Most of the 2010 political candidates lack understanding of women’s issues and the problem of poverty.

This, according to women’s groups and gender development advocates who recently bared their “10-Point Women’s Agenda for the National Elections 2010’’ at the Manila Hotel.

Daphne Roxas,Ugnayan ng Kababaihan sa Pulitika (UKP) executive director, said that women’s rights are yet to be incorporated as a fundamental platform of political candidates despite them being vital indicators of understanding the nation’s well-being.

“Women’s issues are always associated with poverty and economic growth. Unfortunately, not many, if at all, from our political candidates truly understand women’s issues,’’ Roxas said in an interview.

“We need far-reaching economic programs to remove the inequalities. We need political platforms that address the increasing adverse impact of the economic recession and globalization and on Filipino women,’’ she added.

But she said that laws and policies, while important, are only as a good as the social and political conditions that effectively abate discrimination against women.