ICYMI | Four faculty members of UP Tacloban’s Division of Social Sciences participated in the 7th Asian Association of Women’s Studies (AAWS) Congress held on 6-7 November 2025 at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna.
Political Science instructor Ms. April Grace Lazarito presented her paper examining the gendered undervaluation of predominantly female Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) in the country. In another paper presentation, Political Science instructor Ms. Geralyn Merimilla and Economics instructor Mr. Laurence Adrian Camayudo discussed how caregiving responsibilities restrict women’s participation in Community-based Fisheries Associations (CBFAs). Mr. Sigmund Fletcher Tarrayo, also a Political Science instructor, presented his paper discussing how women councilors in Carigara, Leyte enact transformative governance despite persistent gender-based discrimination.
The 2025 AAWS Congress was organized by the UPOU Office of Gender Concerns and Faculty of Management and Development Studies. With the theme “Empower, Sustain, Democratize,” the congress brought together Asian scholars and advocates of inclusive and transformative change.
