Isabela State University (ISU) held its Gender and Development Accomplishment Report (GAD AR) Attribution on January 21-22, 2025 at the Climate Change Center, ISU Echague. The agenda of the meeting focused on the discussion of the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG), the Gender Mainstreaming Evaluation Framework (GMEF), and the Philippine Plan for Gender and Development (PIMME), along with other key considerations for the GAD AR Attribution.
The workshop involved delegates across the ISU campuses with guidance on how to allocate a portion of their budget and program activities to GAD initiatives by applying the HGDG to identify and report on gender-responsive aspects of their programs and projects. The session also included each campus to actively work on their respective GAD ARs.
In addition, the workshop served as a platform for sharing best practices and addressing challenges. Presentations of campus-specific GAD ARs presented approaches to GAD integration, such as ISU Ilagan’s effective use of Google Drive for file storage and ISU Cauayan’s development of a comprehensive salary matrix.
Significant concerns raised during the workshop were the lack of Gender Sensitivity Trainings (GST) for faculty and researchers across campuses, and the need for a Knowledge Management System to track, store, and disseminate GAD-related information, including activities, budget utilization, attendance, and memoranda.
To address the identified concerns and apply the insights gained from the meeting, the following actions were agreed upon by the participants which are expected to be applied across the University:
- To facilitate mandatory GSTs;
- To adhere to a standardized reporting procedures;
- To prepare a salary matrix per campus;
- To implement a Knowledge Management System to facilitate information sharing and collaboration; and
- To exercise a careful review and approval of budget requests related to GAD.
Following the revision of the ISU 2025 GAD GBP last January 9, all ISU campuses are tasked to finalize and submit their GAD ARs to align with the revised guidelines and initiatives discussed during the meeting.
