Some 300,000 women in conflict-vulnerable areas are set to be trained in digital skills over the next three years under a peacebuilding partnership forged by Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and its partners with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on Thursday.

“By providing women with digital and technology-based training and income-generating opportunities, we expect this project to boost the household incomes of our beneficiaries, promote women’s leadership, contribute to the long-term stability of communities, and build on the gains of the normalization and resilience-building aspects of peace processes in our country,” OPAPRU head and Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said during the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aboitiz Foundation to undertake the Elevate AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Annotation) project at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City.

“As the saying goes: give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But teach a man to fish, or in today’s case, teach a woman to fish rather, and you feed her for a lifetime,” Galvez said.

Women, including mothers, from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are among the beneficiaries of the Elevate AIDA which Aboitiz Foundation, Connected Women, the Philippine Commission on Women and the United Nations Women started at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic with 60 housewives in Toledo City.

Learn, grow, shape future

Aboitiz Foundation president Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar said the Aboitiz Group’s social services arm and partners share the dream of giving every Filipino woman, no matter where she is from, the opportunity to learn, grow and shape her own future.

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“For the Aboitiz Foundation, this program is not simply about technology. It’s about transformation. Elevate AIDA equips underprivileged and vulnerable women with the digital skills needed in today’s workforce. But more than that, it gives them the confidence to believe: Kaya ko rin. May lugar ako sa makabagong mundo,” said Hontiveros-Malvar.

“This is the heart of our dream: to create pathways where there were once only roadblocks, to nurture potential where there was once only doubt, and to build futures that reflect dignity, choice, and purpose.”

The hands-on training on AIDA equips participants with remote work skills and professional communication competencies. Graduates become part of Connected Women’s workforce pool, contributing to the digital economy while stimulating local economic activity within BARMM.

Under the MOU, Aboitiz Foundation will provide funding, technical expertise, program management systems, and resource networks while OPAPRU will provide institutional support through policy facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and efficient regional coordination.

Galvez said his agency will also ensure that the project is integrated into its existing peace and development frameworks and aligned with the national government’s peace policy agenda.

“For the Aboitiz Foundation, this program is not simply about technology. It’s about transformation. Elevate AIDA equips underprivileged and vulnerable women with the digital skills needed in today’s workforce. But more than that, it gives them the confidence to believe: Kaya ko rin. May lugar ako sa makabagong mundo,” said Hontiveros-Malvar.

“This is the heart of our dream: To create pathways where there were once only roadblocks, to nurture potential where there was once only doubt, and to build futures that reflect dignity, choice, and purpose.”

The hands-on training on AIDA equips participants with remote work skills and professional communication competencies. Graduates become part of Connected Women’s workforce pool, contributing to the digital economy while stimulating local economic activity within BARMM.

Under the MoU, Aboitiz Foundation will provide funding, technical expertise, program management systems and resource networks while OPAPRU will provide institutional support through policy facilitation, stakeholder engagement and efficient regional coordination.

Galvez said his agency will also ensure that the project is integrated into its existing peace and development frameworks and aligned with the national government’s peace policy agenda.