“Diwang Pilipino, Tatak Euro-Pinoy”
A Conference on the Exploration of Filipino Values as Tools for Understanding and Supporting the Global Agenda to End Poverty and to Protect the Environment
ENFiD 2018 Paris Conference Statement
We, the delegates of the ENFiD 2018 Conference celebrate our strengthened organisation from a courage filled idea, to project implementations, and to welcoming new endeavours as we carry on with ENFiD’s next chapter. We realize how essential it is to incorporate our values in conveying our roles and how universally relevant ENFiD’s projects and activities are. After exploring and reflecting on our core values as tools for understanding and supporting the Global Agenda and the Paris Agreement and honouring the blending of Filipino Spirit and European values that enrich our lives, we, the 91 delegates from 16 countries at ENFiD 2018 Conference, Diwang Pilipino, Tatak Euro-Pinoy, make the following statements and recommendations:
From the Plenary discussion, we agree to engage to:
- Promote ENFiD vigorously and project the Euro-Pinoy Character.
- Prioritise which issues ENFiD should focus on and identify relevant projects, for example- trafficking, that will get funds from European agencies and other government and multilateral organisations.
- Enter the political arena by encouraging fellow Filipinos to run for public office inEurope.
- Celebrate our roots and ensure that the Euro-Pinoy youth know our culture andpractices.
- Capitalise on our values such as bayanihan, pakikisama, malasakit, and pagigingmatatag when making our contribution to the SDGs.
- Practice retrospection as a community and remember our past and make use ofthem in our current advocacies.
- Educate ourselves with the solutions we may need when addressing challenges.
- Transform our values; the so-called negative values can be used positively. And remember to go deeper in understanding the problems happening in the Philippines as these shape peoples’ values.
- Focus on Filipino leadership in the coming ENFiD Conference.
THE WORKSHOPS
The plenary was followed by the following workshops on areas that ENFiD considers important.
| SENFiD (Senior ENFiD): The Euro-Filipinos who are of (nearing) retirement age are faced with questions such as when and where to retire and how to spend their retirement years. It was agreed in the workshop that it is important to identify and profile the contribution of Euro-Pinoy seniors.
One need identified is to acquire financial literacy. We recommend, that:
| Workshop on Pilosopiyang Pilipino: Filipino values in a foreign setting The identified challenges are:
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| YENFiD (Youth ENFiD)
Some Filipino youth feel exposed to questions of ‘Where are you really from?’
LGBTQ-ENFiD
| Workshop on the re-integration and portability of social security benefits, we state that:
The following solutions were recommended:
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The Delegates of the ENFiD 2018 Paris Conference agree and support these collective recommendations.
We thank ENFiD-France for hosting the ENFiD 2018 Conference and all the ENFiD supporters, officers, and members throughout Europe and Israel who made this conference possible. We are grateful for the support and knowledge of the speakers, Consul Hendrik Garcia and Rosa Cordillera-Castillo, who provided us invaluable insights. To our fellow ENFiD colleague, Dorie Reyes Poloczek, for the inspiring poem she wrote and recited for this conference. We also acknowledge the support of the Philippine government representatives, Ambassador
Theresa Lazaro, Ambassador Grace Princesa, and CFO Director Regina Galias, who took time to spend this day with us and for the Philippine government’s continued support to ENFiD.
We also extend our gratitude to Msgr. Don Vito Pavilando for the spiritual guidance he provided us. And finally, to IOM, thank you for your confidence in ENFiD, we hope that this project is the beginning of many more collaborations.
Signed in Paris, France on October 19, 2018
By the 91 Delegates of the 2018 ENFiD Paris Conference from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Vatican City State, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, The Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
ANNEX
Consolidated Past Conference Statements and Recommendations
(AGA). ENFiD, which started as a seed of hope by and for Euro-Pinoys, has now grown into a dynamic collective of impassioned kababayans. In the last five years we have become witnesses in establishing ENFiD as a platform for our social, cultural, political, and economic advocacies; as a learning institution providing knowledge and support to Filipinos in Europe; and as a leader in promoting concrete projects that are beneficial to our communities.
Through the strong vision and determination of our fellow Filipinos in Europe, we are privileged to celebrate today in Paris ENFiD’s 5th Conference and Annual General Assembly
At the first mini-conference in Madrid in 2014, the 40 Euro-Pinoys from 11 countries adopted the Five Year Strategy Plan aimed In the last five years we have become witnesses in establishing ENFiD as a platform for our social, cultural, political, and economic advocacies; as a learning institution providing knowledge and support to Filipinos in Europe; and as a leader in promoting concrete projects that are beneficial to our communities.
From this, the Two-year Action Plan (2YAP) emerged addressing the strengthening of ENFiD as an organisation and the mapping out of ENFiD’s advocacies and programs. As an organisation, ENFiD identified key aspects to focus on, namely: A strong Secretariat that oversees the management of the entire organisation, the drafting of the Constitution and By-Laws including the House Rules and Rights and Responsibilities of Country Representatives; Fund-raising and expansion of partnerships both at European and international levels and most especially with various Philippine government institutions. As for ENFiD’s program and advocacies, the 2YAP covered the following themes: Euro-Pinoy Youth; Sustainable Energy; Art and Culture; and Training and Education. In addition, ENFiD advocated for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV), the West Philippine Sea (WPS), and the exposition of trafficking and recruitment irregularities in Malta.
From Malta in 2015, to Prague, Czech Republic in 2016, and Essen, Germany in 2017 ENFiD has gathered a list of valuable conference statements and recommendations that have guided the organisation towards the path of improving the services it provides to the Filipino community throughout Europe and extending support to our fellow countrymen in the Philippines. The recommendations consolidated in this annex has been grouped into four categories, namely: Learning and Development; Advocacy, Migration and Development, and ENFiD programs/projects. These recommendations are on-going and developing tasks of ENFiD promoted to its member countries for their local implementation and practice.
For Learning and Development, ENFiD identified the following recommendations:
| As for Advocacy, these are the recommendations ENFiD has received:
Participation is key in integration and ENFiD believes that the organisation can be a source of integration information through the website.
| For Migration and Development, ENFiD has been tasked to:
| And for ENFiD Programs/Projects, the organisation has been tasked to:
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