With its efforts to mainstream projects promoting gender equality, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) vows to take the lead in constructing gender-neutral comfort rooms in the country.
Undersecretary Maria Catalina E. Cabral, DPWH Gender and Development Focal Point System Chairperson, directed through a memorandum all regional and district engineering officers to facilitate the construction of gender-neutral comfort rooms in all DPWH buildings and public infrastructure projects.
Secretary Mark A. Villar said “It is only fitting that the department follows through with its gender and development (GAD) initiatives to contribute in the promotion of gender emancipation in the Philippines,”
Just recently, DPWH has been awarded a GADtimpala, a recognition given by the Philippine Commission for Women (PCW) to national government agencies that successfully implement gender-responsive programs, for its effective utilization of its GAD Toolkit for Making Road Infrastructure Projects Gender Responsive.
The said toolkit lists the importance of having gender-responsive infrastructure facilities and incorporates them in the execution of all projects during planning, design, construction and maintenance stages.