When messages and examples of gender equality resonate with an audience, they spark conversations, and bring communities together. We are very proud of two of our local partners who have been recognised for doing just that at the recent 20th Philippine Quill Awards.
Oxfam Pilipinas and QBO Innovation Hub both delivered exceptional gender equality campaigns for Investing in Women (IW) from 2020 to 2023.
At the recent awarding ceremony, Oxfam Pilipinas was awarded the Excellence Award for Communication Management under the Community Relations Category for the HomeSquadPH campaign, while QBO Innovation Hub received a Merit Award in the Non-Profit Campaigns and Diversity and Inclusion categories for its Startup Pinay campaign.
Startup Pinay is an initiative that aims to create a diverse, inclusive startup landscape in the Philippines by empowering women founders, leaders, enablers, and explorers. Through this program, QBO aims to take meaningful steps towards shifting gender norms, especially on the role of women in the workplace. – Graphics by QBO Innovation Hub.
The Oxfam and QBO campaigns had a shared communication objective: To embolden people to practice and promote gender equality by helping them realise they are not alone in wanting a gender-equal society. The campaigns deployed evidence of positive change that was already happening among segments of the Philippine population—as social proof that gender inequality is no longer the norm.
A key component of the Oxfam campaign was an online community that encouraged members to share stories of how they are redistributing unpaid care responsibilities across genders within their homes and communities during the pandemic.
#HomesquadPH is a project supported by Investing In Women, which aims to address gender norms on unpaid care work and women’s breadwinning in the time of COVID-19. – Photo by Oxfam Pilipinas.
QBO’s Startup Pinay campaign brought together a cohort of “Pinay Tech Sheroes” to increase their visibility and inspire the next generation of women in tech.
The Philippine Quills are sought-after awards that recognise organisations, projects, or campaigns that use communication initiatives to achieve business or strategic goals. They are administered by the Philippine chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.
The Oxfam and QBO gender equality campaigns are two of seven in the Philippines that have received funding from IW, an Australian Government initiative. Outside the Philippines, IW has supported more than a dozen campaigns for gender equality in Indonesia and Vietnam from 2016 to 2023.
IW is continuing to support locally led campaigns and communities of practice that facilitate discourse around gender norms to accelerate women’s economic empowerment.