The Philippine Embassy celebrated Women’s Month on 19 March with a lecture on women and health, focusing on the importance of regular exercise in maintaining a healthy body.
Ms. Joanne Tecson, one of the Embassy’s Gender and Development (GAD) focal points, presented some key facts about gender and health, including the health risks experienced by men and women and how social norms affect men and women’s health. She underscored the need for regular exercise to help reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Ms. Tecson stressed that exercise is a fun and enjoyable way to a healthy lifestyle; apart from building self-confidence, it also relieves stress, improves coordination, and lowers blood pressure.
To stress the benefits of exercise, the Embassy invited a Zumba instructor who taught a repertoire of Zumba moves that could easily done by people of all ages, including men and children. The Zumba session was also participated by the male members of the Embassy as well as some members of the ASEAN missions in Berne and the Filipino community.
Photo: Embassy family with some members of the ASEAN missions in Berne and the Filipino community
Photo: Attendees warm up for the Zumba session
The Embassy, through its Gender and Development (GAD) program, joins the Philippine Foreign Service Corps in celebrating Women’s Month every March in honor of those women across the world who step forward to help break down the barriers of inequality and make it possible for women of succeeding generations to stamp their own mark in history.
The celebration of Women’s Month originated in 1975 when the United Nations officially declared the 8th of March every year as International Women’s Day. END