CEDAW/C/PHL/7-8 committees and project steering committees. (Please refer to Annex 1. List of interagency committee membership of PCW) 44. The statistics community is another source of strong support in gender mainstreaming as it pays particular attention to sex disaggregated data for gender analysis. The Interagency Committee on Gender Statistics (IACGS) has been guiding improvements in gender statistics in the country and monitoring the implementation of the GAD statistical action plans towards closing data gaps on the Philippines Core GAD Indicators (based on the BPfA) and ensuring the availability of required data and statistics for monitoring the progress on the status of Filipino women. In 2008, a methodology to measure the Gender and Development Index (GDI) at the local level was developed. This methodolog y generated the GDI of local government units. 45. The State Party’s statistical system is currently being reorganized following a new law, RA 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, that merged the major statistical agencies engaged in primary data collection and compilation of secondary data into a new agency called the Philippine Statistics Authority, and placed it as an attached agency of the NEDA together with the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute. The IACGS is one of the 13 initially identified interagency committees on statistics. Such committees are tasked to coordinate and resolve agency and sectoral concerns on statistical matters, and serve as a forum for discussion of the issues raised by concerned producers, users a nd other stakeholders of sectoral and agency-specific statistics. 46. Another partner in promoting gender equality is the State Party’s national human rights institution, the CHRP, which has been designated as the Gender and Development Ombud (Gender Ombud) under the MCW. The CHRP is tasked to formulate and implement programs and activities related to the promotion and protection of the human rights of women, including the investigation of complaints of discrimination and violations of their rights. It is a lso expected to establish guidelines and mechanisms to facilitate access of women to legal remedies and to enhance the protection and promotion of the rights of women, especially the marginalized; assist in the filing of cases against individuals, agencies , institutions, or establishments that violate the provisions; and recommend to the President of the Philippines or the Civil Service Commission (CSC) any possible administrative action based on non-compliance or failure to implement the provisions of the MCW. On increasing public awareness on VAW 47. In 2006, Presidential Proclamation 1172 declared the period from November 25 to December 12 as the 18-Day Campaign to End VAW. Annually, the State Party has been organizing and conducting the 18-day campaign to drum up awareness on VAW and support for the implementation of VAW-related laws and the CEDAW. In 201, a new law was enacted, “Declaring November Twenty-Five of Every Year as “National Consciousness Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women a nd Children,” links together significant dates such as November 25 (International Day to End VAW), December 1 (World AIDS Day), December 10 (International Human Rights Day), and December 12 (Anti-Trafficking Day). 48. Since 2004, attention has been given to popularizing the various anti-VAW laws, strengthening their implementation at the national and local levels, and building a network of male advocates against VAW as part of the worldwide 15-03079 13/36

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