Angat Bayi started in 2018. The first Angat Bayi Women’s Political Empowerment Program was envisioned to contribute to the elimination of barriers to women’s entry into politics and to help enable the full and meaningful political participation of women politicians already elected into office.
The Program strives to help realize an imagined alternative political reality: first, by developing women leaders who actively promote a holistic social development agenda, and second, by mobilizing volunteers focused on growing an electorate around a common set of values and principles that should become the basis for future voting behavior.
Angat Bayi supports local women leaders in advancing a development agenda that is rights-based, inclusive, and gender-responsive.
It enhances the capacities of these women on the following:
Building on the pilot implementation, on its second year,
the Angat Bayi Program has been improved and expanded to include the following:
In 2020, Angat Bayi has created Bayi Peer
Mentoring Circles (BAYI PMC): feminist
small groups that is each meant to be
collaboratively designed by the Angat Bayi
Team, the Fellows and Mentors according to
the specific needs and priorities of group
members. This kind of collaborative effort is
in keeping with feminist values.
Through Angat Dunong, Angat Bayi carries out research studies on feminist
leadership, women’s political participation, Fellows’ responses to the
pandemic, and other topics on gender and leadership.
Angat Dunong works closely with partners such as:
The Angat Diwa Bayi Learning Session is the space where Fellows, political leaders, and experts meet to share and discuss ideas and strategies to assist the women leaders in the performance of their duties in their respective local governments.
Likhang BAYI empowers young feminists to
develop out-of-the-box solutions and innovative
advocacy programs for feminist leadership.
This component supported the establishment of the Feminist Media Lab, a start-up advocacy group dedicated to exploring and promoting feminism across media production, research, and education.
A key collaboration with Feminist Media Lab is the podcast “Chikang Bayi,” which tackles pressing feminist issues and concerns.
The Fellows appreciate the value of the bonds they have formed and the support they receive from their peer mentors and co-Fellows as they persevere in the challenging work of social transformation.
They recognize the value of just simply coming together and learning from each other and forging sisterhood beyond the Fellowship program.
The opportunity to have in-depth discussions among themselves did not only allow them to learn unique and effective strategies in campaigning and governance but also led them to collaborate closely particularly given the pandemic crisis situation. The Angat Bayi Team also connected the Fellows to individuals and organizations who can collaborate with them to address other specific needs and concerns of their LGUs and constituents.
