The Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) held its 15th Gender-Fair Education Training last August 1-5, 2022 via Hyflex mode at the ESI Conference Room, Miriam College. It was attended by over forty (40) participants representing various institutions, government agencies, and the academe. Gender Fair Education (GFE) is a foundational course that introduces basic concepts in Gender and Development (GAD), gender-fair inclusive language (GFIL), gender-responsiveness, and how GFIL plays an important role in the aspect of human relations and gender-based perspectives as manifested in the educational, development work and other teaching-learning settings. The course is designed for educators and development practitioners (i.e. teachers, trainers, module writers, etc.) in formal and non-formal educational settings. Topics include: education as human rights, gender-fair inclusive language, gender mainstreaming in the curriculum, and the effective implementation of GAD mandates in educational institutions and development organizations. The training sessions make use of interactive hands-on approaches to enhance learning-by-doing.

An important part of the training was the presentation of participants’ inputs on the plan of action of their respective institutions which includes strengthening programs to address the following violence against women and gender stereotyping, weak gender focal point system (GFPS) due to lack of awareness of GAD, invisibility of GAD research agenda and  limited capacity of the organization to mainstream gender and development, and absence of a database system that incorporates render-related information.

The training got an excellent evaluation from the participants and outstanding remarks. One participant said, “Thank you MC, I learned a lot. I learned how to start this GAD Dept in our institution”. Others commented, “Congratulations WAGI! Very accommodating and clean. Resource speakers are brilliant! I really enjoyed the training! Finally, one shared that “the entire week was filled with learning moments. All speakers were experts in their respective disciplines. The discussion opened windows of insights.”