’s Gender and Development (GAD) Committee, is part of the Agency’s initiative in showing how gender shapes the roles of women and men in society, including their roles in development, and how it affects relations between them. Further, it is NMP’s commitment to implement Executive Order No. 273 which mandates government agencies to incorporate and reflect GAD concerns in the Agency’s commitment contract, annual budget proposals, and work and financial plan.
Noteworthy that with the sustained commitment and hope for gender equality and along with the need to address gender related problems and issues in the maritime sector, specifically the low level of awareness on GAD concepts among seafarers caused by lack of interventions for seafarers as a specialized workforce group, NMP regularly conducts Gender Sensitivity Training for Seafarers (GSTS) to its enrolled trainees. This is a non-STCW training course developed by NMP for its client – the Filipino seafarers. The course was designed to increase the level of awareness and appreciation on GAD concepts as well as to encourage advocacy among Filipino seafarers, specifically NMP trainees, on the promotion of gender equality directed towards developing a gender sensitive maritime sector. GSTS is being conducted by NMP for FREE. Since 2006 until June 2019, a total of eighteen thousand eight hundred eighty-five (18, 885) trainees took the said training.
Also, in line with the NMP’s vision of being the Philippines’ leader in maritime training, including e-learning and research, NMP is embarking on the conversion of GSTS training to an e-learning platform/format and is scheduled to be completed within the year.
In CY 2016, NMP also conducted a research entitled “NMP Gender Sensitivity Training for Seafarers (GSTS) Course: A Program Evaluation”. Said research serves as an assessment of the NMP GSTS program which is pursuant to the guidelines of the government encouraging agencies to assess the gender-responsiveness of its major programs and projects.
It can also be recalled that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in celebration of the World’s Maritime Day, crafted the theme, “Empowering Women in the Maritime Industry”, which gives strong emphasis in the maritime world on the importance and value of women within professional ranks and provides opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of gender equality in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).
Meanwhile, in its sound efforts to fulfill and realize its mandate, NMP continues to upgrade its facilities and provide maritime trainings required pursuant to the STCW Convention as amended in 2010 including value-adding courses towards improving the qualifications of Filipino seafarers for their employment acceptability and enhanced competitiveness. It also regularly conducts maritime studies to come up with policies for the improvement of the manpower sector of the industry.
Those interested in NMP research undertakings may visit the NMP website (www.nmp.gov.ph) and access the e-Research Information System Portal which is designed to disseminate NMP completed researches, present the Research Agenda and engage the industry stakeholders to collaborate in the research activities.
For more information about NMP trainings viewers may visit the agency’s facebook page (www.facebook.com/nmptrainingcenter) where all related information on NMP trainings are available.
Further, NMP encourages OWWA registered seafarers to avail of the NMP-OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) Seafarers’ Upgrading Program (SUP) and Skills for Employment Scholarship Program (SESP) which entitles the beneficiary to receive financial assistance for training costs from the OWWA.