06 May 2016 - The thirty-three participants who successfully completed the Batch 7 of the Financial Education and Entrepreneurial Workshop for Overseas Filipinos jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines/ Philippine Consulate General (Geneva PM/PCG) and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO-Geneva), in cooperation with the Filipino Swiss Vaud Association (FILSVA), were recognized on May 01 in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.

The participants received their certificates of completion in a ceremony that served as the culmination of twelve-hour classes that focused on financial management concepts, marketing and advertising, financial statements, and entrepreneurship. The Workshop included the preparation of actual business plans and exploration of key concepts like inflation and liquidity in the context of the life of an overseas Filipino.

Philippine Ambassador Cecilia B. Rebong, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, expressed her appreciation to the Officers and Members of FILSVA for their support and cooperation in assisting the Geneva PM/PCG bring their projects closer to the Filipino Community in Vaud, especially its Financial Education Program. Ambassador Rebong likewise lauded the graduates for taking this earnest effort towards financial stability and security.

The Recognition Day program was augmented by an Open Forum featuring Ms. Wilma Ortiz and Ms. Brigit Mahor, respectively, SSS and Pag-IBIG Representatives of Milan. They gave a talk on the various opportunities, projects and services available to Overseas Filipinos. The invitation to the Open Forum was also extended to the Filipino Community in Vaud

Both Ms. Ortiz and Ms. Mahor, conveyed the appreciation for Geneva PM’s initiative to include an Open Forum the Recognition Day program. They said that the Open Forum is the perfect complement to the Financial Education Program of Geneva PM, as the graduates are able to holistically strategize and save for their financial future as they prepare for eventual reintegration in the Philippines.

The Workshop is part of the overall Financial Education program of Geneva PM/PCG and POLO-Geneva, which also provides a roving seminar on how financial management can help address the social costs of migration.

Since the start of the program in November 09, 2014, 271 individuals have completed the Workshop, all of whom received a certificate of completion that can be used as a supporting document for taking advantage of DOLE programs that require financial education, while 544 have taken part in the roving seminars.

The program is also part of efforts by Geneva PM/PCG and POLO-Geneva to help empower women, given that women compose the demographic majority of overseas Filipinos in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, over which the consulate has jurisdiction.

In order to provide complete service to the Filipino Community in Lausanne, Vaud, Geneva PM/PCG conducted a consular outreach alongside the Recognition Day and Open Forum. END