Gender Responsive Budgeting: Based on Unifem’s Work

1. Gender Responsive Budgeting: Based on Unifem’s Work Bridging the Gender Gap for Development Effectiveness in the Energy Sector Energia International Network Govind Kelkar UN Women, New Delhi

2. Gender Responsive Budgeting • Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is a tool to increase resource allocation, accountability and gender-responsiveness in economic governance. • Purpose is to transform budget policies and processes to reflect gender equality and achieve concrete changes and resource allocation. • During 2001-2004 (Phase I), there was development of tools for gender budget analysis and their adaptation in different country contexts, led by government actors and civil society at national and local levels.

3. GRB Outcomes, Phase II (2005-2009) An evaluation of four countries (Ecuador, Morocco, Mozambique and Senegal) point out: • Main purpose to transform budget policies and processes to reflect efforts at gender equality and achieve concrete changes in resources allocations. Key outcomes were: • National budgeting processes and policies reflect gender equality principles. • Priorities of poor women reflected in budget allocations for national poverty reduction programmes. • Knowledge and sharing of GRB and replication of good practices.

4. GRB Attention & Capacity Development • To Finance, sector and planning ministries, NWMs and CSOs in ensuring accountability for achieving gender equality. • GRB programme developed on the basis of the theory of change: GRB awareness raising and gender sensitization of stakeholders in Phase I. • In Phase II informed advocacy with national and local planning and budget systems. • The primary activities were capacity development with key partners in selected ministries, parliamentarians, CSOs and UN agencies.

5. A General Theory of Change • Theory of change was predicated on the view that while a general awareness of GRB has been developed with lessons from the experiences of other countries, GRB work was not yet aligned to the national budget cycle and mainstream budget processes. • Therefore, the objective was to transform the execution of the budget to reflect gender responsiveness and gender equality principles and thereby achieve concrete changes in resource allocations.

6. GRB Programme Results 1. Relevance: Policy Context • GRB work in relation to broader national policy planning, budgeting and in monitoring framework. • Identification of income poor women’s priorities. • A key source of analysis of women’s priorities were programme’s used by government agencies, PRSPs and civil society channels. 2. Effectiveness • Effectiveness is reviewed in terms of the results achieved in relation to outputs and outcomes outlined earlier. • Gender advocates in government were essential for achieving results. • Women’s network were increasingly engaged with national policy governance structures.

7. Knowledge & Sharing on GRB • Regional and subregional information hubs and networks created and/ or strengthened. • Cross-regional and subregional networks of individuals in economic policy-making institutions using GRB created and/ or strengthened. • Documentation of lessons learned and case studies in selected areas and countries.

8. Capacity Development for Sustainability • Future sustainability in relation to how capacity development has been addressed. • Institutional development (e.g. SHGs) shows early signs of sustainability. Attention, however, is needed for capacity development of rural women and CSOs engaged with MKSP programme. • Sustainability of a programme is closely linked to capacity development of actors engaged in implementation.

9. Key Findings from an Evaluation • Theory of change informed the capacity development approach. • Limitations to the effectiveness of sector pilots included lack of analysis of selected sectors readiness and progress in relation to public finance management reform. • The lack of strategic approach to engage CSOs in developing advocacy priorities. • The failure to monitor progress against objectives, the lack of monitoring of advocacy approach limited the programme’s ability to demonstrate success.

10. Key Findings from an Evaluation • Overall, Unifem successfully shifted its engagement to ministries of planning and finance, however, there was uneven engagement with them. • Partnership with NWMs became less central to the GRB programme in Phase II than in Phase I. • Little engagement and partnership with CSOs and other key actors like Parliamentarians. • Key partnerships with donor agencies but not properly explored. • Lack of M&E mechanisms was stated as a consistent constraint, though there was a mid-term review mechanism but it did not lead to conceret changes in the focus of programme activities.

11. Lessons Learnt Theory of change for Phase II included: • Support to increase capacity so that key individuals had skills and knowledge to undertake activities and promote political demand for GRB and gender equality. • Work to change to institutional norms and incentives in ministries of finance, planning and other line ministries to enable GRB. • Engagement with political decision-makers in advocating for change. • Requires high-level support to staff. • Skills needed in identifying changing institutional entry points.