Validation Workshop on the Draft Gender Equality Policy and the Mid-year GFPs Meeting

The National Commission for Women and Children conducted the high level Validation workshop on the draft Gender Equality Policy on 20 October, 2017. Representatives from Ministries, autonomous agencies, CSOs and Development Partners attended the workshop. The Policy is being developed by the NCWC in collaboration with the UNDP, Bhutan Office.

The main purpose of the Gender Equality Policy is to provide overarching directives to ensure equal rights, opportunities and benefits to women and men, girls and boys and to address the gaps and inequalities existing within the family, workplace, community and in society. It is also to ensure that substantive gender equality is achieved wherein full growth and potential are achieved in the economic, social and political spheres.

The Validation Workshop was preceded by a day long mid-year meeting of the Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) from Government Ministries and Agencies, CSOs and Dzongkhags on 19 October, 2017.

The key highlights of the meeting with GFP were: the incorporation of the specific roles and responsibilities of the GFPs in the draft Gender Equality Policy; the need to ensure quality in the establishment of crèches, with special focus on caregivers and sustainability aspects; and the need to target high level decision-makers at the central and local government level for sensitization and awareness on gender equality issues.