Gender and Development (GAD) needs to be mainstreamed into the national budget, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said at the international conference on women, peace, and security (ICWPS).

“What we should do, more than tagging this budget, (is that) we should already mainstream women in the entire national budget,” Pangandaman said during the thematic session on financing strategies for WPS initiatives on Oct. 29. 

“You don’t allocate just five percent,” Pangandaman said, emphasizing the need for leaders to ensure that the entire budget focuses on empowering women through programs that provide livelihoods and jobs for all.

Aligning to this call, the budget chief reported that 16.68 percent of last year’s national budget was allocated for GAD, significantly exceeding the required minimum of five percent for gender-related programs.

Pangandaman also reported that government-funded WPS initiatives include social protection programs, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), “which also covers additional grants for pregnant and lactating mothers,” and economic empowerment efforts such as the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Program.

She also highlighted the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) for addressing women's needs during climate crises and disasters, along with the PAMANA program that supports peacebuilding and development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“As you know, women empowerment leads to equality; equality leads to peace; peace leads to economic development; and economic development leads to prosperity,” Pangandmana said during her opening statement.   

Meanwhile, Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality Stephanie Copus Campbell stressed the critical role of donors, including the private sector and philanthropies, in implementing WPS initiatives and the need to share women's stories supported by research to attract funding for the women-centered agenda.

In addition, HIAS Ukraine Director Maria Jose Gonzales stressed the importance of sharing women's stories with donors globally and called for long-term funding for grassroots organizations to cover operational costs and ensure accountability through Implementation Completion and Results (ICR) reports .

Lastly, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) Chairperson Ermelita V. Valdeavilla tackled the challenge of implementing the GAD budget, noting issues with agencies submitting required evidence of its proper use.

“So much more remains to be done to strengthen the results. Hence, we are introducing results-based budgeting that will enable us to see the impact [of programs and projects] in the lives of women,” Valdeavilla said.