On December 18, 2023, UPD Ugnayan ng Pahinungod conducted the second portion of its Usapang Gender: A Capacity-Building Workshop for Volunteers at the De Los Reyes Auditorium, School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR), UP Diliman. This intermediate-level workshop focused on equipping volunteers with knowledge on the Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313), Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI), and Gender Perspective in the Project Development Cycle, in reference to the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines or HGDG, a Gender Analysis Tool. Ms. Josephine Gabriel-Banaag, an independent consultant and member of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) National GAD Resource Pool (NGRP).
The event began during the registration, where participants were asked to answer a pre-test questionnaire, which was provided by the resource speaker. To formally begin the program, Director Jowima Ang-Reyes welcomed the participants, while Junior Project Associate Jeanne Ascue gave an overview of what to expect during the capacity-building workshop while simultaneously referencing the first workshop held last November 25. Junior Project Associate Maria Theresa Lucas served as the host for the event.
After a formal introduction, Ms. Josephine Gabriel-Banaag took over, going straight into the first module: The Safe Spaces Act or RA 11313. She went over the technicalities first, defining possible unfamiliar terms and giving context as to what situations are encapsulated by The Safe Spaces Act. Following this, an in-depth orientation on the RA 11313 was given to participants, with interactive activities strategically placed during the learning session to keep participants actively engaged. Following the orientation on the Safe Spaces Act, a video analysis activity was conducted where participants were asked to view certain videos and determine factors which would make the scenarios in the video fall under RA 11313. Discussions were presented during a plenary session.
This event was originally scheduled for December 14, but was moved to accommodate a transportation strike. However, due to the extension of the aforementioned transportation strike, out of the sixty-two initial registrants, only eight were able to attend. This prompted the decision to move the second and third module of the intermediate-level workshop to be moved online via Zoom on December 20, 2023.
