Gender is an important consideration in development. It is a way of looking at how social norms and power structures affect the lives and opportunities available to different groups of men and women. Globally, more women than men live in poverty.

In the onset of the mainstreaming of GAD, the Cooperative Development Authority issued a Memorandum Circular N0. 2013- 22. All cooperatives registered with the Cooperative Development Authority will be covered by the circular. Last June 9, 2022, Region 10 held their second year of virtual Gender and Development Training on the Computerized GAD Assessment Tool via the Zoom platform. It drew a large crowd from the cooperative sector, with 409 cooperators (253 females and 156 males) from various types of cooperatives taking part. It was made up of the GAD focal point, the GAD committee, and cooperative managers. The training was a one-day event that focused on the computerized GAD Assessment Tool, which was introduced last year. The tool aims to assess the cooperative’s progress in mainstreaming GAD to achieve gender equality and to determine the extent to which the cooperative has embraced gender equality principles in its organization.

The cooperatives were required to complete the computerized GAD Assessment Tool to assess the extent of gender mainstreaming in their cooperatives as part of the entire day activity. The computerized assessment tool was clearly explained by the resource speakers for the participants to replicate on their cooperatives. Following the discussion, participants were given the task of developing their own computerized GAD Assessment Tool, which was to be submitted to the CDA Regional office one (1) week after the seminar. So far, nearly twenty-five (25) cooperatives have completed the assignment and returned it to the CDA Regional Office on time. Based on their findings, it was discovered that the majority of cooperatives had not fully mainstreamed the GAD, which will be part of CDA’s intervention to promote the GAD mandate.

In summary, the cooperatives valued the GAD training because it provided them with a tool for assessing their GAD implementation and identifying areas for improvement. CDA promised to hold this training once a year to guide the coops and help improve the program’s mainstreaming.