GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD) PROGRAM

Structuring development projects and programs based on analysis of gender relationships

I. INTRODUCTION
Gender and Development (GAD) is concerned with women and her specific roles, responsibilities and expectations
in the society. It also analyzes the nature of women's contribution within the context of work done both inside and
outside the household and reflects the public/private dichotomy that undervalues the work done by women in the home.
GAD focuses on the principle that development is for all. Everyone in society, female or male, has the right to equal
opportunities to achieve a full and satisfying life.
Gender refers to the specific set of characteristics that identifies the social behavior of women and men and the
relationship between them. Gender alludes not simply to women or men but the relationship between them and the
way it is socially constructed. Since gender biases exist and these biases prevent people from attaining their full
potentials, development is impeded.
 Not a war of the sexes
 Not anti-Male
 Both women and men are victims although women more than men.
 Both have a stake in the struggle for gender equality
II. BACKGROUND / LAWS IN GOVERNMENT

To ensure that explicit, implicit, actual and potential gender biases are removed, the government has embarked on
gender and development (GAD) as one of its priority program. It is a development perspective that recognizes the
unequal status and situation of women and men in society, and as an approach, GAD seeks to equalize the status and
condition of and relations between them.
Presidential Decree (PD) No. 633, dated January 7, 1975, established the National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women (NCRFW) now called the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). The said PD serves as an
advisory body to the President and his Cabinet on policies and programs for the advancement of women. It is
mandated "to review, evaluate and recommend measures, including priorities to ensure the full integration of women
for economic, social and cultural development at national, regional and international levels, and to ensure further
equality between women and men."
Executive Order (EO) 273, issued on September 9, 1995 and signed by President Fidel V. Ramos, adopted
the Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD) 1995-2025. The PPGD 1995-2015 is a 30-year
perspective plan that outlines the policies, strategies, programs and projects that the government must adopt to enable
women to participate in and benefit from national development, while EO 273 directs all government agencies,
departments, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities, including government-owned and controlled corporations, at the
national level, sub-national and local levels to:
 1.1 To take appropriate steps to ensure the full implementation of the policies/strategies and programs/projects outlined in
the Plan;
 1.2 To institutionalize Gender and Development (GAD) efforts in government by incorporating GAD concerns, as spelled
out in the Plan; in their planning, programming and budgeting processes, but specifically to:
 1.2.1 Include/incorporate GAD concerns in the:
a. formulation, assessment and updating of their annual agency plans;
b. formulation, assessment and updating of their inputs to the medium/long-term, development plans; and
c. preparation of their inputs to sectoral performance assessment reports, public investment plans and other similar documents.
 1.2.2 Incorporate and reflect GAD concerns in their:
a. agency performance commitments contracts indicating key results areas for GAD as well as in their annual performance report
to the President; and
b. annual agency budget proposals and work and financial plans.
General Appropriations ACT (GAA) On Programs/Projects Related to Gender and Development(GAD)
 "All concerned government entities shall submit their GAD plan to the National Commission on Women for review. They
shall likewise submit annual reports to Congress, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), NCW, indicating
the accomplishments and amounts utilized to implement programs/projects/activities addressing gender issues and
women empowerment. The evaluation of agencies utilization of the GAD budget shall be performance-base"
 Section 27:
Programs/Projects Related to Gender and Development (GAD)." In consultation with the National Commission on
Women, all departments including their attached agencies ,offices, bureaus, agencies, state universities and
colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations and other instrumentalities, shall formulate a GAD Plan,
designed to empower women and address gender issues, in accordance with R.A. 7192 and the Philippine Plan for
Gender Responsive Development (PPGD), 1995-2025.
An Act Providing For The Magna Carta on Women

"All concerned government entities shall submit their GAD plan to the National Commission on Women for review. They
shall likewise submit annual reports to Congress, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), NCW, indicating
the accomplishments and amounts utilized to implement programs/projects/activities addressing gender issues and
women empowerment. The evaluation of agencies utilization of the GAD budget shall be performance-base"
 Section 36:
"All departments, including their attached agencies, offices, bureaus, state universities and colleges, government-
owned and controlled corporations, local government units and 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, processes and procedures."

What is Gender and Development?

Philippine Commission on Women defined Gender and Development as the

How Gender and Development started?

Gender and Development was developed in the 1980’s as an alternative to the

Unlike WID, the GAD approach is not concerned specifically with women, but with
the way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities, and expectations to both men
and women.

GAD applies gender analysis to uncover the ways in which men and women work
together, presenting results in neutral terms of economics and competence.

GAD focus primarily on two major frameworks, Gender Roles and Social Relations
Analysis. Gender role focus on social construction of identities within the household, it
also reveals the expectations from ‘maleness and femaleness’ in their relative access to
resources. Social relations analysis exposes the social dimensions of hierarchical power
relations imbedded in social institutions; also it’s determining influence on ‘the relative
position of men and women in society. In an attempt to create gender equality, (denoting
women having same opportunities as men, including ability to participate in the public
sphere) GAD policies aim to redefine traditional gender role expectations.
Gender and Development in Philippines

Philippine Plan for Gender and Development, 1995-2025, is a National Plan that
addresses, provides and pursues full equality and development for men and women.
Approved and adopted by former President Fidel V. Ramos as Executive No. 273, on
September 8, 1995, it is the successor of the Philippine Development Plan for Women,
1989-1992 adopted by Executive No. 348 of February 17, 1989.

Three years after, DENR Administrative Order No. 98 – 15 dated May 27, 1998 came
up as the Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Gender and Development (GAD)
Activities in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in order to
strengthen the DENR GAD Focal Point System and accomplishing the GAD vision
“Partnership of Empowered Men and Women for Sustainable Development”.

Republic Act No. 9710, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women was
approved on August 14, 2009 which mandates non-discriminatory and pro-gender
equality and equity measures to enable women’s participation in the formulation,
implementation and evaluation of policies and plan for national, regional and local
development.

A Memorandum Circular No. 2011 – 01 dated October 21, 2011 was released
addressing to all Government Departments including their attached agencies, offices,
bureaus, State Universalities and Colleges (SUCs), Government-Owned and Controlled
Corporations (GOCCs) and all other government instrumentalities as their guidelines and
procedures for the establishment, strengthening and institutionalization of the GAD Focal
Point System (GFPS).

Society Before the Gender And Development…

Gender stereotypes are generalizations about the roles of each gender. Gender roles
are generally neither positive nor negative, they are simply inaccurate generalizations of
the male and female attributes. Since each person has individual desires, thoughts, and
feelings, regardless of their gender, these stereotypes are incredibly simplistic and do not
at all describe the attributes of every person of each gender.

Here are some examples to simplify on how society works before Gender and
Development was formed: