Gender Mainstreaming or Gender and Development (GAD) mainstreaming is the main strategy for ensuring that the government pursues gender equality in all aspects of the development process to achieve the vision of a gender-responsive society where women and men equally contribute to and benefit from development. It is a set of processes and strategies aimed at recognizing and addressing gender issues in legislation, policies, programs and projects and institutional mechanisms of the government on a sustained basis. It is essentially institutionalizing gender concerns in the mainstream development processes and agenda and not just in the peripheral programs and projects of the government.

Mainstreaming GAD in the Development Planning Process: The Philippine Experience

GAD mainstreaming requires interventions in various stages of the development planning process from planning to programming, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. There are four critical entry points to GAD mainstreaming, namely: policies, programs and projects, people, and enabling mechanisms.

This refers to official statements and pronouncements of support for gender mainstreaming issued by the agency. These may be in the form of memoranda, executive orders or specific guidelines. The agency, through these issuances, has at least recognized and accepted gender mainstreaming as a critical and legitimate concern, even if in broad or general terms

Stakeholders are the people on whose shoulders fall the task of gender mainstreaming. There are four distinct roles (Conner, 1992) that stakeholders assume:

• The sponsor - "the individual or group who has the power to sanction or legitimize change. Sponsors consider the potential changes facing an organization and assess the dangers and opportunities these transitions reflect. They decide which changes will happen, communicate the new priorities to the organization, and provide the proper reinforcement to assure success. Sponsors are responsible for creating an environment that enables these changes to be made on time and within budget."

  In gender mainstreaming, the sponsors are the heads of agencies. They express support for it by issuing policies or installing the necessary enabling mechanisms, such as the release of funds.

• The change agent - "the individual or group who is responsible for actually making the change. The agent's success depends on the ability to diagnose potential problems, develop a plan to deal with these issues, and execute the change effectively."
  

  Change agents in gender mainstreaming are the Focal Points and the officers and members of the TWGs of agencies. They are critical in its success because they are its planners and implementors.

• The target - "the individual or group who must actually change. The term target is used because these people are the focus of the change effort and play a crucial role in the short and long term success of a project. To increase the likelihood of success, they must be educated to understand the changes they are expected to accommodate and they must be involved in the implementation process."
  

  People in the bureaucracy, the field workers and the clients of the different agencies serve as the targets of gender mainstreaming. Officials and members of the bureaucracy are given gender sensitivity training programs to engage them in the effort.

• The advocate - "the individual or group who wants to achieve a change but lacks the power to sanction it."
  

  The Department of Budget and Management, the National Economic and Development Authority and the NCRFW may be considered as change advocates in this case. The DBM monitors how gender mainstreaming is carried out by the agencies and has the power to sanction it.

The success of any gender mainstreaming effort depends to a large extent on the resources allocated to it. This refers to the systems and mechanisms installed in the agencies and the funds allocated for GAD activities. The NCRFW made sure that some funds are set aside for gender mainstreaming through a provision in the General Appropriations Act. More popularly known as the GAD Budget, this measure mandated all government entities to allocate a minimum of five percent of their total budget for each year for gender responsive programs, projects and activities.