Honey** opens her laptop as the day begins in Sarawak, the largest among all states in Malaysia. For the queer and neurodivergent youth, the act of logging onto her device and connecting to the internet is more than just a routine. It is an opening into a world that understands […]
Universal Health Care (UHC), also known as Kahimsogan Para Ha Ngatanan in Waray-Waray, is a phrase that has yet to achieve full sincerity in the Philippines. With PhilHealth members covering at least 60% of their medical expenses out of pocket and an increasing number of women facing unmet needs for […]
August 30 was declared National Press Freedom Day under Republic Act 11699 to honor the father of Philippine journalism, Marcelo H. Del Pilar. Despite this Philippine government initiative, our press freedom is continuously under siege. The Philippines’ ranking in the World Press Freedom Index dropped this year, to nine places…
The rise of the femtech industry saw the emergence of different apps, services, and startups that make use of technology to deliver solutions to female-specific healthcare needs. Among the innovations in women’s healthcare, period tracker apps have amassed an estimated 50 million users worldwide. In 2020 alone, period tracker app […]
This event was organized under the regional project Women, Peace and Cybersecurity: Promoting Women’s Peace and Security in the Digital World. The project, supported by the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Australia, aims to ensure that governments, civil society and cyberdefenders have increased access to information and capacity-building …
Last month, the Foundation for Media Alternatives observed the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) month. As part of our commitment to advancing the people’s right to privacy, intern Victoria Champagne from the Alternatives spoke with Filipina visual artist Christa Vega (ART by slothbender), who challenges the default sex…
A study conducted by the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) in partnership with Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on international migration (including labor migration) and on migrant workers. Women migrant workers particularly felt the abrupt changes of needing to return to their…
The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) will soon release a policy research paper tentatively titled “Filipino Women’s Digital Agenda: Inclusion of Women’s Voices Towards Policy Reform.” The policy paper generally aims to shed light on the state of the digital divide in the Philippines, especially the gender digital divide. Specifically, [&hell…
This paper shall provide an overview of the existing laws and policies on women’s rights in the Philippines, especially those in relation to the use of ICTs in four major areas, namely, (1) education, (2) employment and entrepreneurship, (3) privacy, safety and security, and (4) expression and identity. It shall […]
FMA | Statement for International Women’s Month 2021 It has been almost a year since the Philippines was placed on lockdown, and during this period we have seen how devices and digital platforms have become essentials for Filipinos in the ‘new normal’. Jobs, economy, public services, and education have been […]
While the internet has been considered a space for empowering women and the LGBTQIA+ sector, it has also been a space for hatred, discrimination, and gender based-violence online against these sectors of society. To help articulate concerns relating to tech-based discrimination and violence, FMA is part of a global project […]
In a patriarchal society, misogyny and violence against women and the LGBTQIA+ community finds its way into nearly every facet of our lives. Digital spaces are not immune; the damaging experiences that women, queer and transgender people face in their day-to-day lives manifests itself online as well, and it does […]
Quezon City, Philippines – Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) launched a Digital Gender Report Card that measures the Philippines’ progress in closing the digital gender gap on April 6, 2017 at the Oracle Hotel and Residences, Quezon City. The launch and forum was attended by more than 60 participants from […]
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed the way people communicate and relate with each other. ICTs have provided opportunities for women to express and assert their rights and identities, access important information that may contribute to their empowerment, and the development of the communities they belong in. However, …
On September 12, 2016, World Wide Web Foundation officially announced and released the report cards that assess progress on closing the digital gender divide in ten countries:Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Egypt, Nigeria, Uganda, Colombia, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The Gender Program of Foundation for Media Alternatives led the Phili…
The Safe Cities Metro Manila Programme is part of a global initiative of UN Women, joined by over 24 cities around the world that aim to improve women’s safety as they move about in the highly urbanized cities. Here in the Philippines, Quezon City is the first in the country […]
The Safe Cities Metro Manila Programme is part of a global initiative of UN Women, joined by over 24 cities around the world that aim to improve women’s safety as they move about in the highly urbanized cities. Here in the Philippines, Quezon City is the first in the country […]
On 20 March 2016, Liza Garcia and Christina Lopez from the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) held a discussion with residents, mostly women, from Barangay 180, Caloocan City. It is the same barangay (village) where we conducted a year ago, on 19 March 2015, the pilot survey. A few of those […]
The Foundation for Media Alternatives, in partnership with the Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB), and with the support of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), World Wide Web Foundation and Internet Society (ISOC) will be holding a consultation entitled “Real Access for Women: A National Consultation on Gender […]
The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago made up of more than 7,000 islands spread over 300,000 square km. It has a burgeoning population of more than 100 million. In 1994, it formally linked to the Internet, and to date, Internet penetration is about 40% of the population. 113% […]
The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), in partnership with United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD), a non-government organization which aims to produce competent, effective and efficient young leaders who meaningfully give spiritual, political and socio-economic services to the society, conducted a 2-day training workshop on Internet …
In this post, Lisa Garcia, Programme Coordinator Gender & ICT, and Christina Lopez, Programme Assistant, at the Foundation for Media Alternatives, share focus group insights on how mobile phones are changing the way Filipino women communicate. The Philippines is the 12th largest country in the world, with a population of […]
The Philippine Commission on Women together with National Government Agencies, Civil Society Organizations and Academe held the second of a series of consultation on Women’s Priority Legislative Agenda (WPLA) focusing on existing bills related to Gender Responsive Governance and Gender in Security, Justice and Peace. The WPLA seeks to amend [&helli…
January 22, 2015 – The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) is pleased to announce our new partnership with the World Wide Web Foundation. “Women’s Rights Online” is a global research and advocacy initiative on women’s empowerment and the web, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Why is […]