What is gender-responsive budgeting? | UN Women – Headquarters

Morocco

In 2013, Morocco’s finance ministry and UN Women launched the Center of Excellence for Gender-Responsive Budgeting. The yearly Gender Budget Report is a groundbreaking tool that provides lawmakers with insights into how public policies are working toward gender equality on a local and national level and informs voting on finance bills. 

Austria

Austria is a global pioneer in gender-responsive budgeting and one of the few countries that has enshrined gender equality in the constitution and made gender equality one of nine elements against which budget proposals are assessed. Key policies include embedding gender equality in educational curricula, prioritizing the prevention of violence against women through the creation of helplines and shelters, promoting women in leadership, and boosting the participation of women in politics. Performance targets on gender equality in budgets are also assessed and results are reported to parliament and published online.

Colombia

The country’s National Development Plan fully integrates gender equality, and includes a gender budget tracer, mandated by law, to track how the budget is allocated and spent. This information is presented every year to parliament. To illustrate how this works in practice, the latest budget tracer data identified inadequate budget allocations for sexual and reproductive health. Nonstate actors used this information to advocate for more resources, which resulted in government budget increases.

Rwanda

The national gender strategy includes actions to address early childhood education, gender-based violence, land management, and education. The government routinely assesses the adequacy of budgets to identify resource gaps for implementing gender-responsive policies. Annual gender budget statements present gender objectives, budget allocations, and actual budget execution. This type of report enables the government (and nonstate actors) to follow the money and assess if budgets are delivering on policy commitments.