GOVPH

Brussels PE Celebrates International Women's Day and National Women's Month in Brussels and Luxembourg with a Women's Art Exhibit

Some of the artworks presented in different media, conveying messages of love, strength, resilience, hope, and power that are every woman’s legacy.

The Philippine Embassy in Brussels celebrated International Women’s Day and the start of National Women’s Month with a women’s art exhibit entitled Pinays: Tinig ng Lakas (Filipinas: Voices of Power) and Networking Event on 08 March 2023 at the Chancery and at the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Luxembourg on 24 March 2023.

The exhibit showcased inspiring works of Filipina artists from Belgium, (Ms. Amihan de Sosa, Ms. Mylene Factora, Ms. Anna Beth Santilla, and Ms. Lise Paul Abitona Lackman), the Philippines (Ms. Fabi Nazareno, Ms. Kathleen Dagum, and Ms. Kevin Marie Becira), Germany (Ms. Sandra Torrijos), and Luxembourg (Ms. Pusongbuhaw Gonzales). The artworks were presented in different media, but all conveyed messages of love, strength, resilience, hope, and power that are every woman’s legacy.

In his message during the opening of the art exhibit in Brussels, Ambassador Jaime Victor B. Ledda emphasized the significance of this year’s Philippine National Women’s Month theme: “WE (Women and Everyone; Women Empowerment) for Gender Equality and Inclusive Society”, pursuing the goal of gender equality, which can only be achieved when government, the private sector, and duty-bearers in the national and local level provide
women equal rights and opportunities that women use to further themselves. It calls for an inclusive society that without differences in Sex Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (SOGIE), class, ability, generation, status, and culture.

Ambassador Ledda cited the Philippine Embassy’s continuing efforts to create gender mainstreaming programs for its personnel and the Filipino diaspora, such as the Women Helping Women Network (WHW Network) established in Brussels in March 2019 and in Luxembourg in December 2021. The Network brings together volunteers from the Filipino, Belgian, and international communities who are partners of the Embassy in helping Filipino victims of domestic violence, unfair labor practices, and human trafficking.

The opening of the exhibits in Brussels and Luxembourg were also occasions for Embassy officials and the WHW Network volunteers to establish links with Belgian and Luxembourg government officials and NGOs that aid distressed migrants.

In Luxembourg, the Embassy met with representatives of the Filipino LGBTQA+ community to discuss concerns of the LGBTQA+ community members who may be suffering from domestic violence, discrimination and bullying. This initiative responds to the call for an inclusive society. The Embassy hopes to reach out to the Filipino LGBTQA+ community in Belgium soon.

The Embassy also continued its tradition of presenting all female clients at the Consular Section with roses on International Women’s Day, 08 March 2023.

Ambassador Jaime Victor B. Ledda (4th from left) and Cultural Attaché/Gender and Development Focal Point Officer Liza Jane V. Estalilla (2nd from left) with the featured artists in the exhibit Pinays: Tinig ng Lakas (Filipinas: Voices of Power). From Left: Ms. Amihan de Sosa, Ms. Lise Paul Abitona Lackman, Ms. Mylene Factora Marcotty and Ms. Anna Beth Santilla.