MR. GAD ordinance in Davao City: A pathway toward gender equality, harmony and peace

Part 2

In my previous column, I described the experience of the Health Management Research Group (HMRG) Foundation in Davao City in conducting an action research about men's experiences and views about domestic violence in select rural and urban barangay (villages). The research results led to the crafting and implementation of a comprehensive five-year pioneering program by HMRG in six pilot city barangay that engaged men in preventing and managing domestic violence, and in promoting gender equality. Lessons obtained from the HMRG program have contributed to the inclusion of the MR GAD program in the 2020 amended Women's Development Code and in the passage of the "MR GAD Ordinance in Davao City" on July 27, 2021.