GENDER

AND
DEVELOPMENT
ATTY. VICTOR D. DECIDA
SCOPE & SEQUENCE
1.) DEFINITION OF TERMS
2.) LEGAL BASIS OF GAD (LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL
Laws)

3.) UNDERSTANDING SEX versus GENDER

4.) GENDER BIAS AND ITS MANIFESTATION

5.) GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

IMPLEMENTATION IN THE ARMY
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
• Sex
➢ Refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of a person,
such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.. Sex could
be male or female.
• Gender
➢ Refers to “the socially constructed characteristics” of women and men –
such as norms, roles, and relationship of and between groups of women
and men. Example of gender: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two Spirit, and the countless
affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identity (LGBTQIA2S++)
• Gender Mainstreaming
➢ Gender Mainstreaming is the major global strategy for ensuring that the
government pursues gender equality in all aspects of the development
process.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
• Gender Equality versus Gender Equity
➢ “Gender equality” requires equal treatment and enjoyment of all
persons regardless of sex or gender, in terms of, socially-valued
goods, opportunities, resources, and rewards.
➢ “Gender equity” is the process of being fair to all.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
• Women Empowerment
➢ Empowering women means equipping them with the tools they
need to have power and control over their own lives. Empowered
women have independence, equal opportunities, and the
ability to make strategic choices in all areas of their lives.
• Gender bias
➢ Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It
is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias, which occurs
when one individual unconsciously attributes certain attitudes
and stereotypes to another person or group of people.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
• Gender sensitivity
➢ Gender sensitivity is the process by which people are made aware
of how gender plays a role in life through their treatment of
others. Gender sensitivity trainings are used to educate people,
usually employees, to become more aware of and sensitive to gender
in their lives or workplaces.

• Gender stereotyping
➢ is the practice of ascribing to an individual person specific attributes,
characteristics, or roles, by reason only of her or his being a member
in a particular social group.
➢ Stereotype is a fixed, or over generalized belief about a particular
group or class of people. By stereotyping we infer that a person has
a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all
members of that group have.
LEGAL BASIS OF GAD (LOCAL &
INTERNATIONAL Laws)
1. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW)
➢ was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979. It
entered into force as an international treaty on 3 September 1981 after the twentieth
country had ratified it. By the tenth anniversary of the Convention in 1989, almost one
hundred nations have agreed to be bound by its provisions.
➢ It defines the right of women to be free from discrimination and sets the core principles
to protect this right.
➢ CEDAW is the only human rights treaty that affirms the reproductive rights of women.

2. Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710), took effect in September
15, 2009
➢ The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) is a comprehensive women’s human rights law
that seeks to eliminate discrimination through the recognition, protection, fulfillment,
and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially those belonging in the
marginalized sectors of the society. It conveys a framework of rights for women based
directly on international law, the CEDAW.
 MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN
(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9710)

• The MCW establishes the Philippine government’s pledge of commitment

to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women’s (CEDAW) Committee in its 36th Session in 2006 and to the UN
Human Rights Council on its first Universal Periodic Review in 2009. It is
the local translation of the provisions of the CEDAW, particularly in
defining gender discrimination, States’ obligations, substantive equality,
and temporary special measures. It also recognizes human rights
guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
• It defines gender and development (GAD) program.
• It seeks to achieve gender equality as a fundamental value that should be
reflected in development choices and contends that women are active
agents of development, not just passive recipients of development.
• Found at Section 36: Gender Mainstreaming as a strategy for
implementing the Magna Carta of Women
 MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN
(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9710)
• Substantive rights guaranteed under the Magna Carta of Women, as follows:
➢ Increasing the number of women in third level positions in government to achieve a fifty-fifty (50-50)
gender balance within the next five years while the composition of women in all levels of
development planning and program implementation will be at least 40 percent;
➢ Leave benefits of two (2) months with full pay based on gross monthly compensation for women
employees who undergo surgery caused by gynecological disorders, provided that they have
rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six (6) months for the last twelve (12)
months;
➢ Non-discrimination in employment in the field of military, police and other similar services; that
includes giving the same promotional privileges and opportunities as their men counterpart,
including pay increases, additional benefits, and awards, based on competency and quality of
performance.
➢ Provision for equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships, and training.
Thus, “expulsion, non-readmission, prohibiting enrollment, and other related discrimination of
women students and faculty due to pregnancy out of marriage shall be outlawed.
➢ Non-discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film to raise the
consciousness of the general public in recognizing the dignity of women and the role and
contribution of women in family, community, and the society through the strategic use of mass
media;
➢ Equal status given to men and women on the titling of the land and issuance of stewardship
contracts and patents.
 MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN
(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9710)
• Salient features of the law include:
➢ In addition to guaranteeing substantive rights, the MCW establishes the
responsibility of the government to take actions in order to end discrimination
against women. It provides that, the Philippines government must “ensure the
substantive equality of men and women” and mandates the State to take steps to
review, amend or repeal existing laws that are discriminatory towards women.
➢ The Government, in its entirety, shall fulfill these duties through the development
and implementation of laws, policies, regulatory instruments, administrative
guidelines, and other appropriate measures. It shall also establish mechanisms to
promote the coherent and integrated implementation of the MCW and other
related laws and policies to effectively stop discrimination against Filipino women.
➢ The MCW mandates all government offices, including government-owned and
controlled corporations and local government units to adopt gender
mainstreaming as a strategy for implementing the law and attaining its
objectives. It also mandates (a) planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation
for gender and development, (b) the creation and/or strengthening of gender and
development focal points, and (c) the generation and maintenance of gender
statistics and sex-disaggregated databases to aid in planning, programming and
policy formulation.
FOCUS OF GAD

• Making women as well as men’s concerns and experiences an

integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring,
and evaluation of policies, programs and projects in all social,
political, civil, and economic spheres so that women and men
would benefit equally.

• Assessing the implications for women and men of any planned

action, including legislation, policies or programs in all areas
and at all levels.
LAWS PROTECTING WOMEN

1.) RA 6949: Declaring March 8 as National Women's Day.

2.) RA 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.
3.) RA 8353: Anti-Rape Law of 1997.
4.) RA 6949: Anti-Trafficking in Person Act of 2003.
5.) RA 6949: Anti-Violence against Women & Their Children
Act of 2004
6.) RA 11313: Safe Spaces Act (Bawal Bastos Law). The law
covers all forms of gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH)
committed in public spaces/places, educational or training
institutions, workplace, as well as online space.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 273
• also known as “The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive
Development“ (PPGD), 1995-2025; issued on September 9, 1995 and
signed by President Fidel V. Ramos.
• a successor of E.O. No. 348, Series of 1989 otherwise known as
“Philippine Development Plan for Women (PDPW) for 1989-1992.
• a 30-year perspective plan that outlines the policies, strategies,
programs and projects that the government must adopt to enable
women to participate in and benefit from national development.
• E.O. 273 directs all government agencies, departments, bureaus, offices
and instrumentalities, including government owned and controlled
corporations, at the national level, sub-national and local levels to
implement this 30-year perspective plan.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 273

• A plan which focused on taking appropriate steps to ensure the

full implementation of the policies/ strategies and programs/
projects outlined in the Plan.

• Institutionalized gender and development (GAD) efforts in

government by incorporating GAD concerns, as spelled out in
the Plan, in their planning, programming and budgeting
processes.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8760
• Known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2000,
which provides for Programs/Projects Related to Gender and
Development (GAD) which stated that “All concerned
government entities shall submit their GAD plan to the National
Commission on Women for review. They shall likewise submit
annual reports to Congress, the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM), National Commission on Women (NCW),
indicating the accomplishments and amounts utilized to
implement programs/projects/activities addressing gender
issues and women empowerment. The evaluation of agencies
utilization of the GAD budget shall be performance based.”
UNDERSTANDING SEX AND GENDER

• Sex
➢ is defined as “the classification of living things, generally as male or
female according to their reproductive organs and functions
assigned by their chromosomal complement.

• Gender
➢ is shaped by environment and experience.

Note: Sex is a biological construct; whereas Gender is a

psycho-social construct.
GENDER BIAS & MANIFESTATION
• Gender bias is behavior that shows favoritism toward one gender over
another. Most often, gender bias is the act of favoring men and/or boys over
women and/or girls. ... In order to define gender bias completely, we first
must make a distinction between the terms gender and sex. Gender bias is a
result of sexism. Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender. In
many cultures, sexism has historically meant that men have more power and
influence than women and other marginalized genders.

• What is gender bias manifestation?

➢ According to the US National Judicial Education Program, the most
prominent forms of gender bias are "(1.) Stereotyped thinking about the
nature and roles of women and men; (2.) Devaluing what is perceived as
'woman's work'; (3.) Lack of knowledge of the social and economic
realities of women's and men's lives" ( ...
GAD IMPLEMENTATION IN THE ARMY
• A review of existing policies under the jurisdiction of the
Department to determine their gender impact led to the
identification of certain policy issues to which the DECS focal point
directed its effort. As a result, significant policy measures were
adopted. For example, sex discrimination in admission requirement
was addressed in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) which
started accepting female students in 1992. Likewise, some
sectarian schools now admit both male and female students, e.g.,
Ateneo, La Salle, etc. In non-formal education, an affirmative action
policy was promulgated in the NMYC to ensure that women are
trained in all industrial courses traditionally dominated by men. The
policy requires that at least 10 percent of total NMYC annual
training graduates are women.
 -- end –

Thank you very much!!

 YOUR ARMY
"At your service, across the land".