CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--In promoting gender equality and empowering individuals and communities, the Philippine Commission on Women-North Mindanao Field Office (PCW-NMFO) spearheaded the first leveling session of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Field Offices 9, 10, and Caraga on Gender and Development (GAD), June 26–28, 2023, here.
The three-day training on Basic GAD Concepts, SOGIESC, and Gender Mainstreaming brought together 45 Local Government Operations Officers (LGOOs) from DILG 9, 10, and Caraga to talk about GAD concepts so they could learn about its national and international mandates and commitments and be introduced to gender analysis. It is also a way to level off on the GAD-related concerns of the LGOOs.

The leveling session is a component of the ladderized training that PCW-NMFO conducts to equip the PLGOOs, C/MLGOOs, GAD Focal Point System (GFPS) members, GAD Focals, and other operations officers of the three DILG Field Offices. These activities aim to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of LGOOs to address gender-related issues effectively.

DILG-10 Regional Director Wilhelm M. Suyko welcomed the participants from the different regions, where he also shared the initiatives of DILG-10 relating to GAD.

One of the relevant topics discussed during the training was gender analysis by Rosena D. Sanchez, a certified member of the National Gender Resource Pool (NGRP). She explained that gender analysis is the process of taking into account how an organization's operations or a development program are affecting women and men, girls and boys, and their social relationships.

The session helped enhance the understanding and appreciation of the participants for the conceptual building blocks, data needed, levels of analysis, framework, and tools used for gender analysis. It allows the development of interventions that address gender inequalities and meet the different needs of women and men in all their diversity.

The activity also shed light on the need for additional capacity development sessions for the LGOOs since they are obligated to review the GAD Plan and Budget of the LGUs.

With this, as part of the identified ways forward, track 2 of the leveling session will be conducted in the last week of August 2023. This will mainly focus on the tools that will help assess the various aspects of gender-responsive governance. (PCW-NMFO/PIA-10)