Gender responsive budgeting
•Télécharger en tant que PPT, PDF•
4 j'aime•3,048 vues
to develop an understanding of gender responsive budgeting
Recommandé
Recommandé
Contenu connexe
Tendances
Tendances (20)
En vedette
En vedette (20)
Similaire à Gender responsive budgeting
Similaire à Gender responsive budgeting (20)
Dernier
Dernier (20)
Gender responsive budgeting
- 1. GENDER RESPONSIVEGENDER RESPONSIVE BUDGETINGBUDGETING Gender, Women and Politics The National Democratic Institute
- 2. INTRODUCTIONS/INTRODUCTIONS/ GROUND RULESGROUND RULES • Introductions • Ground Rules • Ice Breaker Exercise
- 3. GENDER RESPONSIVEGENDER RESPONSIVE BUDGETING (GRB) OBJECTIVESBUDGETING (GRB) OBJECTIVES • To develop a basic understanding of GRB • To become familiar with the budget process and tools to make it more equitable
- 4. GRB TOPICSGRB TOPICS • What is GRB? • Benefits and goals • GRB requirements • Budget process • GRB stakeholders • Five step approach • GRB tools • Country examples
- 5. KEY TERMSKEY TERMS • Gender • Budget • Expenditure • Revenue • Income • Audit • Accounting • Transparency • Accountability
- 6. WHAT IS GRB?WHAT IS GRB? • Analysis of budget (expenditures and revenues) from a gender perspective • Disaggregation of budget in terms of its impact on men and women • Highlights the gaps between policy and resources committed • National, regional and local levels Photo: www.pixabay.com
- 7. WHAT GRB IS NOTWHAT GRB IS NOT • Not a separate budget for women • Doesn’t necessarily seek to increase the amount of money spent on women • Not an end in itself
- 8. GRB BENEFITSGRB BENEFITS • Promotes government transparency and accountability • Addresses discrimination, inefficiency and corruption • More effective use of public funds • Improves policies and contributes to economic growth • Strengthens citizen advocacy and monitoring
- 9. GRB GOALSGRB GOALS • Raise awareness of gender issues and gender impacts of budgets and policies • Hold government accountable for budgetary and policy commitments • Better promote gender equality Photo: NDI
- 10. GRB REQUIREMENTSGRB REQUIREMENTS • Gender knowledge • Budget knowledge • Issue/sector-specific knowledge
- 11. GRB ENABLING ENVIRONMENTGRB ENABLING ENVIRONMENT • Access to the budget • Availability of gender-disaggregated data • Awareness of need for/benefits of GRB • Political will • Citizen support and clear objectives • Adequate resources
- 12. EXAMPLE: SOUTH AFRICAEXAMPLE: SOUTH AFRICA • Women’s Budget Initiative created by parliamentary committee and two NGOs • Analyzed national ministries, public sector employment and taxation • Case studies on local government, donor funding and job creation
- 13. WHAT IS A BUDGET?WHAT IS A BUDGET? • Main policy statement and executing tool of government • Reflection of a country’s values
- 14. GRB AND THE BUDGETGRB AND THE BUDGET PROCESSPROCESS • Budget cycle: planning, execution, evaluation/auditing • Timing of GRB is critical • Different budgeting models require different GRB approaches
- 15. BUDGET CYCLEBUDGET CYCLE • Determining the macroeconomic situation • Preparing guidelines and setting expenditure ceilings • Preparing ministry spending proposals • Securing legislative approval • Monitoring, evaluating and ensuring accountability
- 16. EXERCISE: BUDGET CYCLEEXERCISE: BUDGET CYCLE • What are the procedures? • How are national priorities determined? • What are the constraints? • What is the budget format? • What is the role of ministries? • What role does the legislature play? • What are the roles of sub-national governments?
- 17. GRB STAKEHOLDERSGRB STAKEHOLDERS • Government • Lawmakers • Civil society organizations and citizens • International actors
- 18. ROLE OF THE LEGISLATUREROLE OF THE LEGISLATURE Pass the Budget Act • Examine and decide on budget • Ensure commitments are upheld Legislative scrutiny may be minimal: • Insufficient time or information • Lack of capacity/resources/political will • Limited power • Disproportionate influence
- 19. ROLE OF THE LEGISLATUREROLE OF THE LEGISLATURE • Monitoring the budget and ensuring accountability • Auditing and reporting on spending • Example: French yellow paper
- 20. EXAMPLE: GRB IN UGANDAEXAMPLE: GRB IN UGANDA • A parliamentary initiative with linkages to non-governmental organizations • Budget research on ministries at the national level • Sustainability
- 21. EXERCISE: GRB PLANNINGEXERCISE: GRB PLANNING Develop preliminary answers to key questions Photo: NDI
- 22. GRB FIVE STEP APPROACHGRB FIVE STEP APPROACH Step 1: Analyze the situation of women, men, girls and boys in a given sector Photo: Alamy
- 23. GRB FIVE STEP APPROACHGRB FIVE STEP APPROACH • Step 2: Assess the gender responsiveness of legislation, policies, and programs • Step 3: Assess budget allocations
- 24. GRB FIVE STEP APPROACHGRB FIVE STEP APPROACH • Step 4: Monitor spending and service delivery • Step 5: Assess outcomes
- 25. EXERCISE:EXERCISE: PRELIMINARY ANALYSISPRELIMINARY ANALYSIS • Analyze the situation • Statistics • Assess gender responsiveness • Policies, programs, legislation • Assess budget allocations
- 26. GRB TOOLSGRB TOOLS Gender Sensitive Policy Assessment: – Links budgets to policies – Examines each budget area and related policies from a gender perspective – Considers likely gender impact of allocations and associated policies
- 27. GRB TOOLSGRB TOOLS Beneficiary Assessments: – Ask intended beneficiaries to assess how public spending is meeting their needs and what their priorities are – Use opinion polls, attitude surveys, focus groups, interviews, role plays
- 28. GRB TOOLSGRB TOOLS Public Expenditure Analysis: – Compares distribution of public spending among women and men – Estimates the amount spent on a given service for women and men Photo: Felicity Thompson, WHO
- 29. GRB TOOLSGRB TOOLS Sex-disaggregated Analysis of Impact of the Budget on Time Use: – Focuses on the amount of unpaid work – Is this likely to increase the time that men/women spend on unpaid work? Image: www.pixababy.com
- 30. GRB TOOLSGRB TOOLS Revenue Analysis: – Examines the proportion of income paid in taxes/user fees by women and men Gender Sensitive Budget Statement: – Governments can issue gender analysis of its programs and budgets
- 31. EXAMPLE: GRB IN TANZANIAEXAMPLE: GRB IN TANZANIA • NGO-based GRB spurred government to start its own • GRB team includes government officials and NGO reps • Focuses on national ministries and on local budgets • Donor support
- 32. CASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIACASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIA Ministry of Finance • Included a column on gender outcomes in the budget • Mandated Ministries to identify gender mainstreaming programs and improve women’s access to services
- 33. CASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIACASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIA Ministry of Environment • Impact of climate change on women Planning Commission • Ensure that national and state plans are gender sensitive Department of Commerce • Gender implications of special economic zones
- 34. CASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIACASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIA Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs • Issue of deserted wives of non-resident Indian marriages • Periodic review of female domestic servants in foreign countries Ministry of Urban Development • Clean and safe public toilets • Adequate street lighting Photo: Vivek Chugh, rgbstock.com
- 35. CASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIACASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIA Ministry of Defense • Gender inclusion and non-discrimination in armed forces Ministry of New and Renewable Energy • Provide solar lanterns to girl students • Train women to sell and repair renewable energy devices
- 36. CASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIACASE STUDY: GRB IN INDIA Ministry of Health and Family Welfare • Health insurance initiative for women • Increase immunization levels for girls Ministry of Agriculture • National Gender Resource Centre • Increase access to credit and markets Photo: www.pixabay.com
- 37. GRB LESSONS LEARNEDGRB LESSONS LEARNED • GRBs have the most impact when they are led by government and driven by civil society • GRB has to be institutionalized • Ongoing monitoring is essential • Research to inform policy and support advocacy • Donor-driven initiatives are not sustainable
- 38. EXERCISE: GRB ROLE PLAYEXERCISE: GRB ROLE PLAY • Roles: Health and Education Agriculture and Rural Development Commerce Civil Service Photo: NDI
- 39. GENDER RESPONSIVEGENDER RESPONSIVE BUDGETINGBUDGETING REVIEWREVIEW • Analysis of budget from a gender perspective • Promotes more effective use of funds • Need access to budget and data – and political will • Must be timed around budget cycle • Must be adapted and has many tools • Cross-sector initiatives are most sustainable and effective
Notes de l'éditeur
- See the Trainer’s Guide for overall guidance on using this presentation. The Trainer’s Guide serves as a companion resource and outlines the objectives of the session and materials needed as well as provides additional guidance on conducting the training session. Please note that the Guide includes complete instructions on how to facilitate some of the exercises referenced in this PowerPoint presentation and additional information on the content of certain slides. Please adapt the PowerPoint presentation, exercises, examples and handouts in advance of your workshop. They have been created for a global audience and need to be adapted to better suit the local context, the background of your participants and their level of experience. Terms, images and examples from the participants’ country or region should be used as much as possible so that they are relevant and contextually appropriate. This presentation and guide were developed by Amy Hamelin. NDI would also like to acknowledge those who contributed including Caroline Hubbard, Susan Kemp, Susan Markham, Allison Muehlenbeck, Crystal Rosario and Rebecca Turkington.
- SLIDE CONTENT: To begin the session, introduce yourself and other staff, trainers and resource persons. Provide the participants an opportunity to introduce themselves and establish ground rules for the training. TRAINER NOTE: It will be important to establish a rapport among participants. If this is the first presentation of a training workshop, be sure to build in time for participants to get to know one another and establish ground rules for their interaction and participation. Guidance on ice breakers and ground rules can be found in the “Training and Facilitation” folder. You might also establish ground rules by asking participants to give suggestions and agreeing as a group. You can write the rules on a flip chart and hang it on the wall for reference during the training session.
- SLIDE CONTENT: The objectives for this session are to: Develop a basic understanding of GRB and its benefits, goals, and requirements Become familiar with the budget process and tools to make it more equitable TRAINER NOTE: Provide an overview of the session’s objectives so that participants understand its purpose and have realistic expectations about what to expect. You may also wish to ask participants what expectations they have for the session. What do they hope to get out of it? You can then relate their expectations to the objectives and suggest how unrelated expectations might be met in other ways.
- SLIDE CONTENT: The topics we will cover today include: What is GRB? Benefits and goals GRB requirements Budget process GRB stakeholders Five step approach GRB tools Country examples TRAINER NOTE: Give the participants a brief overview of the topics to be covered so they have a sense of where you are heading in the presentation. Summarize the main concepts that will be addressed.
- SLIDE CONTENT: There are a few key terms to define as we begin so that we share a common understanding throughout our discussions. TRAINER NOTE: Ask the participants to define the terms first and then decide on a common definition based on their responses and the definitions included in the Trainer’s Guide. You might also ask them to suggest other terms relating to gender responsive budgeting that they think need to be defined at the onset. You should let them know that they are welcome to stop and ask for clarification at any point during the session if there is a term with which they are unfamiliar or one which they believe requires further discussion. Before turning to the next slide, ask participants if they have an idea of what gender responsive budgeting is. Write down their responses on a flipchart and then share the definitions on the next slide.
- SLIDE CONTENT: So what is gender responsive budgeting? It refers to a variety of processes and tools which aim to enable a gender impact assessment of government budgets. It’s an analysis of budgets, both expenditures and revenues, from a gender perspective, that identifies the implications for women and girls as compared to men and boys. Put a slightly different way, gender responsive budgeting is an effort to disaggregate the general government budget in terms of its impact on men and women and its impact on different groups of men and women, while taking into account the gender relations underlying society. If done effectively, gender responsive budget initiatives highlight the gaps between policy statements and the resources committed to their implementation, ensuring that public money is raised and spent in more gender equitable ways. GRB can be conducted at the national, regional or local levels, according to the levels of government in a given country. If there are local councils and they have budgets, you can conduct a gender budget initiative at this level. Don’t forget that major budget decisions are generally made at the national level so while looking at incomes and expenditures at the local level is important, influencing the process at the national level is more likely to have a significant impact. Gender responsive budgeting is important because it recognizes the ways in which women contribute to the society and economy with their unpaid labor in bearing, rearing and caring for citizens and better reflects the needs of the poorest and most powerless members of society. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if any of them have experience conducting a gender budget analysis.
- SLIDE CONTENT: There are a lot of misconceptions about gender responsive budgeting so it is important to clarify what it is NOT. A gender responsive budget initiative does not aim to produce a separate budget for women, or even necessarily to increase the amount of money spent on women-specific programs. Furthermore, gender responsive budgeting is a tool, not an end in itself. It is a tool to promote gender equality. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if they feel that there are certain groups, men included, who may feel threatened by the concept of gender responsive budgeting. What explains this fear? How might these groups be convinced to support this kind of an initiative?
- SLIDE CONTENT: Because GRB highlights gaps between policy statements and the resources committed to their implementation, it is an important tool in improving government accountability, transparency, and efficiency. It provides information to address discrimination, inefficiency and corruption. By using a gender sensitive analysis of needs, time use, and gender roles, GRB looks at how to most effectively use publics funds to deliver public services and promote gender equality. GRB can improve the effectiveness of public policies, thereby contributing to economic growth. It strengthens advocacy and monitoring initiatives by citizens by providing them with a tool to promote accountability. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if they can think of any other benefits of engaging in gender responsive budgeting.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Gender responsive budgeting contributes to a number of interrelated goals. It can: Raise awareness and understanding of gender issues and the gender impacts of budgets and policies. Hold governments accountable for their budgetary and policy commitments. Lead to revised government budgets and policies that better promote gender equality.
- SLIDE CONTENT: I think we can all agree that gender responsive budgeting makes sense, that it is a worthwhile investment of time and energy. So what would you need to get started? What are the basic requirements? Gender knowledge: You need a certain amount of expertise to analyze the issues and policies that affect inequality - directly or indirectly - and identify how this is reflected in the budget. Budget knowledge: It is also necessary to have a good understanding of the exact budget process - both from a political and administrative perspective - at the national, regional and/or local levels. It’s important to understand how the process is supposed to work and how it works in reality. Issue/sector-specific knowledge: In order to ask the right questions and develop appropriate interventions, it’s necessary to have some issue- or sector-specific knowledge and/or work with partners who do. This can be tricky because often people who understand gender don’t have much knowledge about budgeting while those responsible for formulating the government budget rarely have exposure to gender issues. The same can be said of most issue experts such as those who work on the environment or foreign affairs. For GRB initiatives to be successful, these disparate groups need to learn how to talk to each other. It’s almost like learning a new language! TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if this gives them some sense of the kinds of people/groups that should be included in a gender responsive budgeting initiative. Do their organizations/institutions have people who understand all three required areas? If not, who else might they include? Whose skills could they draw on?
- SLIDE CONTENT: Beyond knowledge of these different areas, gender, budgeting and sectors, effective GRB also requires an enabling environment. There are certain key ingredients. For example, you need: Access to the budget. This is the starting point. If the budget is not publicly available in all of its detail, analysis is not possible. Availability of gender-disaggregated data. In many cases, the budget is available but groups have trouble finding data that is broken out by gender. Awareness of need for and benefits of GRB among women, civil society groups, government officials and MPs. Many successful GRB initiatives start by building awareness. Political will: If the key stakeholders, those responsible for formulating and implementing budgets, are aware of the benefits of GRB, they are much more likely to support it. If there is no political will to promote gender equality through GRB, groups, whether women parliamentarians or civil society organizations, are unlikely to gain much traction. Citizen support and clear objectives on the changes that are expected from the use of a gender sensitive analysis. If citizens are behind an initiative, it is much more likely to succeed. But it is important that people have realistic expectations for what will change as a result of the initiative. Detractors may think that you are trying to wrestle funds away from men. Supporters may think that this is the first step in launching a feminist revolution. Adequate resources – human and financial. GRB takes time, a certain amount of expertise, and, yes, money. It doesn’t need to be prohibitively expensive, particularly when people are willing to donate their time and where organizations or government institutions are willing to donate space for meetings.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Let’s have a quick look at an example of GRB from South Africa to get a better idea of what it looks like in practice. The Women’s Budget Initiative (WBI) was created by the parliamentary Committee on Finance and by two policy research NGOs. WBI first analyzed six national ministries, as well as public sector employment and taxation, looking at both social and economic sectors to highlight gender issues. In their third year, WBI analyzed all 26 departments of the national budget. In the fourth year, WBI did five local government case studies and looked at donor funding and budgets for job creation. In its fifth year, WBI looked at different forms of revenue and how national, provincial, and local governments interacted in developing health policy and budgets.
- SLIDE CONTENT: We know the dictionary definition of the term “budget”. A budget is an itemized summary of estimated or intended expenditures for a given period along with proposals for financing them. Beyond this standard definition, a budget is also: Main policy statement and policy executing tool of a government. Reflection of the values of a country. Countries are like most of us – there is never enough money to go around. That means that tough choices have to be made between competing priorities. Will the money go to the military to defend the country or to education so that our children can live up to their potential? What about social welfare programs to help those in need? The decisions a government makes about where and how to spend its money reflect the country’s values. Take for example the South African budget before and after the end of the Apartheid system, a system of strict racial segregation under which the white minority ruled and the black majority were denied many of their basic rights, including the right to vote and to hold public office. Given the situation, it isn’t surprising that a disproportionately low percentage of the budget was spent on providing services such as education to black communities. The education of black children was devalued by the white minority in charge of the budget. The situation has changed dramatically since the end of the Apartheid era. Values have changed and so have budget allocations. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if they can think of other examples of how a country’s values are reflected in its budgets. Be careful to clarify that, as in the South Africa example, the values that are reflected are not necessarily those of all citizens, or even the majority of the citizens, but of those in power.
- SLIDE CONTENT: To be effective, GRB must take into account and be responsive to the realities of the budget process in a given country. For example, the possibility of making relevant changes varies depending on the phases of the budget cycle - planning, execution, and evaluation/auditing. The best opportunity for influencing the process is during the planning phase, however, input during the evaluation phase can also be useful in terms of helping to formulate the budget for the following year. Timing of GRB initiatives is critical. Different budgeting models affect GRB analysis and require different approaches. For example, performance-oriented budgeting systems are more likely to incorporate or be influenced by GRB than systems which are based on highly political decision-making processes, particularly those that take place in an environment that lacks transparency. GRB works best in democratic systems that provide checks and balances – in which the parliament and the executive both play an active role in the formulation and the implementation of the budget and civil society organizations have the ability and information to monitor the process throughout.
- SLIDE CONTENT: While the process varies from country to country, in general the key steps in the budget cycle are as follows: Determining the macroeconomic situation (Cabinet, Ministry of Finance). Before a budget is drafted, the government must first assess its financial situation – both in terms of anticipating revenues and expenditures. Preparing budget guidelines and setting expenditure ceilings (Cabinet, Ministry of Finance). Preparing ministry spending proposals (Respective ministries). Securing legislative approval (Legislature). Monitoring, evaluating and ensuring accountability (Ministry of Finance Auditor General, Legislature). TRAINER NOTE: In advance of the training, you should prepare a slide or two about how the budget process works in the country in which the training is taking place. An alternative approach would be to invite someone who has significant experience with the budget process to come and speak to the group. Either way, you should be sure to cover areas included in the questions in the next slide. It is particularly important for participants to understand the timing of the various steps in the process so they can time their GRB initiatives accordingly.
- SLIDE CONTENT: There are a number of important questions that need to be answered before you can mount a successful GRB initiative. These questions are designed to help you develop a better understanding of the process so that you can target and contextualize your interventions, understand opportunities and constraints, and become familiar with the key stakeholders and their roles, etc. Let’s take some time to make sure that we can answer all of these questions on the basis of what we’ve discussed thus far. TRAINER NOTE: The purpose of this exercise is to reinforce what participants have learned about the budget process and to capture this information in a worksheet that participants can use after the workshop is over to help guide their work on GRB. EXERCISE: Understanding the Budget Cycle Divide participants up into small groups of four to five people. Pass out copies of the handout – one per person. Ask the groups to go through the questions in the first section ONLY and answer them based on earlier discussions and on any knowledge they may have of the budget process. Give the groups 10-15 minutes to complete this section of the worksheet. Go through the responses as a group to make sure that everyone has the right answers. HANDOUT 1: Gender Responsive Budgeting Worksheet
- SLIDE CONTENT: So who can engage in gender responsive budgeting? GRB initiatives can be conducted within government ministries, by parliaments, or by civil society organizations, assuming they have access to the required information and data. While government ministries and parliaments have decision-making powers when it comes to budgets, civil society organizations can still play a role by shining a light on expenditures and incomes and their gender implications. International actors may also play a role. Government: ministers and civil servants at Ministries of Finance, Women’s Affairs and other planning and spending ministries Lawmakers: parliamentarians and elected officials at regional and local levels Civil society: women’s organizations, trade unions, independent researchers and economists, journalists, and social justice groups. Private citizens can also be stakeholders if they take a particular interest in a topic and seek to influence policy through, for example, public hearings. International actors: donors; international and regional financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the African Development Bank; and bilateral and multilateral development agencies such as the United Nations Development Program, US Agency for International Development and the British Department for International Development. Many of these groups provide direct budget assistance to developing country governments and thus have a stake in the process. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if any of these groups are engaging in gender responsive budgeting in their country. Have these efforts been collaborative?
- SLIDE CONTENT: The primary function of the legislature in the budget process is to pass the Budget Act, allowing MPS to examine and decide on the proposed budget. It is also the responsibility of MPs to help ensure the government’s international/national commitments are upheld in the budget. Some parliaments simply “rubber stamp” the budget meaning that they simply approve whatever the executive branch puts in front of them. Legislative scrutiny may be limited due to: Insufficient time to examine and debate the components of the budget, delays in receiving it or other urgent parliamentary business. Absence of critical information needed for effective analysis. The draft budget may not have adequate detail or there may not be adequate information to review it, such as data on economic performance and service delivery. Lack of capacity, resources or political will. Most MPs don’t enter office with experience in reviewing budgets. They may not have the resources, such as parliamentary research services, to conduct a proper review of the budget. Or, not the political will to conduct a thorough review for one reason or another. Limited power granted to legislators regarding the budget. On paper, legislatures are meant to serve as a check against the power of the executive and budget oversight is one important tool, however, in reality, the legislature doesn’t hold real power. Disproportionate influence by the government over the budget or disproportionate power held by a small number of special interest groups over the budget. In some cases, groups outside of the government wield power and influence by using financial resources to influence budget outcomes. TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants how much power and influence their legislature wields over the budget process. If it is limited, why is this the case?
- SLIDE CONTENT:The legislature also plays an important part in monitoring the budget and ensuring accountability. Parliament should conduct regular audits of and produce reports on how ministries spend money. One interesting example of how a parliament has monitored government expenditures, in this case from a gender perspective, comes from France. Under the Budget Act of 2000, the French Parliament required the government to submit an annex to the draft budget specifically identifying funds earmarked to promote gender equality and those that are specifically dedicated to addressing women’s needs. This annex, called a yellow paper, acts as both an informational and a monitoring tool for the legislature. The yellow paper also provides government ministries a mechanism to measure the results and to detect shortcomings between the commitments made and the services delivered. Again, legislative monitoring may be limited based on the same factors we discussed earlier.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Let’s consider how different stakeholders can effectively work together on GRB. This example is from Uganda, a country in East Africa. GRB in Uganda is a parliamentary initiative that highlights opportunities for early participation in the budget process; the role of the international financial institutions; and the importance of ongoing work. The NGO Forum for Women in Democracy (Fowode) was created by women members of parliament and, as a result, has strong linkages to the “special interest groups” parliamentary caucus. Since 1997, Fowode has done budget research on the ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture and Finance and Economic Planning at the national level. Fowode’s efforts have strengthened the relationship between civil society organizations and the government, and contributed to a sustainable GRB initiative.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Now that we have a general understanding of what GRB is and is not, who is involved and how the budget process works, let’s get into a little more detail on how to actually go about conducting an initiative. Whether you are a parliamentarian, a civil servant at a government ministry or a women’s rights advocate, there are a number of helpful questions that you should ask before you engage in a GRB initiative. In cases where this kind of work is already happening, you’ll want to find out more about the process and who is involved. If GRB hasn’t yet been attempted in your country, you’ll need to consider who could be involved and how it might work. EXERCISE: GRB Planning Depending on the size and composition of the group, you can conduct this exercise with the full group. This might work quite well if all of the participants are parliamentarians associated with the women’s parliamentary caucus. Alternately you can divide participants into smaller groups based on the organizations that they represent (parliament, government ministries, civil society organizations, etc.). Or you may wish to mix participants up so they are working with people from different backgrounds. Have participants develop initial responses to each of the questions in the GRB Initiative Planning Questions section of the worksheet. If you have chosen to divide participants into smaller groups, provide them with an opportunity to share their responses with one another, particularly if they represent different organizations. HANDOUT 1: Gender Responsive Budgeting Worksheet Note: participants should already have a copy of this from the Budget Process exercise.
- SLIDE CONTENT: While there are a number of different ways to go about conducting a GRB, we’ll go over a five step approach that was pioneered in South Africa. Keep in mind that GRB initiatives can take different forms and must be tailored to meet local political and economic realities. Step 1: Analyze the situation of women, men, girls and boys Conduct an analysis of the situation for women and men and girls and boys (and the different sub-groups) within a given sector. For example, using education as a sector, you could look at statistics on adult literacy and academic achievement. What percentage of girls are enrolled in primary school as compared to boys? What percentage of university graduates are women? What percentage of math majors are women as opposed to men? TRAINER NOTE: Remind participants that there is not a blueprint for doing GRB. As a process, it is flexible, adaptable and should be tailored to one’s needs AND capacity.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Step 2: Assessing the gender responsiveness of policies Conduct an assessment of the extent to which the sector’s policies address the gender issues and gaps identified in the first step. This should include an assessment of relevant legislation, policies and programs to determine the extent to which they meet the needs and respect the rights of women. Taking the education example again, is there legislation that has different requirements for mandatory education for girls and boys (girls can opt out after primary school)? Are there scholarships available to women in non-traditional areas such as science and math? Are adult literacy courses offered to women at times that are conducive to their participation? Step 3: Assessing budget allocations Conduct an assessment of the adequacy of budget allocations to implement the gender sensitive policies and programs identified in Step 2. Compare the proposed or current budget allocation for your sector and determine whether it will be sufficient to implement policies and programs that promote gender equality.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Step 4: Monitoring spending and service delivery Monitoring whether the money was spent as planned, what was delivered and to whom. This involves checking both the financial and the physical deliverables disaggregated by sex. In the case of education, you would want to have a look at actual expenditures of the Ministry of Education. Were funds spent as anticipated? How much was allocated for programs that specifically benefited girls/women? You would also want to monitor the delivery of services. If the Ministry claims that it opened 15 adult literacy centers, you would want to visit them to verify that they are open and functioning as they were meant to. If the Ministry claimed that it hired and assigned an additional 200 women teachers, you would want to verify this on the ground. While it likely isn’t possible to verify every last detail, a “spot check” or a few randomly selected service delivery points should give you a sense of whether there is a problem or not. Step 5: Assessing outcomes Conduct an assessment of the impact of the policy or program and the extent to which the situation described in Step 1 has changed. In short, have the policies and programs resulted in increased or decreased gender equality or has there been no measurable change? Be sure to identify any lessons learned from the process to feed into the following year’s budget. TRAINER NOTE: Remind participants that GRB should not be a one-off initiative. It should be take place on an annual basis with lessons learned being used to inform the process in subsequent years. Over time, GRB will become more and more a part of the “mainstream” budgeting process.
- SLIDE CONTENT: These steps seem fairly straight forward but obviously they entail a lot of work. There are a number of questions that can guide you through the process, helping you to focus on getting the information you need without being totally overwhelmed. Let’s take some time to put what we’ve learned into practice. TRAINER NOTE: The preliminary analysis exercise and GRB tools will be most appropriate for a more advanced audience that is likely to incorporate GRB into their ongoing work. Given the length of this presentation, you may wish to take a break before covering these section or cover them in a separate session. Alternately you may wish to skip these sections and move directly to the case studies or the conclusion. EXERCISE: Preliminary Analysis Prior to the workshop, you should identify one or more sectors on which participants can conduct a preliminary analysis. You may wish to choose sectors like education and health that are more likely to have sex-disaggregated statistics and gender responsive policies. For each sector, you should collect key statistics, information about relevant policies, programs, and legislation (whether or not they are gender responsive), and a snapshot of the current budget for the sector. The information needn’t be exhaustive. For example, a few key policies/programs will do. Divide participants into smaller groups of four to five people and provide each group with a packet of information on a given sector and ask them to review it before using the steps/questions in Section III of the GRB Worksheet to conduct a preliminary analysis. Invite groups to share the findings of their analysis and debrief. HANDOUT 1: Gender Responsive Budgeting Worksheet
- SLIDE CONTENT: There are several different tools that can be used during gender responsive budgeting initiatives. We’ll briefly go over six of them before ending with a few examples of how they have been used around the world. Tool 1: Gender Sensitive Policy Assessment This is a tool that links budgets to policies. One examines the position of women and men and boys and girls in each area of the budget (education, health, agriculture, etc.) and the associated policies. Be sure to take into account age, ethnicity, location, class, etc. Consider how the resources allocated and the associated policies are likely to impact gender inequality. Will they work to increase it or reduce it or are they likely to maintain the status quo? TRAINER NOTE: The following tools will be most appropriate for a more advanced audience that is likely to incorporate them into their ongoing work. Given the length of this presentation, you may wish to cover the tools in a separate session. Alternately, depending on the interests of your participants and their level of exposure to GRB, you may wish to stop here or skip the tools and end with the case studies.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Tool 2: Beneficiary Assessments Ask actual or potential intended beneficiaries of public services to assess how public spending is meeting their perceived needs and what their priorities are for public expenditure Use opinion polls, attitude surveys, focus groups, interviews, and role plays to solicit this information. Don’t forget to include both men and women. It can be enlightening to ask men what they think the priorities of women are and the degree to which they are benefitting from services and compare these responses with those given by women. Include a wide cross-section of the population – not just people in urban areas. Include older and younger people, educated and illiterate, and individuals from different ethnic groups, etc.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Tool 3: Public Expenditure Analysis This tool gives you a sense of how responsive expenditures actually are to gender by comparing the distribution of public spending between women and men and girls and boys. For example, you can estimate the unit cost of providing a particular service, for example all costs associated with maintaining and staffing a community health center for one year. Estimate the use of services at the center by men and women and boys and girls. Using these figures to calculate the amount spent per year on each group.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Tool 4: Sex – Disaggregated Analysis of the Impact of the Budget on Time Use This tool focuses on the outcome of a given policy or budget allocation on the amount of unpaid work done by women and men. Whenever expenditure cuts are proposed, ask: Is this likely to increase the amount of time that men and/or women spend on unpaid care work? For example, if the government is proposing to cut the program that provides free after school care for school-aged children, the likely outcome is that women will have to spend more time caring for their children. This is unpaid work.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Tool 5: Revenue Analysis This tool examines the proportion of income paid in taxes and user fees by women and men. Tool 6: Gender Sensitive Budget Statement Governments can issue a gender sensitive budget statement using information gleaned from using one or more of these tools to analyze its programs and budgets. These statements may include: Share of expenditures going toward women and the promotion of gender equality Share of expenditures devoted to government gender units Information on women’s participation in public sector employment relative to men Gender balance in public sector contracts and business support Gender balance in decision-making bodies, forums and committees Gender balance in professional trainings TRAINER NOTE: Ask participants if they have used any of these tools. If so, ask them to share a little about their experiences.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Since 1995, GRB initiatives have been conducted in more than 90 countries. The initiatives have taken many forms, with some being led by civil society organizations and others driven by governments with still others conducted by some combination of the two. Let’s go over a few case studies to get a sense for how these initiatives work. In the East African country of Tanzania: An NGO, the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP) launched a GRB project in 1997. This spurred the government to start its own GRB initiative, thereby enhancing sustainability. TGNP along with another NGO organized workshops and other events and included government officials to build support and foster alliances. TGNP also provided training and capacity building on gender budgeting for government staff involved in the process. This relationship building and training paid off and the groups were able to organize a GRB research team including government officials and NGO researchers. The team focuses on four national ministries (Education, Agriculture, Health, Water), the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission, and on two local government budgets. Several donors have provided funding for the GRB initiative. As a result, GRB is now institutionalized within the government with ministries required to account for the gender responsiveness of their budgets. TRAINER NOTE: Should you wish to go into additional detail on this example, consider handing out the case study prepared by the World Bank. Given its length, you may wish to provide relevant sections to participants in advance of the workshop so that they can come prepared to discuss it. HANDOUT 2: Gender Budget Initiative: The Case of Tanzania
- SLIDE CONTENT: Let’s look at one more case study, that of India which has taken a holistic approach to women’s empowerment focusing on social, economic and political factors. The concept is to reach gender equality by ensuring that it is addressed by each ministry. Social ministries focused on issues like education, health, and the status of women in their families. Economic ministries focused on asset ownership, income generation, skills development, and appropriate technology. There was also a focus on the participation of women in decision making. The Ministry of Finance set the tone for this initiative and issued clear instructions for how it was to be implemented. For example, it included a column on gender outcomes in the budget to ensure that gender concerns are addressed. It also issued guidance on gender budgeting that mandated ministries to identify three to six gender mainstreaming programs and to undertake initiatives and institute special measures to improve women’s access to services. Let’s have a look at some of the initiatives that various ministries launched as a result.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Ministry of Environment Investigated the impact of climate change on women Planning Commission Made efforts to ensure that national and state plans are gender sensitive and identify outcomes for women Department of Commerce Considered the gender implications of special economic zones
- SLIDE CONTENT: Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Looked at the issue of deserted wives of non-resident Indian marriages Conducted a periodic review of the status of female domestic servants in foreign countries Ministry of Urban Development Provision of clean and safe public toilets Provision of adequate street lighting to promote the safety of women
- SLIDE CONTENT: Ministry of Defense Looked at the issue of gender inclusion and non-discrimination in the armed forces Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Provided solar lanterns to girls so that they can study in the evenings, thereby preventing them from dropping out of school Trained women’s organizations to sell and repair renewable energy devices
- SLIDE CONTENT: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Launched a health insurance initiative for women Sought to increase immunization levels for girls Ministry of Agriculture Created a national Gender Resource Centre in Agriculture (NGRCA) to serve as a focal point Worked to increase women’s access to credit and markets
- SLIDE CONTENT: These and other GRB initiatives conducted in other countries have provided a number of important lessons and best practices. Consider these lessons as you contemplate engaging in GRB: GRB initiatives have the most impact when they are led by government and driven by civil society. Initiatives that involve only government or only civil society rarely deliver sustainable results. When both groups are involved and working collaboratively, initiatives are much more likely to succeed. One-off trainings or seminars are not the answer. GRB has to be institutionalized throughout the budgeting process so that it becomes self-sustaining. GRB should be part of the mandate of every ministry. Ongoing, consistent monitoring is essential in making gender responsive budgets most likely to improve gender equality. Some amount of research is essential, but research should not be undertaken simply for the sake of research. It should be used to inform policy changes and support advocacy. Donor-driven initiatives are neither sustainable nor desirable. There must be political will and commitment inside the country for GRB to be a useful and effective tool to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.
- SLIDE CONTENT: Let’s use a role play to put everything we’ve learned together. EXERCISE: GRB Role Play Provide participants with a copy of the GRB Role Play Exercise handout and read over it together. Divide participants into four groups and assign each one of the following roles: Ministry of Health and Education; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Ministry of Commerce; and Civil Service Commission. Give the groups 15 minutes to consider the case study from the perspective of their respective ministry/commission and prepare an argument for a budget that is more gender responsive. This could include an increased budget for a particular program, the continuation of a suspended program, or changes to the list of prioritized programs/policies. Groups should consider the potential negative impacts of the proposed budget and programs and be prepared to explain them. You should take the role of a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Finance. Ask each group to come up and present its case to you. In your role as the Ministry of Finance representative, be sure to push back and press the groups to present solid justification for their arguments. After each group has had a chance to present, be sure to debrief and provide constructive criticism. HANDOUT 3: GRB Role Play Exercise
- SLIDE CONTENT: Today we’ve discussed some key points related to gender responsive budgeting: GRB is an analysis of budget, the main policy statement of government, from a gender perspective. It promotes more effective use of public funds. Need access to budget and gender-disaggregated data – and political will – if GRB is to be successful. GRB must be timed around the budget cycle – planning, execution, and evaluation. GRB must be adapted according to the budget process in a given country and there are a wide range of associated tools such as beneficiary assessments and public expenditure assessments that you can use. Cross-sector GRB initiatives – ones that involve government ministries, parliament, and civil society – are the most sustainable and effective. Are there any questions? TRAINER NOTE: Summarize the main points covered. Focus on areas of particular interest to the group or areas that raised a lot of questions during the workshop. Address any particular areas about which the group had questions and allow time for final questions, feedback, and evaluation of the workshop. HANDOUTS: Gender Responsive Budgeting Overview (handout 4) and evaluation form