RGADC preps for 2021 Search for Caraga’s Most Gender-Responsive Gov’t Agencies
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY – The Regional Development Council - Gender and Development Committee (RDC-RGADC) gears up preparation for the 2021 Search for Caraga’s Most Gender-Responsive Government Agencies, and now ready to facilitate interested entities for the requirements.
RGADC chair and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Caraga regional director Atty. Jerefe Tubigon-Bacang, recalled that in the national level, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) has launched in 2013 the Gender and Development Transformation and Institutionalization through Mainstreaming of Programs, Agenda, Linkages and Advocacies (GADtimpala) as one integral component of its awards system in the recognition of deserving national government agencies for their outstanding achievement and performance in mainstreaming gender in the bureaucracy, upholding the rights of women and effective implementation of gender-responsive programs.
“This Search shall also be patterned with modifications to the PCW’s GADtimpala, to ensure that it will strategically upfront the gender-responsiveness of agencies’ programs or projects that contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially those that have made impacts on the lives of women,” said Bacang.
Building on the success of the first phase of this three-fold incentives and awards system, a three-year (2021-2023) and partnership agreement with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) operated by an annual work and financial plan, has been initiated and approved. These are positive actions of the RDC-RGADC to ensure the realization of its local initiatives.
As to the scope, Bacang said that the 2021 Search for Caraga’s Gender-Responsive Government Agencies shall cover national government agencies (NGAs), attached agencies and bureaus including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and state universities and colleges (SUCs). A line agency with regional offices shall be treated as one agency. Likewise, an attached agency or bureau with regional offices shall be treated as one agency, separate from its “parent” agency.
“Bases of assessment for the award shall cover the period since the enactment of the Magna Carta of Women in 2009 until December 2021. This means that gender mainstreaming efforts of participating agencies within this period shall be considered as bases for identifying the recipient agencies,” Bacang said.
The RDC-RGADC shall confer the award of
Caraga’s Gender-Responsive Government Agencies to government agencies who have
mainstreamed gender and development (GAD) in their policy review and
formulation, program conceptualization, implementation and in development and
implementation of gender responsive mechanisms.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible, the agency should meet
the following minimum requirements: 1) Has submitted to its central office, its
regional GAD Plan and Budget (GPB), or consolidated GPB (as the case may be),
for the Fiscal Years 2019, 2020 and 2021; 2) Has submitted to its central
office its corresponding GAD Accomplishment Reports (AR) for the FYs 2018, 2019
and 2020; and 3) Has a functional GFPS created through a policy issuance that
is in accordance with the PCW Memorandum Circular 2011-01.
Basis of the Award
The shortlisted agencies will be assessed on their gender mainstreaming performance from 2009 to 2021 using the GMEF tool for as long as the efforts are still observable or being practiced as of December 2021.
As a self-assessment tool, the GMEF assessment shall be undertaken by the agencies themselves, and shall be guided by the PCW Circular 2016-03 and the PCW issued GMEF Handbook and Toolkit. The role of RDC-RGADC is to verify the provisional scores as presented in Annex A and levels reported and submitted by the agencies, through the review of their Means of Verification (MOVs), and the conduct of validation through interviews, focused group discussions and/or on-site inspections, as maybe needed.
In order for an agency be conferred with the award, the agency must reach an overall level of “3” in the GMEF Assessment Tool and must obtain a minimum overall GMEF score of 61 points.
At this level, the agency must have institutionalized GAD-related activities within the organization. It must have integrated GAD in its Major Final Outputs (MFOs) or Organizational Outcomes (OOs), mandates and performance indicators, and have consolidated gender efforts to produce intended or desired impact on women.
Meanwhile, the RGADC chair emphasized that the conferment of the 2021 Search for Caraga’s Gender-Responsive Government Agencies shall be on Aug. 12, 2022 (Friday) in time of the 13th Anniversary of the enactment of Republic Act 9710 otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women which falls on August 14th (Sunday). (RGADC/JPG, PIA-Caraga)
