Manila – The Institute for Labor Studies’ Gender and Development (GAD) Committee lined up month-long activities for all its employees in celebration of the International Women’s Month which officially started last March 8.

The series of events was kick-started by the “Take A Selfie with Me” social media campaign which requested its participants to take a photo together with statements espousing personal advocacies addressing this year’s theme: “Balance for Better: Achieving Gender Balance for a Better Workplace.” This was followed by a Heritage Tour later that day together with the other ILS employees.

This year’s ILS GAD Committee is composed of Malorie Joy O. Mones, LEO III from the Workers Research Division (WWRD) as its Chairperson, Joyce Anne S. Lumactud, Senior LEO from the Labor and Social Relations Research Division (LSRRD) as its Vice-Chair, and the following ILS employees as GAD Committee members: Arianne Ishreen C. Bucar (LEO II, Advocacy and Publications Division), Cesar A. Mansal (LEO III, Employment Research Division), Arvin Jae E. Sanchez (Finance and Administrative Division, HR Assistant), Tranquilina L. Fallera (Budget Officer, FAD), and Frances Camille G. Dumalaog (LEO III, WWRD).

Other activities such as weekly film screenings, Purple Friday and video advocacy campaigns are also lined up for the rest of the month. The GAD Committee has also included a Gender Sensitivity Training titled, “When Listening is Not Enough: Gender Sensitivity and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace,” a two-day training which will take place from March 19-20 at the iLearn Conference Room, and a community-based seminar/forum titled “Talastasan sa Pamayanan” slated on March 23.

The ILS GAD committee is constituted in compliance with the Philippine Commission on Women Memorandum Circular 2011-01 institutionalizing the Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System to serve as a mechanism in catalyzing and accelerating gender mainstreaming in government agencies toward the promotion of women’s rights and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace based on gender.

The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more information on this story, please contact the Advocacy and Publications Division at 527-3490.