SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) — The Regional Gender and Development Committee in Ilocos (RGADC-1) has finalized its Gender and Development (GAD) Agenda for 2025-2030, a crucial step towards addressing deep-rooted gender inequalities and empowering women.
This strategic framework, aimed at empowering women and promoting gender equality, will soon be presented to the Regional Development Council (RDC) for approval.
The RGADC-1’s GAD Agenda sets a clear vision and mission, outlining four key goals to address identified gender issues.
These goals will be achieved through a combination of policy reforms, capacity building, and targeted programs and projects.
The GAD Agenda for 2025-2030 is a collaboration from the Committee members from regional line agencies, state universities and colleges, and local government units in the region.
This will serve as the basis for identifying programs and projects to be undertaken to achieve the goals and outcomes of gender and development.
Also, this will provide the monitoring and evaluation framework for assessing GAD results and outcomes.
Lawyer Harold Kub-Aron, RGADC-1 chairperson and regional director of the Commission on Human Rights-Region 1, commended the well-structured agenda and expressed confidence in its potential impact.
“By working together, we can effectively implement this GAD Agenda and secure the RDC’s approval,” he stated.
The year-long process of developing the agenda involved various stages, including:
- Leveling session for agenda formulation (October 6, 2023)
- Approval of the planning team (June 4, 2024)
- Gender analysis training and issue identification (June 25, 2024)
- Agenda formulation (July 17-19, 2024)
- Consultation meetings for refinement (August 29, September 5, and October 28, 2024)
- Review and endorsement by the RGADC-1 (November 8, 2024)
Mariz Dafnae Mendoza, a member of the Region 1 GAD Resource Pool from the National Economic and Development Authority, acknowledged the contributions of the planning team and the Philippine Commission on Women.
She expressed optimism about the RDC’s endorsement, emphasizing that the agenda will serve as a roadmap for gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment in the region.
Once approved, the GAD Agenda will guide the region in prioritizing programs and projects, ensuring that gender considerations are integrated into all development initiatives.
It will also provide a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress and measure impact. (AMB/REB/PIA Region 1)
