Gender Network

Raising Awareness of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment in Fisheries Management in General Santos and Sarangani Bay Area, Philippines

Gender Responsive Governance

Development of Knowledge Products

Training and Capability

Leading, Linkages, and Partnership

The 2017 Gender Analysis (2017 GA) of the Tuna Fisheries Value Chain in General Santos City and Sarangani Bay Area revealed that there exist gender differentials in roles and responsibilities that have impact on the relationships between male and female fishers and fish workers. Likewise, there exist issues related to gender equity and women’s empowerment, as they relate to sustainable fisheries management and catch documentation and traceability.

The 2017 GA was in keeping with USAID Oceans’ priority screen of gender and its objective of strengthening human capacity to conserve marine biodiversity through Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management, including actions to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud.

Some of the challenges in tuna fisheries value chain include:

Low gender sensitivity

of tuna chain players

Concept of CDT/EAFM

is relatively new

Low awareness level

on fisheries laws and policies

Lack of gender-responsive

programs and policies

Low involvement

of men & women in policymaking and community activities

Unfavorable stereotypes

to women's work in a traditionally male domain

Our Approach

The USAID Oceans-funded project, “Raising Awareness on Gender Equity and Women Empowerment in Fisheries Management in General Santos and Sarangani Bay Area (GR003) starts from where the results of the “2017 Gender Analysis in the Fisheries Sector: General Santos Area, Philippines” end.

The gender interventions aim to address observed inequalities that impede the maximum participation of women in the tuna fisheries value chain. Without the women in the scheme of things, there will never be inclusiveness of the development of the tuna fisheries sector. Strengthening the capacity of women who are working in local fisheries value chain is important for them to effectively engage in the implementation of Ecosystem Approach in Fisheries Management (EAFM) and electronic Catch Documentation and Traceability (eCDT). WINFISH, with funding support from USAID Oceans, takes action to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing through gender equity and women empowerment.