The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) through its Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System (GFPS), has developed its first-ever Gender and Development Agenda for CY 2027 – 2032, marking a significant step toward institutionalizing gender-responsive juvenile justice and welfare system.

The four-day workshop, held on August 11 – 14, 2026, in Quezon City, brought together JJWC personnel to identify priority gender issues, outcomes, and strategic interventions aligned with the agency’s mandate.

The six-year GAD Agenda provides a long-term framework for integrating gender perspectives across JJWC’s policies, programs, operations, and services. It is anchored on the GAD Vision: “A gender-inclusive restorative justice and welfare system where children at risk and children in conflict with the law, victim-survivors, and their families exercise their rights and responsibilities towards a safe and secure society”.

Guided by its GAD Mission “To deliver gender-responsive program development, policy formulation, advocacy, coordination, and technical assistance to empower duty-bearers and stakeholders in strengthening the juvenile justice and welfare system”.

GAD GOALS

For its clients, the agenda aims to:

• Developed gender-responsive policies, programs, guidelines, and protocols for the management and protection of CICL and CAR including victim-survivors and their families, with particular attention to the needs of girls and children with diverse SOGIE, for adoption and implementation by duty-bearers and relevant stakeholders; and
• Strengthened institutional partnerships with LGUs and key stakeholders to ensure the effective, gender-responsive, and sustainable implementation of GAD programs, projects, and activities (PAPs) resulting in increased capacity and accountability of duty bearers and partners.

For the organization, the agenda aims to:

• Gender mainstreaming in JJWC is strengthened and institutionalized through a functional, capacitated, and responsive GAD mechanism that systematically identifies and analyzes gender and mental health issues and translates these into gender-responsive mechanisms, policies, programs, plans, and interventions that address the differentiated needs of gender-diverse human resources;
• A safe, inclusive, and zero-tolerance workplace environment is established anchored on transparent, anti-retaliation grievance mechanisms, and institutionalized gender-inclusive engagement strategies that actively mobilize all employees including male staff in driving GAD programs and workplace equality; and
• Institutionalized gender mainstreaming across all the JJWC core operations (Monitoring, research, advocacy, and coordination) by integrating mandatory gender responsive protocols into all agency policies, standard operating procedures, and procedure and work instructions manual (PAWIM).

Through the 2027 – 2032 GAD Agenda, JJWC reaffirms its commitment to advancing gender equality, social inclusion, and a more responsive and inclusive juvenile justice and welfare system.