APRIL 16, 2014

NR # 3438

Scrutinize Gender and Development (GAD) budget, solon urges

A lawmaker has called for a congressional inquiry into the allocation and utilization of the Gender and Development (GAD) budget of different government instrumentalities. ep. !inabelle uth "illarica (#th District$ %ulacan) filed &ouse esolution '()$ which also urges the &ouse *ommittee on +omen and Gender ,quality to find out how many agencies have submitted their GAD -lans and %udgets and turned.over their accomplishment reports. "illarica said there is no recent in.depth study conducted to assess the e/ecution or use of the annual GAD %udget of government agencies and local government units. 01t is imperative that there be an assessment as to its efficiency and effectiveness in addressing gender issues$2 "illarica said. "illarica cited the General Appropriation Act (GAA) that stipulates the GAD -lan should be integrated in the regular activities of the agencies$ which shall be at least 34 of the agency5s budget. 06or this purpose$ the GAA provides that GAD.related activities currently being undertaken by agencies or those that contribute to poverty alleviation$ economic empowerment$ especially of marginalized women$ protection$ promotion and fulfillment of women5s human rights and practice of gender.responsive governance shall be considered sufficient compliance with the said requirement$2 "illarica said. 07he GAA further provides that the utilization of the GAD budget shall be evaluated based on the performance indicators identified by the agency and that the preparation and submission of the annual GAD plan and annual GAD Accomplishment eport shall be sub8ect to the guidelines issued by the agencies concerned$2 "illarica added. &owever$ a 9:;: report of the +omen and Gender 1nstitute of the <arian *ollege on the results of a review conducted on the -hilippine GAD %udget -olicy covering ;((3 to 9::( 0found the weakest part of the implementation of the GAD %udget -olicy is GAD budget e/ecution and the related tasks of accounting for the gender budget and the linking of the GAD investments to GAD results$2 "illarica said. 0As =tate -arty to the *onvention on the ,limination of All 6orms of Discrimination Against +omen (*,DA+)$ the -hilippines agreed to pursue a policy of totally eliminating any discrimination against women$2 "illarica pointed out.

*iting the %ei8ing -latform of Action$ which resulted from the # th +orld *onference of +omen in %ei8ing$ *hina in ;((3$ "illarica said governments$ international communities$ and civil societies$ including non.government organizations and the private sector$ were called upon to take strategic action in critical areas of concern$ including the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women$ inequalities and inadequacies in education and training and unequal access to health care and related services. 0 A(>;: otherwise known as <agna *arta of +omen (<*+) requires all departments$ including their attached agencies$ offices$ bureaus$ state universities and colleges$ government.owned and controlled corporations$ local government units and other government instrumentalities to adopt gender mainstreaming as a strategy to promote women5s human rights and eliminate gender discrimination in their systems$ structures$ policies$ programs$ process$ and procedures$2 "illarica said. 0As a procedure and mechanism to eliminate gender discrimination$ government instrumentalities are required to adopt Gender and Development (GAD) programs$ the development of which shall proceed from the conduct of a gender audit and a gender analysis of its policies$ programs$ services and the situation of its clientele$ the generation and review of se/.disaggregated data$ and consultation with gender?women5s rights advocates and agency?women clientele$2 "illarica added. ():) jsc