On 20 March 2024, the MWSS Regulatory Office participated in this year’s Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG) Gender and Development (GAD) Conference titled, “We GADther Together, We GatHER to Empower.” The event, attended by Gender and Development Advocates (GADvocates) from Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations and other public offices, was held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Representing the MWSS RO, Department Manager (DM) for Public Information and Gender and Development Focal Point System (GFPS) Executive Committee Member Joan Michelle S. Antonio, served as one of the resource speakers in a session dubbed “GAD Bright Spots.”
Through her presentation titled, “Empowering her. Empowering with care: Advancing a more Gender- Responsive and Inclusive World-class Regulation of Water and Sewerage Services,” DM Antonio shared the Office’s best practices in GAD, such as strengthening partnerships with the Concessionaires in mainstreaming GAD activities, conducting gender-responsive Public Consultation/Information Drives and GAD Kapihan, producing various GAD Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials, institutionalizing the Office’s Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) Manual, facilitating regular GAD-related trainings and seminars, operationalizing the Office’s GAD Multipurpose Office and Lactation Room, providing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) kits to stakeholders, and implementing the Sex Disaggregated Water Data (SDWD) Project. She also explained how the MWSS RO participates in commemorating and celebrating the annual National Women’s Month, Pride Month, 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW), and other national observances that promote women empowerment and gender equality.
DM Antonio also narrated the MWSS RO’s journey towards achieving the Philippine Commission on Women’s 2023 GADtimpala Bronze Award for Outstanding Gender-Responsive Agency and the GADtimpala Silver Award for exemplary GFPS or “GADtimpala AlaGAD.”
In her parting message, she reiterated the MWSS RO’s continued commitment to gender mainstreaming, driving positive, inclusive change for the benefit of both its internal and external stakeholders, and working towards a future where diversity, equity, and inclusion are lived realities.
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Learn more about MWSS RO’s GAD activities: https://ro.mwss.gov.ph/gad-activities/
Empower Her. Conserve Water.
Empower with Care. Promote Proper Sanitation for Her.
