The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) conducted, for the second time, the GADtimpala for Regional GAD Mechanisms Awarding Ceremony as part of the 3rd RGADC Summit held at Manila Prince Hotel, City of Manila on June 8, 2023.

Republic Act  9710 or the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), mandated the PCW to establish an incentives and awards system to recognize deserving entities, national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs) and other government instrumentalities “for their outstanding achievement and/or performance in upholding the rights of women and effective implementation of gender-responsive programs,”

The awards recognize the collective and exceptional efforts of Regional Gender and Development Committees (RGADCs) in providing GAD technical assistance towards the development and implementation of gender-responsive policies and programs and monitoring of gender mainstreaming efforts at the regional and local levels.

The selection process and the results of the awards with eight categories have been based on the accomplished RGADC Profile Information Sheet, RGADC Awards Evaluation Form, and PCW-RGADC Annual Monitoring Reports; and have undergone a series of validation and deliberation with the PCW-Technical Services and Regional Coordination Division. The selected awardees were approved by the PCW Management Committee.

In her opening remarks for the momentous event, Deputy Executive Director for Operations Maria Kristine Josefina Balmes commended the outstanding performance of the RGADCs which has shown great improvement from the first GADtimpala, despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“This shows that our RGADCs continue to demonstrate resilience and dedication during those challenging circumstances. Despite the unprecedented changes in our daily lives, the RGADCs continue to make positive changes by introducing innovations, at the same time, advancing gender mainstreaming at the local level. Their hard work and unwavering commitment have truly been remarkable and we commend each of the RGADCs for their efforts.” Balmes said.

“After gaining insights from the best practices shared by each RGADC in today’s sessions, I am confident that all of you have been inspired by the unique and innovative approaches adopted by some RGADCs in order to further intensify GAD advocacy at the regional and local levels. Tunay na kahanga-hanga at hindi matatawaran ang inyong dedikasyon upang mas lalong mapaigting ang ating adhikaing mabigyan ng proteksyon ang karapatang pantao ng mga kababaihan, mawakasan ang lahat ng uri ng diskriminasyon, at isulong ang pagkakapantay-pantay.” Balmes added, citing the conclusions and learnings from the whole-day plenary sessions of the 3rd RGADC summit.