PH, Australia launch ‘Juana Trabaho’ to expand women’s access to quality employment

Business | News Media Posted on 2026-03-11 01:11:10

MANILA — The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), in partnership with the Australian government’s Investing in Women initiative, has launched a program aimed at improving Filipino women’s access to quality employment opportunities.

Called “Juana Trabaho,” the initiative serves as a strategic framework and action plan designed to increase women’s participation in the workforce and address long-standing employment gaps.

During the program’s launch on Tuesday at The Westin Manila, DEPDev officials and representatives from the Australian government highlighted the importance of creating more inclusive employment policies for women and other vulnerable sectors.

The program seeks to translate key employment strategies into concrete actions that will expand opportunities for women. It also promotes the adoption of flexible and alternative work arrangements, which can help more women join or remain in the labor force.

According to DEPDev, the initiative forms part of the Philippine government’s broader effort to reduce persistent gender gaps in the labor market.

Under Juana Trabaho, stakeholders will develop a framework that defines what constitutes “quality jobs” for women in the Philippines across different stages of their lives. This will be followed by a participatory planning process with government agencies, businesses, and other partners to identify policies and programs that can increase women’s participation in the workforce.

The agency noted that women’s labor force participation remains significantly lower than men’s due to barriers such as unpaid caregiving and domestic responsibilities, limited access to flexible work options, and disparities in job quality.

Data from the Labor Force Survey showed that women’s labor force participation rate fell to 53.7 percent in 2025 from 54.7 percent in 2024.

DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said boosting women’s participation in the workforce is a major priority of the government.

Under the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan, the government aims to raise the female labor force participation rate to 59 percent by 2034.

Balisacan said achieving this target will require creating secure, accessible, and high-quality jobs that also match the demands of emerging industries in a modernizing economy.

For its part, Marc Innes-Brown, Australia’s ambassador to the Philippines, emphasized that empowering women economically is essential to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.

He said Australia remains committed to supporting policy reforms that encourage gender-inclusive workplaces, strengthen the care economy, and expand opportunities for women to participate fully in economic activities.

The Juana Trabaho initiative also builds on earlier collaboration between DEPDev and Investing in Women, including research on gender-inclusive part-time employment policies and flexible working arrangements within the Philippine private sector.

NPO News Team | PNA-PR

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