residents. This is best practice worth emulating, and to strengthen further referrals, the Commission is also connecting with other Gender Ombud partner institutions - including academic institution based legal aid, IBP, and other CSOs providing legal aid. Through this effort, the Commission seeks to fulfill the mandate of the Magna Carta of Women on strengthening legal assistance for survivors of violence and in strengthening referral mechanisms. For CSO initiatives for 2021, the legal aid and assistance services developed by IDEALS Inc, Tisya Hustisya is a good practice in as much as it bridges women to much needed legal advice not necessarily limited to cases of GBV. Tisya Hustisya, ran by IDEALS Inc, provides legal advise and counselling and may be reached through their FB pages and hotline numbers.63 VI. Recommendations 1. Continue to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in government’s continuing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For government programs and service to continue to ensure intersectional approaches and the adoption of affirmative actions to reach out to those who are invisible or most left behind. This include programs related to continuing social protection and support services as well as those related to vaccination; 2. To ensure that gender-based violence, the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse forms part of all programs and strategies developed to respond to the continuing crisis brought about by the pandemic. Measures should be adopted to ensure access amidst the pandemic -to include adoption of remote reporting and response options. Measures should also take into account multiple vulnerabilities - ensuring access to sign language interpreters for the Deaf, language translators as may be needed, and providing access to transportation and shelter etc. 3. Ensure the continued participation of women and members of the LGBTQI community and other marginalized groups in the planning and programming for the continued response to the pandemic. Participation should be ensured taking into account accessibility; 4. Strengthen the adoption of community-based approaches and engagements to ensure access to information, support services, and medical services by the most vulnerable and marginalized - this include community based efforts to disseminate vaccine related information and related services; 5. In view of the vaccine roll out - to ensure that gender specific issues are addressed - that unpaid care work is accounted for in scheduling, that women’ specific contexts - as living in GIDA, as IDP, as street dwellers and homeless persons, and deprived of liberty and other vulnerabilities be duly addressed and taken into consideration. Specific Recommendations: Executive: 63 https://www.facebook.com/tisyahustisya/ 21