Gender Responsive Budgeting - Increase Budgetary Allocation Towards Gender Programmes

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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

GRB VIDEO

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 video

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Gender Responsive Budgeting and Women’s Reproductive Rights: A Resource Pack

Available in English, French and Spanish

Gender Responsive Budgeting in Practice: A Training Manual Available in English, French and Spanish. This manual should be used in conjunction with the CD Rom of annexes which includes powerpoint presentations, handouts and guidelines for exercises and is also available in English, French and Spanish.

Increase Budgetary Allocation Towards Gender Programmes

(Harare)

Posted January 9, 2008

A parliamentary committee has urged the Government of Zimbabwe to increase its budgetary allocation towards gender mainstreaming programmes.

The measure would help to implement the Domestic Violence Act and to enable the development of other gender programmes. The Portfolio Committee on Youth, Gender and Women's Affairs, told Parliament that the 2008 budget allocated to the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development's gender programmes was too low. "It is very disturbing to note that the budget allocation for the Ministry of Women's Affairs does not have a substantial allocation for the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act that was passed by Parliament," read the report. The ministry received a total budget allocation of $800 billion against a request of $22, 8 trillion.

The Herald

The funds were supposed to cater for among others, gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting, girl child empowerment, promotion of legal literacy, provision of affordable sanitary ware to women and ensuring that women took up leadership roles in politics and decision-making. "By providing only four percent of the ministry's total requirement for the sub item, what then is the Government saying in regard to the critical issues affecting women in the country," read the report. The ministry, according to the report, had been earmarked for 2008 as one of the ministries that would alleviate poverty in the country in line with the thrust of the "people's budget".

The ministry had submitted bids on the basis of the programmes that were planned for next year. It submitted a total budget bid of $263, 1 trillion and was allocated $38, 6 trillion that was 14 percent of the bid. "The committee questions the sincerity of Government in this respect in supporting community-based ministries such as the Ministry of Women's Affairs," read the report. The committee bemoaned that the Ministry of Finance had done a lot of injustice in the area of acquisition of fixed assets.

"Since the inception of the ministry, no reasonable funds have been allocated to the ministry for the purchase of fixed assets and the $500 billion allocated for furniture and equipment against a bid of $42,4 trillion is far too inadequate to cater for the requirements of the ministry." The committee further noted that no funds were allocated for the purchase of vehicles whereas the ministry only had six vehicles, four of which were hired from the Central Mechanical Department.

Although the provincial offices had benefited from the vehicles received from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year, these were reportedly inadequate for the requirements of a ministry that catered for the community at the grassroots level.