GAD Plan and Budget: A Gender responsive strategy in addressing VAW

Abstract

Gender and Development is a development perspective that recognizes the unequal status and situation of women and men in society. In this perspective, gender mainstreaming became the strategy of the Philippine government to work for the empowerment of women and to achieve gender equality. The purpose of this study is to explain how Strategic Gender Needs such as VAW is integrated in the GAD Plan and Budget making it an effective tool in making LGUs gender responsive. The basic framework of the study is feminism in which basically seen on the gender-based thinking. The study also circulates through process tracing since unfolding of events and or situations over time were studied. Process tracing also contribute decisively both to describing political and social phenomena and to evaluating causal claims. Key Informant Interviews with Gender and Development Focal Point Persons were made in the course of the research to verify and answer the questions of the study. Data restructuring through tables were also made possible through Statistical data of the past year. The implementation of the GAD plan and budget policy typifies that of most other policies and/ or laws in the country: the creditable intention is not matched by similar actualization. There is a gap between the policy and its effective implementation that must be bridged. The GAD budget policy is meant to be gender-responsive, but this is not always translated into practice.