PREFACE
The Philippine governmentreported at the 64th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (UN CEDAW) in July 2016 at Geneva, Switzerland. Migrant rights advocates
took this opportunity to raise gender-based discrimination and inequalities experienced by Filipino women
migrant workersin the context of accountabilities by state and non-state actors vis a vis the Convention on
the Elimination ofAll Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
This publication is a compendium of reports, arguments and counter arguments that were presented during
the UN CEDAWreview process in 2015 & 2016, drawing special attention to the rights of women migrant
workers. It is divided into three sections.
Part 1 establishes the legal framework by providing referencedtexts from the CEDAW, General Recommendation
26 on women migrant workers, and Republic Act 9710 or The Magna Carta of Women whichis the domestic
legislation in compliance with CEDAW.
Part 2 is a compilation of the written submissions by both the Philippine government and migrant rights
groups to the UN CEDAW's 64th Session's Pre-sessional working group meeting that was held in November
2015, and whereintheList of Issues and Questions (LOI) for the Philippines was adopted. The second sets
of submissions in 2016 were the written replies to the LOI by the Philippine government and by the CMA,
which was morefocused onthe status of women migrant workers. Twooral statements by the CMA which
weredelivered in the November 2015 meeting and in the July 2016 UN CEDAWsessionareincluded in this
compendium.
Part 3 comprises of the UN Committee's Concluding Observations and Recommendations to the Philippine
governmentand the documentation of the post-CEDAW forum organized by the CMA jointly with the Philippine
Commission on Human Rights which washeld in September 9, 2016. During this forum, the UN CEDAW's
observations and recommendationsas regardsthe living and working conditions of women migrant workers
were presented to government and migrant group representatives for feedback. The participants proposed
specific actions to address each of the CEDAW committee's recommendations to help ensure compliance and
a morepositive review on the next UN CEDAWreporting cycle in July 2020.
With 189 memberStates of the UN (95%) voluntarily binding themselves to the CEDAW,the CEDAWplatform is
importantin advocatingfor the rights of all women migrant workers.
Center for Migrant Advocacy
December 2016
QuezonCity, Philippines