Gender budgeting: Gender-equitable budgeting

Gender budgeting refers to a process by which the budget planning of a municipality, a federal state, the federal government, individual ministries or individual programs is evaluated from a gender perspective. The gender perspective is to be included at all levels of the process, and revenue and expenditure policies are to be geared towards promoting gender equality (based on the Council of Europe's definition). Gender budgeting is an instrument of gender mainstreaming.

 

Thus far, 'gender' has generally been equated with 'women and men'. An extension to LGBTIQ* (1) is urgently needed.

 

In 2016, a status analysis of the German Bundestag on the implementation of gender budgeting came to the conclusion that gender budgeting has not yet been directly reflected in federal budget law. Some federal states, such as Berlin and Bremen, partially adopt gender-efficacy financial flows. In contrast, this is widespread in municipal budgets. Legal obligations to implement it in the federal budget, on the other hand, do not exist in principle (p. 12).

 

(1) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, inter* and queer people.

Guides

  • Gender Budgeting: Step-by-step toolkit. Guidance for mainstreaming gender into the EU Funds (2020)
    European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
    Access the guide online
  • Guidance Gender Budgeting in Public Administration (2012)
    Austrian Federal Chancellery – Federal Minister for Women and Civil Service
    Download guide
  • Engendering Budgets: A Practitioner's Guide to Understanding and Implementing Gender-Responsive Budgets (2003)
    The Commonwealth Secretariat
    Download guide

 

Training Guides

  • A Guide to Gender-Responsive Budgeting: What is gender-responsive budgeting? (2018)
    Oxfam International
    Download guide and presentation
  • Manual for Training on Gender Responsive Budgeting (2006)
    Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
    Download manual

 

  • Gender Budgeting in OECD Countries
    Gender gaps persist in education, employment, entrepreneurship and public life opportunities and outcomes. Gender budgeting involves using the tools, techniques and procedures of the budget cycle in a systematic way to promote equality. Responses to the 2016 OECD Survey of Gender Budgeting Practices show that almost half of OECD countries have introduced, plan to introduce or are actively considering the introduction of gender budgeting. The OECD analysis demonstrates that a wide variety of gender budgeting approaches are practised. Only half of OECD countries can currently point to specific examples of impact, however a wider range of impacts may become more evident in the future since the introduction of gender budgeting is relatively recent in many countries. Useful areas for further study and policy action include: the routine availability of gender-disaggregated data; embedding of genderspecific approaches within the normal annual routines of budgeting; and complementing executive-led approaches with external quality assurance.
    Gender budgeting in OECD countries
  • The European Court of Auditors recently (2021) published the Special Report "Gender mainstreaming in the EU budget: time to turn words into action". It examines whether gender mainstreaming has been applied in the EU budget and whether gender equality has been included in five selected EU funding programs.
    Download
  • Using Fiscal Policy and Public Financial Management to Promote Gender Equality. International Perspectives. Von Janet G. Stotsky