Gender Responsive Budgeting

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The following documents were recently added to the website. Please visit regularly for new uploads.

UNIFEM's work in support of gender responsive budgeting

Budget Support: As good as the strategy it finances

Gender and Participatory Budgeting- DFID

Application of the gender policy marker by German Bilateral Development Agencies

Morocco Gender Report 2008

How do DAC statistics measure gender equality focused aid?

Gender Budgeting Guidelines and Analytical Tools at local level in Uganda

Genre et décentralisation au Sénégal

Rapport du Séminaire sur la prise en compte du genre dans le travail parlementaire- Burundi 2008

Gender Budgets: an overview- Canada

WHAT IS GRB?

"Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is about ensuring that government budgets and the policies and programs that underlie them address the needs and interests of individuals that belong to different social groups. Thus, GRB looks at biases that can arise because a person is male or female, but at the same time considers disadvantage suffered as a result of ethnicity, caste, class or poverty status, location and age. GRB is not about separate budgets for women or men nor about budgets divided equally. It is about determining where the needs of men and women are the same, and where they differ. Where the needs are different, allocations should be different."

Debbie Budlender 2006

Gender Responsive Budget Initiatives Brochure

NEW! GRB VIDEOS

MOROCCO

Gender-responsive budgeting is a crucial tool for women’s empowerment. In Morocco, UNIFEM has worked with the government to create a more tailored approach in which budgeting can have a more effective and immediate impact. As this documentary illustrates, when the needs of women living in a particular geographical and cultural context are addressed, the entire community benefits. In the past four years, the Finance Ministry of Morocco has made substantial progress in developing both gender-responsive and results-oriented budgetary reform.

Click here to watch Morocco video

BOLIVIA

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, UNIFEM has made significant strides in teaching local women how to seek local government funding for projects that can benefit them. UNIFEM developed and sponsored local workshops in which women were educated on the city budget: where government money comes from, how it is distributed, and what strategies to use in applying for government funds. The workshops helped the women envision a new potential for what they can do for themselves, and helped them better understand what kinds of demands they can make on their own government.

Click here to watch Bolivia video

INDIA

Incorporating a gender perspective in government budgets can ensure that resources are allocated towards women's priorities to eliminate gender gaps. This can be achieved through women's participation in budget policymaking and gender budget analysis. This video presents show how this is working in practice in a GRB initiative supported by UNIFEM in Mysore, India.

Click here to watch India video

Key Resources

A Change in Thinking: Gender Budgeting - Now's the Time

A Change in Thinking: Gender Budgeting - Now's the Time

AUTHOR:OXFAM
DATE: 2007

Oxfam's UK Poverty Programme has launched a CD and supporting web pages about Gender Budgeting called A Change in Thinking. The CD is a collection of interviews of people across the UK who are conducting gender budgeting, lobbying for it as well as benefiting from it. The web pages provide further information, transcripts of the interviews, and the option to download the tracks of the CD.

http://www.oxfamgb.org/ukpp/equal/achangeinthinking/

TITLE: A Commonwealth Initiative to Integrate Gender into National Budgetary Processes
AUTHOR: Commonwealth Secretariat
DATE: 1999

This paper by the Commonwealth Secretariat (1999) provides a rationale for the strategic goals of the Commonwealth Gender Budget Initiative at the national level and highlights the need for integrating a gender perspective in macroeconomic policies and budgets. In addition, the paper outlines the necessary tools required for a gender analysis of the budget and the results from pilot initiatives in Sri Lanka and South Africa.

A Commonwealth Initiative to Integrate Gender into National Budgetary Processes

Bridging the Gap between Gender Analysis and Gender Responsive Budgets

Bridging the Gap between Gender Analysis and Gender Responsive Budgets: Key Lessons from a Pilot Project in the Republic of the Marshall Island.

Author: Rhonda Sharp and Sanjugta Vas Dev Hawke Research Institute University of South Australia Magill, South Australia 2004.

This paper examines a GRB pilot project undertaken in the small Pacific country of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). This pilot project was conducted over a one-year budget cycle (September 2002–September 2003), and formed part of a regional technical assistance project funded by the Asian Development Bank. The technical assistance was provided by a University of South Australia (UniSA) consultancy team, comprising four advisors with expertise in gender, economics, policy and budgeting.

Bridging the Gap between Gender Analysis and Gender Responsive Budgets

Budgeting for equity: Gender budget initiatives within a framework of performance oriented budgeting

TITLE: Budgeting for equity: Gender budget initiatives within a framework of performance oriented budgeting
AUTHOR: Rhonda Sharp
DATE: 2003

The following paper by Rhonda Sharp (2003) brings forth research from a project commissioned by UNIFEM. The project upon which the paper is based, sought to develop strategies that would facilitate the achievement of gender responsive budget initiative goals within a performance oriented budget framework. The paper discusses in detail the evolution, strengths and weaknesses of performance oriented budgets.

Budgeting for equity: Gender budget initiatives within a framework of performance oriented budgeting

Budgeting for Women's Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW

TITLE: Budgeting for Women's Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW

Author: Diane Elson
Date: 2006

Political statements and legislation alone will not increase access to services, resources and rights. Progress towards human rights entails monetary investment and a constant scrutiny of economic policies from a rights perspective. Accountability to women’s rights needs to be translated into mobilizing the necessary resources to meet the commitments made by the ratification of CEDAW.

This report provides a framework for applying a rights-approach to budgets from a gender perspective that defines the requirements of good budget performance in the planning, formulation and execution stages. It also details the elements that require a critical assessment of budget policy making processes, the appropriateness of budget allocations, and the standard principles for non-discriminatory economic and budgets policies."

Budgeting for Women's Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW