Gender Budgeting

Citation:

Budlender, Debbie. 2007. "Financing for Development: Aid Effectiveness and Gender-Responsive Budgets." Paper prepared for the Commonwealth Secretariat for the Eighth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meetings, Kampala, Uganda, June 11-4.

Author: Debbie Budlender

Abstract:

Financing for Development: Aid Effectiveness and Gender-Responsive Budgets Background paper prepared for the Commonwealth Secretariat in May 2007 by Debbie Budlender, Community Agency for Social Enquiry, Cape Town, South Africa. This paper attempts to make the case for financing gender equality for development, and to explore how this can be done. Because the issues related to financing gender equality for development are so numerous, the paper obviously cannot discuss all in equal detail. It thus pays particular attention to the ways in which the context of such financing has been changing. These include the Monterrey consensus and Paris Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the new aid modalities and other aspects of donor priorities and instruments. The paper places special emphasis on gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) as a means of promoting gender equality and monitoring progress.

(Abstract from UN Women)

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality

Year: 2007

Citation:

Budlender, Debbie. 2006. "Expectations Versus Realities in Gender-Responsive Budget Initiatives." In Gender and Social Policy in a Global Context, edited by Shahra Razavi and Shireen Hassim, 322-339. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Author: Debbie Budlender

Abstract:

The quote above and similar quotes from other reports give either implicit or explicit indications of the ambitious expectations that the gender-responsive-budgeting (GRB) idea evokes. The key question addressed in this chapter is: How does what GRB initiatives have done in practice compare with the claims and expectations about what they can achieve? In asking this question, the chapter does not aim to detract from what has been achieved. Instead, it attempts to bring some realism into the discussion, planning and assessment of these initiatives. The chapter also stresses that different initiatives have different objectives and different outcomes which depend on context, who is involved, and a host of other things. There is therefore no single ‘correct’ approach.

Keywords: civil society, political participation, macroeconomic policy, national parliament, international financial institutions

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming

Year: 2006

Citation:

Budlender, Debbie. 2004. Budgeting to Fulfill International Gender and Human Rights Commitments. Harare, Zimbabwe: Southern African Regional Office of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Author: Debbie Budlender

Abstract:

This booklet by Debbie Budlender, Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE). was commissioned in 2004 by the Southern African Regional Office (SARO) of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM. UNIFEM's SARO has been supporting GRB work in the region for many years. It sees this booklet as yet another way in which it can link the work on GRB and rights. (Abstract from UN Women)

Topics: Development, Gender, Gender Budgeting, Rights, Human Rights Regions: Africa, Southern Africa

Year: 2004

Citation:

Villagómez, Elizabeth. 2006. “Gender Budgeting in the EU.” Paper presented at the Technical Group Meeting of the Interregional and Communitarian Network for the Spreading of Equal Opportunities Actions, Geneva, Switzerland, November 16.

Author: Elizabeth Villagómez

Topics: Gender, Gender Budgeting, International Organizations Regions: Europe

Year: 2006

Citation:

Valodia, Imraan. 1999. “Engendering the Public Sector: An Example from the Women's Budget Initiative in South Africa.” Journal Of International Development 10 (7): 943-55.

Author: Imraan Valodia

Abstract:

Using research conducted for the Women's Budget Initiative (WBI) in South Africa, this paper examines the impact of government expenditure on women. The paper uses the budget of the South African Department of Trade and Industry to assess how this department's activities impacts on women. The paper shows the government budgets are a useful mechanism for gender analysis. The paper concludes that, for a variety of reasons, the South African WBI's has had limited success in shifting government resources towards the most-marginalized women.

Topics: Gender, Gender Analysis, Gender Budgeting Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: South Africa

Year: 1999

Citation:

Rubin, Marilyn Marks, and John R. Bartle. 2005. “Integrating Gender into Government Budgets: A New Perspective.” Public Administration Review 65 (3): 259-72.

Authors: Marilyn Marks Rubin, John R. Bartle

Abstract:

A government’s budget represents a statement of its priorities.  During the past 25 years, the international community has recognized that gender equality is essential for sustainable economic growth and full social development, and it has called upon nations to use their budgets to promote gender-equitable resource allocation and revenue generation.  More than 60 countries have answered this call by implementing gender-responsive budgets at the national and the subnational levels.  However, gender-responsive budgeting is virtually unheard of among public finance scholars and U.S. public administrative scholars and practitioners.  Here we define gender-responsive budgeting, discuss the need for it, describe the lessons learned, and discuss its potential as a budget reform.  We hope our commentary will bring gender-responsive budgeting into the mainstream of research in the U.S. public administration community and into the practice of government budgeting.

Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2005

Citation:

Reddy, Suguna. 2011. “Women’s Empowerment Through Gender Budgeting: A Review in Indian Context.” Asia Pacific Journal of Social Sciences 3 (1): 210-24.

Author: Suguna Reddy

Abstract:

Gender Budgeting is now recognized as a tool for empowering women. Budget impacts women’s lives in several ways. It directly promotes women’s development through allocation of budgetary funds for women’s development programmes and reduces opportunities for empowerment of women through budgetary cuts. The Budget is an important tool in the hands of state for affirmative action for improvement of gender relations through reduction of gender gap in the development process. It can help to reduce economic inequalities, between men and women as well as between the rich and the poor. (NCAS, 2003). Hence, the budgetary policies need to keep into considerations the gender dynamics operating in the economy and in the civil society. There is a need to highlight participatory approaches to pro-poor budgeting, green budgeting, local and global implications of pro-poor and pro-women budgeting, alternative macro scenarios emerging out of alternative budgets and inter-linkages between gender-sensitive budgeting and women’ s empowerment. Serious examining of budgets calls for greater transparency at the level of international economics to local process of empowerment. With this background, the paper mainly focuses on the empowerment of women through Gender Budgeting.

Topics: Civil Society, Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Poverty, Gender, Gender Budgeting Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2011

Citation:

Rake, Katherine. 2002. “Gender Budgets: The Experience of the UK Women’s Budget Group." Paper presented at conference on Gender Balance - Equal Finance, Basle, Switzerland.

Author: Katherine Rake

Annotation:

Summary:

Drawing on the experience of the UK’s Women’s Budget Group (WBG), this paper starts by defining what a gender budget is, outlines the imperatives to conduct a gender budget and then proceeds to detail how such a budget may be constructed. It reflects upon the political, institutional and ideological transformations that are needed for such a process to be successful. Before embarking on the main body of the paper, however, some background on the work of the WBG is necessary.

The Women’s Budget Group has lobbied successive Governments on gender and economic policy since 1989. It is an independent organisation that brings together academics and people from non-governmental organisations and trades unions to promote gender equality through appropriate economic policy. The WBG has gained extensive access to policy-makers and now works most closely with Her Majesty’s Treasury (the UK’s Ministry of Finance). The annual Budget, and now the Pre-Budget Report, provide opportunities for the WBG to lobby Treasury on a range of social and economic issues. We also have a series of meetings throughout the year which may be focused on particular policy reforms, on issues of analysis and on ways that Treasury might use gender analysis to improve its economic policy making. For example, we have recently had meetings in which the Treasury’s model of the UK economy was scrutinised for gender blindness and we are currently meeting with Treasury to discuss how a gender perspective might be introduced in the planning of the next three years’ of Government expenditure. It should be noted that our independence from Government makes us rather unique in an international context where most gender budget initiatives are internal to Government. Although there are considerable advantages of having an independent body scrutinise policy for its gender effects, as discussed in section four below, there are limits to how far external organisations can go in conducting gender budgets. There is an irony also in the fact that most gender budget work in the UK is generated by the unpaid labour of feminist economists.

The work of the WBG is focussed at the national level, but it has links with a group that has a similar aim for Scotland, and with both NGOs and intergovernmental organisations that promote gender budgeting internationally. In short, our aims are to:

·         develop analysis and lead debate on the gender implications of economic policy, 
bearing in mind the multiple dimensions of women’s disadvantage;

·         expand understanding among policy makers and opinion formers of the gender 
implications of economic policy and give policy advice;

·         promote gender mainstreaming in economic policy making, presentation and 
monitoring;

·         work with other organisations to raise public awareness of gender equality issues in economic policy and the importance of assessing the effects of economic policy on women.

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gender Budgeting Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: United Kingdom

Year: 2002

Citation:

Pandey, Divya, Aruna Kanchi, and K. K. Akolkar. 2004. “Gender Audit of Maharashtra Budget: An Illustration of Current Methodology.” Economic and Political Weekly 39 (44): 4792-802.

Authors: Divya Pandey, Aruna Kanchi, K. K. Akolkar

Abstract:

This study attempts to identify women-related expenditure in the Maharashtra budget, in order to estimate the share of budgetary resources actually provided for women vis-à-vis policy pronouncements, the purposes of such allocation, and the utilisation of funds.  It shows that despite the professed concern for women in the state, especially in relation to the declining sex ratio, the allocation continues to be minuscule.  However, merely increasing the provision of funds does not automatically lead to the establishment of gender equality or empowerment of women.  Policies for women must take cognisance of their needs, problems and choices, and incorporate them in the design of programmes.

Topics: Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2004

Citation:

Manyeruke, Charity, and Shakespear Hamausw. 2013. “Feminisation of Gender Budgeting: An Uphill Task for Zimbabwe." Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review 29 (1): 77-105.

Authors: Charity Manyeruke, Shakespear Hamausw

Abstract:

This paper analyses gender budgeting initiatives in Zimbabwe from 2008 when the Gender Budget Circular Call mandating all ministries to mainstream gender in their programmes and budgets came into effect. In order to analyse national budgets and budgeting process in Zimbabwe, the research used a qualitative methodology, which is, specifically, documentary research. Special attention was placed on critical sectors, such as health, agriculture, women's affairs, water and sanitation, and education where disparity between men and women is apparent. The paper concludes that budgetary allocations for women programmes are inadequate, hence the need to feminise gender budgeting process in order to yield better results. However, feminisation of the gender budgeting process is not an easy task for Zimbabwe due to lack of up-to-date gender disaggregated data, lack of political will, and economic challenges that are limiting the fiscal space, among others. There is, however, an opportunity to draw lessons from other developing countries such as South Africa, Mexico, and Namibia as discussed in this study.

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Education, Gender, Femininity/ies, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming, Health Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Zimbabwe

Year: 2013