- General Guidelines in the Submission, Review and Endorsement of LGU’s GAD Plans and Budgets
- All Provinces, HUCs, ICCs and LGUs within Metro Manila shall submit their GPBs, accompanied by their GAD ARs, to the DILG Regional Office for their review and endorsement. Reviewed and endorsed GPBs shall be returned to the LGUs for integration in the AIP and funding.
- Component cities and municipalities shall submit their GPBs to the PPDO to ensure the alignment of the municipal/city GAD PPAs with the priorities of the province; and then from the PPDO to the DILG Provincial Office for its review and endorsement. DILG endorsed GPBs shall be returned to concerned LGUs for incorporation in their annual budgets to be enacted by their Local Sanggunian.
- Barangays shall prepare and submit their GPBs to the C/MPDO to ensure the alignment of the barangay GAD PPAs with the priorities of the city/municipality and then from the C/MPDO, submit the same to the DILG C/MLGOO for review and endorsement. Reviewed and endorsed GPBs shall be returned to the concerned barangays, for incorporation in their AIPs and annual budgets.
- GPBs shall focus on the alignment of the GAD plan with the GAD agenda, Magna Carta of Women, CEDAW and/or other related GAD laws and the correctness and alignment of the entries in each column of the GPB form, e.g., if the proposed activities respond to the identified gender issue, if the issues are correctly identified or formulated, if there are clear indicators and targets, if the proposed budget is realistic and if the number of proposed activities are doable within the year, among others.
- The DILG Regional/Provincial/City/Municipal Offices shall review and endorse the LGU GPBs based on the gender responsiveness of their content, e.g., relevance of the GAD PPAs to the identified gender issues as well as the correctness and alignment of the entries in the GPB form.
- Policy Guidelines
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 , processes, 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.
- General Guidelines
- The heads of agencies shall issue appropriate directives to institutionalize the creation of the GFPS in their respective agencies;
- Agencies with existing GFPS or similar mechanisms shall reconstitute and strengthen said mechanisms based on the provisions of RA 9710, its IRR and this Memorandum Circular;
- The tasks and functions of the members of the GFPS shall form part of their regular key result areas and work plans and shall be given due consideration during performance evaluation;
- 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 Resource Development Plan. These capacity development programs may include gender sensitivity, gender analysis, gender-responsive planning and budgeting and gender audit, among others;
- gencies shall conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation of their GFPS and shall undertake measures to address possible issues hindering the performance of their functions in accordance with the MCW and other GAD-related laws, policies and plans; and
- 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.
- Specific Guidelines
- Structure and Composition of the GFPS
The GFPS shall be composed of the Agency Head and Executive Committee (ExeCom), and a Technical Working Group (TWG). The head of agency may designate an Undersecretary or its equivalent to head the GFPS Executive Committee.
The existing executive committee or its equivalent highest policy making body may concurrently serve as the GFPS executive committee. In this case, the head of agency may designate an alternate Chair.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) may be chaired by a member of the ExeCom; or the head of the agency may designate a Chair outside of the ExeCom. The TWG shall be composed of representatives from various divisions or offices from both operations and support units within the agency, such as but not limited to planning, finance, human resource, senior technical officer from each bureau/division/office and where feasible, the statistics and management information office and/or whichever is applicable in the organization.
The Technical Working Group may designate a secretariat.
- Functions of the GAD Focal Point System
- Lead in mainstreaming gender perspective in agency/department policies, plans and programs. In the process, they shall ensure the assessment of the gender-responsiveness of systems, structures, policies, programs, processes, and procedures of the agency based on the priority needs and concerns of constituencies and employees and the formulation of recommendations including their implementation;
- Assist in the formulation of new policies such as the GAD Code in advancing women’s status, such as in the case of LGUs;
- Lead in setting up appropriate systems and mechanisms to ensure the generation, processing, review and updating of sex-disaggregated data or GAD database to serve as basis in performance-based gender responsive planning;
- Coordinate efforts of different divisions, offices, units of the agency and advocate for the integration of GAD perspectives in all their systems and processes;
- Spearhead the preparation of the agency annual performance-based GAD Plans, Programs and Budget in response to gender issues of their constituencies and clients and in the context of their agency mandate, and consolidate the same following the format and procedure prescribed by the PCW, DBM and NEDA in the Joint Circular 2012-1. The GFPS shall likewise be responsible for submitting the consolidated GAD Plans and Budgets of the department/agency, and as needed, in responding to PCW’s comments or requests for additional information;
- Lead in monitoring the effective implementation of GAD-related policies and the annual GAD Plans, Programs and Budget;
- Lead the preparation and consolidation of the annual agency GAD Accomplishment Report and other GAD Reports that maybe required under the MCW;
- Strengthen the external link with other agencies or organizations working on women’s rights and gender and development to harmonize and synchronize GAD efforts at various levels of governance;
- Promote and actively pursue the participation of women and gender advocates, other civil society groups and private organizations in the various stages of the development planning cycle, giving special attention to the marginalized sectors; and
- Ensure that all personnel of the agency including the finance officers (e.g. accountant, budget officer, auditors) are capacitated on GAD. Along this line, the GFPS will recommend and plan an appropriate capacity development program on gender and development for its employees as part of and implemented under its regular human resource development program.
- Roles and Responsibilities
- The GFPS Chairperson or Head of Agency shall:
- Issue policies or other directives that support GAD mainstreaming in the policies, plans, programs, projects and activities, budget, systems and procedures of the agency including the creation, strengthening, modification or reconstitution of the GFPS; and
- Approve the GAD Plan, Program and Budget of the agency as duly endorsed by the Executive Committee, with the assistance of the Technical Working Group, and ensure its implementation.
- The Executive Committee shall:
- Provide direction and give policy advice to the Agency Head to support and strengthen the GFPS and agency’s GAD mainstreaming activities;
- Direct the identification of GAD strategies, programs, activities and projects based on the results of the gender audit, gender analysis and according to the identified priorities of the agency in response to the gender issues faced by its clients and employees;
- Ensure the timely submission of the agency GAD Plan and Budget, Accomplishment Report and other GAD-related reports to the PCW and to DBM;
- Ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the agency GAD programs, activities and projects and the judicious utilization of the GAD Budget;
- Build and strengthen the partnership of the agency with PCW, GAD experts, advocates, women’s groups and other stakeholders in pursuit of gender mainstreaming;
- Recommend approval of agency GAD Plans and Budgets and GAD ARs; and
- ecommend awards or recognition to outstanding institutional GAD programs, activities and projects and /or GAD FP members.
- The Technical Working Group (TWG) or Secretariat shall:
- Facilitate the implementation of the gender mainstreaming efforts of the agency through the GAD planning and budgeting process;
- Formulate agency GAD Plans, Programs and Budget in response to the gender gaps and issues faced by their clients and constituencies, women and men employees, following the conduct of a gender audit, gender analysis, and/or review of sex disaggregated data;
- Assist in the capacity development of and provide technical assistance to the agency, and as needed, to officers in the other offices or units. In this regard, the TWG shall work with the human resource development office on the development and implementation of an appropriate capacity development program on gender equality and women’s empowerment for its employees, and as requested or deemed necessary, for other offices under the Department or Agency, as the case may be;
- Coordinate with the various units of the agency including its regional and attached agencies and ensure their meaningful participation in GAD strategic and annual planning exercises.
- The TWG of the GFPS of the central agency shall:
- Coordinate with the GFPS of its attached agencies, bureaus and regional offices especially on the preparation, consolidation and submission of GAD Plans and Budgets;
- Lead the conduct of advocacy activities and the development of IEC materials to ensure critical support of agency officials, staff and relevant stakeholders to the activities of the GAD Focal Point System and GAD mainstreaming activities;
- Monitor the implementation of GAD-related programs, activities and projects in their respective offices and suggest corrective measures to improve implementation of GAD PAPs and GFPS activities;
- Prepare and consolidate agency GAD accomplishment reports; and
- Provide regular updates and recommendations to the head of agency or ExeCom on the activities of the GFPS and the progress of agency GAD mainstreaming activities based on the feedback and reports of the various units of the agency.
- The Philippine Commission on Women shall:
- Serve as the over-all monitoring body and oversight to ensure the implementation of the GFPS Policy and call for the compliance of such;
- Develop a database and profile of all GFPS in the Philippines;
- Recognize deserving and good performing agency GFPS thru an incentives and awards system; and
- Support capacity development of GFPS through training, technical assistance, and or referral of agencies to gender experts, advocates, practitioners and institutions on gender sensitivity, gender audit, gender analysis, gender-responsive planning and budgeting, project design and implementation and institutional strengthening, among others.
- Effectivity
All existing GFPS shall henceforth be guided by the provisions of this Circular effective immediately.
