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| (Image Source: Social Pro Online) |
Coca-Cola believes that the improvement of women's economic conditions would further develop more empowered communities, and it has been proven when it succeeded in achieving its global goal enabling more than 6 million women through 318 programs in 100 countries around the world. In celebration of International Women's Month, one of the leading beverage manufacturing companies in the world today celebrates the successful economic empowerment of more than 250,000 female entrepreneurs in the Philippines which makes up about 21% of the total universe of small sari-sari store owners across the country and it is made possible through the 5by20 initiative which aims to empower and advance woman in order to achieve their fullest potential and eventually succeed in an evolving environment in today's modern world.
Initiated a decade ago, Coca-Cola Philippines' 5by20 reached all 71 regions and 81 provinces and has been providing business skills training, financial services and peer mentoring support to female sari-sari store and food business owners, repatriated OFWs, artisan women, and women in operations through the 5by20 Sari-Sari Stores Training and Access To Resources (STAR) program in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Globally referenced as a case study on effective business sustainability initiatives and identified as one of the country's premiere business training programs providing gender sensitivity training, the STAR program continues to emphasize the critical role women will play not only in their families and communities, but also in fostering economic growth.
Since its inception in 2001, Coca-Cola Philippines has built numerous partnerships and engagements with various national government agencies, civil society organizations and micro-financial institutions anchored in women's economic development. Thus, the STAR program has evolved into several other initiatives in response to the prevailing needs of women and society and expanded to sub-initiatives which continue to expand the gender equality agenda. Among them is STAR Program's digital roadmap, iSTAR, launched by Coca-Cola Philippines and TESDA in October 2020, which is slated to encourage more Filipinos to become economically empowered as entrepreneurs.
Coca-Cola Philippines' 5by20 initiative headlined by the STAR program has produced positive economic results and continues to unlock the full economic potential of Filipino female entrepreneurs through the support of various organizations including TESDA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) – OWWA & NRCO, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) – an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Local Government Units (LGUs); civil-society organizations: Small Business Corporations, and USAID; and micro-finance institutions: Tagum City Council of Women (TCCWI), the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), First Community Cooperative (FICCO), Alalay Sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), and ASA Philippines. Even after a decade of active participation in the sphere of female empowerment, Coca-Cola Philippines understands that supporting women and communities will become more essential in the thriving of economies in the foreseeable future and beyond. For more on Coca-Cola's vision for women economic empowerment, visit https://www.coca-colacompany.com/shared-future/women-empowerment.
