Work at NCRFW

I thought I would write a bit about what I will be doing at work for the next 11 months. Basically I will be assisting the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) in the division responsible for promoting and implementing gender responsive governance throughout the Filipino Government.

As Government Agency under the Office of the President, NCRFW responsible for implementing the Filipino Framework Plan for Action (FPA) which calls for 'a holistic and comprehensive response to the gender gap in the Philippines, and attempts to 'address 'systematic and structural causes of gender inequality'. NCRFW focuses on 3 main strategies to achieve this: promoting women's economic empowerment, upholding women's human rights, and promoting and strengthening gender responsive governance.

My division, the Program Development Division (PDD) focuses on mainstreaming gender throughout the Philippines Government and promoting gender responsive planning and budgeting to make the Government bureaucracy more gender responsive. More specifically, I am assisting in strengthening and facilitating the operation of some gender mainstreaming 'tools' including the support of:
· Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Points (GFP) - these are government employees in various national agencies who are mandated to advocate and oversee gender mainstreaming efforts. (Things like training management in gender sensitivity, inputting gender into the Agency annual planning and budgeting processes, and preparing and implementing GAD plans which are meant to ensure that Agency priorities, programs and activities are responsive to gender considerations). Basically NCFRW oversees the operation of GFPs throughout the bureaucracy and provides 'technical assistance' where required or requested.
· GAD Resource Network (GRN) - this is a network of gender specialists (mainly from universities) that is pretty much dormant at the moment. GRN members are seen more as possible resource points rather than an actual network of gender specialists working together to achieve tangible outcomes. I'm to help formulate some sort of solution to either revitalise or restructure the GRN.
· GAD Resource Centers (GRC) - these are resource centers mainly based in universities in regional areas. They serve as gender information hubs which also advocate and provide technical assistance on GAD and women's concerns more locally. Again, NCRFW basically coordinates the GRCs and I will assist on strengthening and expanding GRCs nationally.

In addition, I will be helping to advocate for the passage of legislation called the Local Sectoral Representation bill (LSR - Can you tell Philippinos like their acronyms too!). If anyone has any innovative ideas for advocacy materials - please leave me a comment!! As NCRFW does not have anything like a Minister assisting the PM/President on Women's Affairs, and as the President is preoccupied with the economic crisis, pushing for these types of bills to be passed is proving difficult.

More broadly, I'll be assisting wherever I can on gender and governance initiatives and I've already attended a number of meetings on gender budgeting, NGO participation in the budgeting process and on various projects that NCRFW has been implementing with funding from the Canadians and UNIFEM. Getting funding for anything that comes out of this office is a challenge with the National Government's current austerity measures. Even the GRN and GRC mechanisms have been previously funded from the Canadian project and pretty much all core NCRFW funding is purely 'departmental' and spent on salaries, maintenance of the building and basic admin - and even this is pretty minimal. (I think I mentioned that staff pay for their own toilet paper, soap, washing detergent?) Another big issue is the creation of additional work. From the UNIFEM and CIDA governance projects, a lot of demand has been created for NCRFW to assist other agencies to improve gender consciousness in their planning, budgeting and every day work. The implications of which are already resulting in high workloads for the staff in PDD. I see that it would be good to strengthen some of the networks that are already formed, but this will create additional work for the staff here. This is fine while I am here to help, but whether it can be sustained (like the outcomes of the CIDA project in setting up resourced GRCs and a technical GRN without any sustained future funding) is the more challenging aspect to my job here!

But all in all, my workmates here are highly educated, are strongly committed to achieving greater equality throughout the government and are such nice, friendly and helpful people that I know my time here will be great. I just hope that I will be able to impart some knowledge and lasting assistance while I am here.

posted by batik billy @ 4:47 pm