Question & AnswerQ&A (DOLE DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 56-03)
The legal basis is Article 134 of the Labor Code and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, along with commitments to international conferences and national programs related to population management and nutrition.
The focus shifted from promoting family planning to providing comprehensive family welfare services to workers.
The ten dimensions are: (a) Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood; (b) Education/Gender Equality; (c) Spirituality or Value Formation; (d) Income Generation/Livelihood/Cooperative; (e) Medical Health Care; (f) Nutrition; (g) Environmental Protection, Hygiene and Sanitation; (h) Sports and Leisure; (i) Housing; and (j) Transportation.
Reproductive Health refers to the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions and processes, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Services include Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, Prevention and Management of Abortion and its Complications, Prevention and Management of Reproductive Tract Infections, Education and Counseling on Sexuality and Sexual Health, Breast and Reproductive Tract Cancers and other Gynecological Conditions, Men's Reproductive Health, Adolescent and Youth Health, Violence Against Women and Children, and Prevention and Treatment of Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through the Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW) and the DOLE Regional Offices, in partnership with government agencies, employer groups, workers organizations, and civil society.
The BWYW acts as program manager by providing technical supervision and support interventions to operating units and issuing checklists of existing programs and activities related to FWP implementation.
They coordinate activities with regional development councils and population coordinating councils, enforce Article 134 of the Labor Code, strengthen advocacy for the FWP, and provide information and support services related to reproductive health.
Employers of establishments with more than 200 workers must form a Family Welfare Committee to plan, organize, and implement an in-plant family welfare program focusing on the ten dimensions of FWP, and support capability building activities. Establishments with less than 200 workers are encouraged to do the same.
DOLE Regional Offices must use the annual five percent (5%) Gender and Development budget allocation for FWP implementation, and can also use the Working Youth Center Program budget for adolescent and youth health activities.