Gender Mainstreaming or Gender and Development (GAD) mainstreaming is the main strategy for ensuring that the government pursues gender equality in all aspects of the development process to achieve the vision of a gender-responsive society where women and men equally contribute to and benefit from development. It is a set of processes and strategies aimed at recognizing and addressing gender issues in legislation, policies, programs and projects and institutional mechanisms of the government on a sustained basis. It is essentially institutionalizing gender concerns in the mainstream development processes and agenda and not just in the peripheral programs and projects of the government.
Mainstreaming GAD in the Development Planning Process: The Philippine Experience
GAD mainstreaming requires interventions in various stages of the development planning process from planning to programming, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. There are four critical entry points to GAD mainstreaming, namely: policies, programs and projects, people, and enabling mechanisms.
Entry Points of Gender Mainstreaming
There are four possible entry points in gender mainstreaming. These are policy, people, enabling mechanisms and programs and projects. They are not in any order of importance. The agency has the option on what entry point to use first. It may also adopt strategies that characterize more than one entry point
Policy
This refers to official statements and pronouncements of support for gender mainstreaming issued by the agency. These may be in the form of memoranda, executive orders or specific guidelines. The agency, through these issuances, has at least recognized and accepted gender mainstreaming as a critical and legitimate concern, even if in broad or general terms.
People
Stakeholders are the people on whose shoulders fall the task of gender mainstreaming. There are four distinct roles (Conner, 1992) that stakeholders assume:
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The sponsor - "the individual or group who has the power to sanction or legitimize change. Sponsors consider the potential changes facing an organization and assess the dangers and opportunities these transitions reflect. They decide which changes will happen, communicate the new priorities to the organization, and provide the proper reinforcement to assure success. Sponsors are responsible for creating an environment that enables these changes to be made on time and within budget."
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The change agent - "the individual or group who is responsible for actually making the change. The agent's success depends on the ability to diagnose potential problems, develop a plan to deal with these issues, and execute the change effectively."
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The target - "the individual or group who must actually change. The term target is used because these people are the focus of the change effort and play a crucial role in the short and long term success of a project. To increase the likelihood of success, they must be educated to understand the changes they are expected to accommodate and they must be involved in the implementation process."
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The advocate - "the individual or group who wants to achieve a change but lacks the power to sanction it."
The Department of Budget and Management, the National Economic and Development Authority and the NCRFW may be considered as change advocates in this case. The DBM monitors how gender mainstreaming is carried out by the agencies and has the power to sanction it.
In gender mainstreaming, the sponsors are the heads of agencies. They express support for it by issuing policies or installing the necessary enabling mechanisms, such as the release of funds.
Change agents in gender mainstreaming are the Focal Points and the officers and members of the TWGs of agencies. They are critical in its success because they are its planners and implementers.
People in the bureaucracy, the field workers and the clients of the different agencies serve as the targets of gender mainstreaming. Officials and members of the bureaucracy are given gender sensitivity training programs to engage them in the effort.
Enabling mechanisms
The GAD budget is a measure mandating agencies and LGUs to provide resources necessary for implementing programs, projects and activities designed to address gender issues and promote women's empowerment and gender equality as identified in their GAD plan. The cost of implementing the GAD plan should at least be 5% of their total budget.
Programs, projects and activities
Policy and top management support for gender mainstreaming is best reflected in the agency's programs, projects and activities. The flagship programs of most agencies are usually strategic entry points for implementing a GAD initiative. Some of these programs are the Gintong Ani of the Department of Agriculture, the Community-Based Forestry Management Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the programs for overseas and local employment, labor relations and workers' protection of the Department of Labor and Employment.
STAGE I : Foundation Formation
The challenge at the onset of any change effort is getting people to understand, appreciate and imbibe the need for change. Gender mainstreaming is no exception. So the first order of business is to set the foundation for it. An agency's decision to incorporate GAD is made usually to implement with RA 7192 or the Women in Nation Building Act. Measures adopted to support this are:
issuing broad statements by top management expressing support for GAD and its concepts;
reviewing existing policies, both addressing the agency's personnel and its clients, to determine their gender responsiveness;
allocating budget to fund GAD-related activities; and
evaluating and analyzing the organization's potentials for incorporating GAD in its programs and projects.
It is during this initial stage that the agency's level of gender awareness is heightened . Moreover, this stage sets the tone for appreciating the value-added in committing to GAD as one of the priority thrusts of the agency.
STAGE II : Installation of Enabling Mechanisms
This stage marks the organizational transition of the agency toward gender mainstreaming. Some of the strategic mechanisms established by top management to support it are:
GAD Focal System and TWGs who serve as the planners and implementors of gender mainstreaming;
GAD plans that spell out the agency's visions and goals with regard to gender mainstreaming, translate and incorporate GAD into actual programs and projects and set the direction of its mainstreaming efforts;
identification of institutional mechanisms, such as funding and staff, to be tapped in implementing GAD programs and projects; and
issuance of policies and guidelines to hasten gender mainstreaming in the agency.
STAGE III : GAD Application
This is the period where GAD-related activities are consolidated for more impact. It usually happens after the GAD plan is mapped out and the institutional mechanisms are installed. Interventions to achieve gender mainstreaming cease to be sporadic and uncoordinated, but become more strategic in terms of number and quality. Some of these interventions are:
integration of the interventions in the Key Result Areas of the agency and in the performance contracts of its officials;
ensuring that the agency's flagship programs address gender issues;
GAD training programs that are more focused and particular to the needs of the sponsors, advocates and targets of change;
GAD interventions are undertaken not only by the central offices but by regional offices and attached agencies; and
the use of "gender lens" by field workers to develop, analyze and evaluate programs and projects.
This is also the stage when the outcome of gender mainstreaming may be examined and compared with the agency's status before the change was introduced. It is possible to identify a period after implementation when the GAD interventions start to have an impact on the behaviors and norms of the people within the agency and among its clientele. This is also true with regard to their effect on organizational structures, traditional operating practices, level of productivity and morale or patterns of relationships among the targets of change. Through this identification and analysis, other agencies that still doubt the impact of gender mainstreaming can see bottom-line results that support its merit.
STAGE IV : Institutionalization/Enhancement
This stage is the full realization and implementation of gender mainstreaming. At the same time, it also challenges agencies to continuously evaluate and improve their efforts. After all, the long-term goal is to improve government's ability to respond to gender issues and concerns. By this time, agencies are implementing the following:
policies and procedures are constantly modified and improved to make them gender responsive;
GAD programs and projects are constantly introduced, evaluated and enhanced to sustain the mainstreaming effort; and
the accountability of sustaining the gains of mainstreaming is accepted and claimed as a commitment of everyone in the agency.