Industry strategic S&T program (ISP) managers and technical staff of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) were recently trained on basic gender analysis (GA) and use of GA tools for research and development management and implementation.
The training last July 4 to 6, 2022 was part of the Council’s gender mainstreaming initiative, “Enhancement of Gender and Development (GAD) Integration towards a More Inclusive R&D in AANR,” implemented by DOST-PCAARRD’s Socio-Economics Research Division (SERD).
The Council conducted the same training in 2021; however, this year’s training goals included not only increasing the AANR researchers' depth of knowledge on the subject, but also equipping them with the skills necessary to apply gender analysis to projects that are funded, implemented, and/or monitored by the Council.
The resource speakers for this year’s training were Dr. Blesshe L. Querijero and Ms. Monette S. Santos. Dr. Querijero is an associate professor from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). She is a member of the Batch 1 of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) National GAD Resource Pool and former DOST-wide GAD Mainstreaming Coordinator from 2007 to 2013. Meanwhile, Ms. Santos is a former researcher from the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB), a current independent GAD consultant, and a member of the PCW National GAD Resource Pool.
Dr. Ernesto O. Brown, SERD director, highlighted the importance of integrating gender dimension in achieving quality research. He also mentioned that the “Council has always been supportive of GAD initiatives [through] gender mainstreaming to ensure that the services provided to the stakeholders in the AANR sector and the general public will improve the well-being of all genders, for a more just and sustainable society.”
Ms. Santos reviewed the participants on gender topics – sex and gender, gender analysis, and GA tools, among others; discussed the use of the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG) checklists, i.e., Design and Project Implementation and Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation (PIMME) checklists which are used for the assessment of gender-responsiveness of project proposals and accomplishment reports, respectively.
The following day focused on the application of GA tools in collecting sex-disaggregated data and in ensuring gender-responsiveness of the project throughout the project development cycle. The third and last day, on the other hand, was spent on the presentation and critiquing of outputs.
The training concluded with a closing remarks given by Ms. Meliza F. Abeleda, senior science research specialist and SERD assistant director. She said that the training is part of the Council’s initiatives to enhance gender mainstreaming in R&D management and that the involvement of project managers is crucial in this process. She likewise emphasized the “need for combined efforts to sustain PCAARRD’s achievements and ensure that gender analysis is applied to the programs and projects.” Finally, she expressed her gratitude to the resource speakers for sharing their knowledge and expertise on gender analysis and hoped that the participants now had a better understanding and appreciation of this initiative for the Council to go above and beyond simply adhering to the law and other policies for gender mainstreaming in government offices.
The Council will also conduct the same training to network researchers of PCAARRD-funded projects across all regions – July 20-22 for Luzon, August 1-3 for the Visayas, and August 8-10 for Mindanao.