What is Gender and Development?
Philippine Commission on Women defined Gender and Development as the development perspective and process that is participatory and empowering, equitable, sustainable, free from violence, respectful of human rights, supportive of self-determination and actualization of human potentials.
How Gender and Development started?
Gender and Development was developed in the 1980’s as an alternative to the Women in Development (WID) approach.
Unlike WID, the GAD approach is not concerned specifically with women, but with the way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities, and expectations to both men and women.
GAD applies gender analysis to uncover the ways in which men and women work together, presenting results in neutral terms of economics and competence.
GAD focus primarily on two major frameworks, Gender Roles and Social Relations Analysis. Gender role focus on social construction of identities within the household, it also reveals the expectations from ‘maleness and femaleness’ in their relative access to resources. Social relations analysis exposes the social dimensions of hierarchical power relations imbedded in social institutions; also it’s determining influence on ‘the relative position of men and women in society. In an attempt to create gender equality, (denoting women having same opportunities as men, including ability to participate in the public sphere) GAD policies aim to redefine traditional gender role expectations.
Gender and Development in Philippines
Philippine Plan for Gender and Development, 1995-2025, is a National Plan that addresses, provides and pursues full equality and development for men and women. Approved and adopted by former President Fidel V. Ramos as Executive No. 273, on September 8, 1995, it is the successor of the Philippine Development Plan for Women, 1989-1992 adopted by Executive No. 348 of February 17, 1989.
Three years after, DENR Administrative Order No. 98 – 15 dated May 27, 1998 came up as the Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Gender and Development (GAD) Activities in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in order to strengthen the DENR GAD Focal Point System and accomplishing the GAD vision “Partnership of Empowered Men and Women for Sustainable Development”.
Republic Act No. 9710, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women was approved on August 14, 2009 which mandates non-discriminatory and pro-gender equality and equity measures to enable women’s participation in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies and plan for national, regional and local development.
A Memorandum Circular No. 2011 – 01 dated October 21, 2011 was released addressing to all Government Departments including their attached agencies, offices, bureaus, State Universalities and Colleges (SUCs), Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and all other government instrumentalities as their guidelines and procedures for the establishment, strengthening and institutionalization of the GAD Focal Point System (GFPS).
Society Before the Gender And Development…
Gender stereotypes are generalizations about the roles of each gender. Gender roles are generally neither positive nor negative, they are simply inaccurate generalizations of the male and female attributes. Since each person has individual desires, thoughts, and feelings, regardless of their gender, these stereotypes are incredibly simplistic and do not at all describe the attributes of every person of each gender.
The Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) formerly Parks and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), being a staff bureau which is mandated to establish and manage Protected Areas, conserve wildlife, and promote and institutionalize Ecotourism. As well as to manage Coastal Biodiversity and Wetlands Ecosystems, conserve caves and cave resources, to have information and education on Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, manage Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife and the Hinulugang Taktak National Park and to negotiate biodiversity-related Multilareal Environmental Agreements and Monitoring National Implementation. The BMB is continuing its efforts in reconstituting and strengthening its Gender and Development Focal Point System (GFPS). This will form part to pursue equality of women and men and their right to enjoy equal benefits from its programs and policies.
Through the continuous assistance, support and partnership of BMB to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources National GAD Secretariat (DENR-NGFPS) and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), all programs and projects of BMB-GADFPS for the past years were successfully undertaken. Added by the fact that the operation of BMB-GADFPS was strengthen and fully operationalized by virtue of PAWB Special Order No. 2009-26 dated February 05, 2009 which is the Reconstitution of the PAWB Gender and Development Committee which is later ameliorated to BMB Special Order No. 2020-140. Through this issuance the BMB is true to its mandate of providing natural resiliency and sustained benefits for all and to conserve and sustainably manage the country’s biodiversity.
The Biodiversity Management Bureau is continuously empowering its efforts to make its governance gender responsive through promoting gender responsive management and transformative leadership as well as conduction of various gender-related programs, activities and trainings
The butterfly has been embraced by BMB-GAD as its logo
The butterfly has long symbolized transformation, changing the essence of a caterpillar that wrapped itself into a cocoon while preparing for its emergence as an entirely new beautiful being, able to fly free, a living jewel watching over creation from the sky.
The BMB-GAD butterfly wings are two letter B’s standing face to face and bound securely by the letter M, which is the unifying force that is Management, enabling the two wings to gracefully flap, soaring to new heights.
The symmetrical wings exemplify the gender balance that BMB GAD aims for in all its interventions, a symbol for gender fairness, providing equal opportunity to women and men.
Gazing at the butterfly, one cannot help reflecting on the metamorphosis of the lowly caterpillar that successfully shed everything that was once known and comfortable, to bravely become an entirely new being, with the strength of character to let go of what it once was, and courageously embrace what it can be.
This is the path of transformation charted by BMB GAD, freeing itself from the established mold, seeking new approaches, new partnerships, new achievements and creating new avenues for meaningful participation of women and men in biodiversity management.