EXTENSION: GENDER & DEVELOPMENT

CREATION, STRENGTHENING, AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD) FOCAL POINT SYSTEM

Pursuant to Section 36 of Republic Act No. 9710, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), all government departments, including their attached agencies, offices, bureaus, state universities and colleges , government-owned and controlled corporations, local government units and all other government instrumentalities shall adopt gender mainstreaming as a strategy to promote women’s human rights and eliminate gender discrimination in their systems, structures, policies, programs, process and procedures.
Section 37-C of the implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the MCW provides that all concerned government agencies and instrumentalities mentioned above shall establish or strengthen their GFPS or a similar GAD mechanism to catalyze and accelerate gender mainstreaming within the agency.
GAD Focal Point System – is an interesting and interdependent group of people in allgovernment instrumentalities tasked to catalyze and accelerate gender mainstreaming. It is a mechanism established to ensure and advocate for, guide, coordinate, and monitor the development, implementation, review and updating of their GAD plans and GAD-related programs, activities and project (PAPs);

General Guidelines

1. The heads of agencies shall issue appropriate directives to institutionalize the creation of the GFPS in their respective agencies;
2. Agencies with existing GFPS or similar mechanism shall reconstitute and strengthen said mechanisms based on the provisions of RA9710, its IRR and this memorandum circular,
3. The task and function of the members of the GFPS shall from part of their regular key result areas and work plans and shall give due consideration during performance evaluation;
4. Agencies shall develop GAD capacity development programs that support continuing gender education, updating and enhancing skills customized according to the functions of the GFPS, to be integrated in the regular agency Human Resources Development Plan. These capacity development programs may include gender sensitivity, gender analysis, gender-responsive planning and budgeting and gender audit, among others;
5. Agencies shall conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation of their GFPS and shall undertake measure to address possible issues hindering the performance of their function in accordance with MCW and other GAD-related laws, policies and plans; and
6. Funds shall be allocated for programs, activities and projects to support the organization, management and operations of the GFPS, to be charged to the agency’s GAD budget

EARIST Gender and Development Agenda

The Gender and Development Agenda (GAD) supports Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) vision, mission and strategic goals. The GAD Agenda recognizes the various GAD commitments of the Institute under various gender-related laws and policies, which include, but not limited to, the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development Plan (1995-2025), Women in Development and Nation Building Act (Republic Act No. 7192), Anti Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 7877), Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (Republic Act No. 9262), the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710), Safe Spaces Act (Republic Act 11313), Anti-Rape Law of 1997 (Republic Act 8353) and CHED Memorandum Order No. 1, Series of 2015 (Establishing the Policies and Guidelines on Gender and Development in the Commission on Higher Education and Higher Education Institutions).

The primary thrust of Gender and Development is to develop EARIST into a leading gender-responsive higher education institution; incorporate and promote a gender perspective in the four-fold functions of higher education, i.e., instruction, research, extension and production, and other Institutional operations through gender-responsive policies, programs, and mechanisms; confirm that every member of the academic community and its stakeholders are gender-responsive through the enhancement of their capacity to use gender lens in the performance of their functions and champion GAD efforts of the Institute.

The Goals of EARIST Gender and Development are as follows:

  • To mainstream Gender and Development in the curriculum, research, and extension.
  • To institutionalize gender-responsive mechanisms in the Institute.
  • To develop and recognize gender responsive members of the academic community and external stakeholders.
  • To create sustainable partnerships with stakeholders and technical experts and promote cooperation in the planning, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of GAD PAPs.
  • To construct and upgrade facilities that will address gender concerns of the stakeholders.