Tanauan, Leyte -- The municipality of Tanauan celebrates today the little successes towards the empowerment of its womenfolks, through the conduct of a Women Congress that will bring together about 1,000 women from the 54 barangays of the Municipality.

The Women's Congress is the LGUs contribution to the nationwide celebration of Women's Month in the whole month of March, with the theme "CEDAW ng Bayan: Yaman ng Kababaihan."

The women organizations in Tanauan has long been grouped under the Tanauan Woman's Club and the Tanauan Council of Women under the leadership of Ms. Olive P. Tiu, who has been active in organizing women even before she became the First Lady of the municipality.

The Tanauan Women Congress with Celebration as the motif, will feature the talents of the various women's groups, a short review on the rights of women and RA 9262 and RA 9208, fellowship and sharing of best practices among the women and the local officials.

The Women Congress promises to be educational and enjoyable at the same time, Mayor Tiu enthused.

Mayor Roque Tiu said that the local government of Tanauan realized a long time ago that important role that women play in the development of the municipality and their respective communities and families. This is the reason why the municipality has included programs on women and children, in its priority undertakings.

Women nurtures the family, Mayor Tiu said, hence there is a need to empower them, so that they will be able to raise the children who will be deserving of becoming future leaders of the municipality.

The women in all the barangays of Tanauan has long been organized and are updated on the latest issues and laws on women, Mayor Tiu said. Many of these women organizations have registered as cooperatives and are undertaking their livelihood programs, but he said that the municipality will continue to take innovative moves to further empower these women.