Gender Responsive Budgeting

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

Impact of Gender Budgeting on Women Empowerment

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

Chile

Title: Chile

Author: UNIFEM

Date: 2001-2003

This report highlights some of SERNAM’s work on gender responsive budgeting in Chile. To support this process, UNIFEM, along with UNDP and GTZ, is providing funds to SERNAM to train administrators and programme managers on gender equity and gender responsive budgeting. The current Chilean Government has undertaken actions towards the modernization of the State and public administration, notably the “Plan for Management Improvement” (Plan de Mejoramiento de Gestión, [PMG]). Within the PMG, each public institution will consider gender equity as a priority in its administration. In order to support this process, Servicio Nacional de la Mujer (SERNAM) has undertaken a series of sensitization and capacity building seminars on gender and public administration and gender and public budgets.

Implementing partners:
Servicio Nacional de la Mujer, SERNAM
Budget: US$ 30,000 (UNIFEM Funds)

Starting date: December 2001

Activities

The current Chilean Government has undertaken actions towards the modernization of the State and public administration, notably the “Plan for Management Improvement” (Plan de Mejoramiento de Gestión, [PMG]). Within the PMG, each public institution will consider, among others, gender equity as having a priority in its administration. In order to support this process, Servicio Nacional de la Mujer (SERNAM) has undertaken a series of sensitization and capacity building seminars on gender and public administration and gender and public budgets.

Justification

UNIFEM recognizes there currently exists a favorable political climate for gender equity in Chilean public administration and for the design of gender aware public policies. To support this process, UNIFEM, along with UNDP and GTZ, is providing funds to SERNAM to train administrators and programme managers on gender equity and gender responsive budgeting.

Outputs and activities

Training and capacity building of public servants and managers in charge of the PMG to incorporate gender equity into their programmes:

National Seminar on Gender, Social Control and Public Administration for public servants
Regional Seminars (3) on Gender, Social Control and Public Administration for public servants
International Seminar on Gender Budgets
Regional Seminars (3) on Gender Budgets
Publish national and international seminars’ results.

Expected outcomes

180 representatives of 182 public institutions trained within the PMG, to incorporate a gender focus into their work.
Mainstreaming gender equity within Ministries and State institutions to support the incorporation of gender into public administration, policies and programmes.
Mainstreaming gender budget experiences and tools within Ministries and public institutions.
Experiences on gender-sensitive budgeting shared amongst national and international stakeholders.
Publication produced on the international seminar on gender budgets disseminated and distributed amongst government and public institutions as well as civil society organizations.

What has been realized

National Seminar on Gender and Public Administration for public servants held; representatives of public institutions trained.
Regional Seminars on Gender and Public Administration for public servants held and civil servants trained.
International Seminar on Gender Budgets held and experiences exchanged amongst participants.

Difficulties encountered

Resistance of some national and regional civil servants to the incorporation of a gender focus into their work.
Creating the link between training/capacity building and the impact on policies and services has in some cases been difficult because of existing bureaucratic practices.

Overview of completed activities

National, regional and international seminars held. Producing the publication of the International Seminar on gender budgets and a global assessment of the project and its impacts is in process.

Interesting results

Results linked directly and indirectly to the project, so far, include:

SERNAM is currently reviewing all Ministries and Services plans and programmes to report on the incorporation of a gender dimension. This highlights the Government’s commitment towards gender incorporation in the PMG. Results of this review process will demonstrate which additional actions are necessary.
The International Seminar on Gender Budgets has reinforced the commitment of the budget section of the Ministry of Finance towards gender-sensitive budgeting.