Mandate

Pursuant to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for action Republic Act No. 7192 (Women in Development and Nation Building Act), Republic Act No. 9170 (Magna Carta for Women) and the Millennium Development Goals, the Philippines has committed to pursue women’s empowerment and gender equality in the country;

In accordance with the Executive Order (EO) No. 273 (Approving the Philippine Plan and Gender Responsive Development, 1995-2025) agencies are mandated to institutionalize Gender and Development   (GAD) in Government by incorporating GAD concerns in their planning, programming and budgeting processes; the same Executive Order also mandated agencies to incorporate and reflect GAD concerns in their agency performance commitment contracts, annual budget proposals and work and financial plans; 

Members 

The Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point shall be composed of the following members:

• • The Municipal Mayor
  • SB Member, Committee on Women and Gender Equality
  • Municipal Health Officer
  • Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer
  • Municipal Budget Officer
  • Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator
  • Human Resource and Management Officer
  • Municipal Treasurer
  • President, Liga ng mga Barangay
  • Head, Women’s and Children’s Division, PNP

Functions 

The Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point shall have the following functions:

1. 1. Lead the assessment of the gender-responsiveness of policies, strategies, programs, activities and projects of the LGU based on the priority needs and concerns of its constituency and the formulation of recommendations and ensure their implementation;
   2. Assist in the formulation of new policies such as GAD Code in advancing women’s status;
   3. Lead in setting up appropriate system and mechanism to ensure the generation, processing, review and updating of sex disaggregated data on GAD database to serve as basis in performance-based gender-responsive planning;
   4. Coordinate efforts of different offices/divisions/units of the LGU and advocate for the integration of GAD perspectives in all their systems  and processes;
   5.  Spearhead the preparation of the annual performance-based GAD Plan, Programs and Budgets in response  to the women and gender issues of their employees/constituencies; following the format and procedure prescribed by the Philippine Commission for Women (PCW);
   6. Lead in monitoring the effective implementation of the GAD Code and any other GAD-related policies and the annual GAD Plan, Programs and Budget;
   7. Lead the preparation of the annual LGU GA Accomplishment Report and other reports that may be required under RA9710
   8. Promote the participation of women and gender advocated other civil society groups and private organizations in the various stages of the development planning cycle; and
   9. Ensure that all personnel of the LGU including the auditors are capacitated on GAD.

Meetings and Quorum

The Gender and Development shall meet at least once every three (3) months or as often as may be necessary.

Secretariat

There is hereby constituted for each gender and development office a secretariat which shall be responsible for Assisting in the coordination, monitoring and implementation of GAD PPAs, Consolidate the GAD Plan and Budget and Accomplishment Report, Encode the GAD Plan and Budget for submission to various monitoring agencies, Consolidate sex-disaggregated data reports from offices/units.

The Secretariat of the Gender and Development shall be headed by their respective GFPS.

Relation of Gender and Development to the Sanggunian

The policies, programs, and projects proposed by Gender and Development shall be submitted to the Sanggunian concerned for appropriate action.

Budget Information

The GAD Budget is the total amount provided in the General Fund Budget of the LGU to finance PPAs under the GAD Plan. At least 5% of the LGUs total annual appropriation is earmarked for GAD-related activities and attributed to the existing PPAs of the LGU budget. As such, the GAD budget is not an additional and separate fund to be provided by the local government.