The Gender Champions

The Kalahi-CIDSS Millennium Challenge Corporation has been active in promoting the equal participation of both men and women in the decision-making in the community, and in the implementation of the sub-projects in every barangays.

With the Gender and Development in Kalahi-CIDSS, all Municipalities implementing Kalahi-CIDSS sub-projects were mandated to have equal labor to men and women in the community. Kalahi-CIDSS gave space to women volunteers who were actively participating in the implementation. Of the 36,582 individuals in paid labor, 10% of it goes to the female volunteers. 58% female volunteers of the total mobilized community volunteers in the entire Region.

Aside from the female volunteers in labor, the barangay Gender and Development (BGAD) volunteers are also active in the implementing and creating awareness with regard to Gender issues and became advocates of Gender Equality.

Now, the Gender awareness has been rooted in the municipalities. Some of the LGUs have formulated Gpolicies such as the GAD Code in advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality, and only the Municipality of Zamboanguita came up with a gender database have a sex disaggregated data with the help of all departments. The gender mainstreaming in the municipality has proven to be effective. It also empowers both men and women in the community.

Now that Kalahi-CIDSS MCC will end on May, the program recalled and gathered all BGAD Volunteers and the focal persons in every municipality, to assess the status of GAD implementation, on the same occasion the Gender Champions were recognized by the KC-MCC.