The focus of this publication is to act as a guide to the practice of gender budgeting. It is not a first-step book. There are many publications which articulate the rationale for, the background to and the history of gender budgeting and a sample of these are listed toward the end of the handbook under Resources, page 71.

This handbook assumes an understanding of gender, of the objectives of a gender equality strategy, of the ways in which gender inequality is manifest, of the need for structural change in order to tackle unintentional gender bias, of the basics of gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender equality. Gender budgeting, as a tool of gender mainstreaming, cannot be implemented without a grasp of these fundamentals. It is the case that some gender budget pilot initiatives have brought about a new or deeper understanding of gender for those involved. Nevertheless, adopting a gender budgeting strategy requires prior experience in addressing gender equality. Gender budgeting is not, per se, a first-step tool.

The following chapter, How to do gender budgeting, page 10, starts by discussing the type of experience and conditions that need to be in place in order to engage with gender budgeting. These are part of “How to do Gender Budgeting”. The temptation in using this handbook might be to skip these sub-sections and move ahead to the text dealing with specific tools and approaches. There is a considerable demand for specific tools, for the ABC, for the clearly laid-out steps. However, the fundamentals cannot be bypassed or shortcircuited. This is particularly the case if the practice of gender budgeting is to move beyond an analytic exercise to a mainstreaming strategy. The experience of many practitioners is that, since the tools need to be adapted, it is more important to focus on developing an approach based on local circumstances. The actual tools of analysis, of re-formulation and of mainstreaming will emerge when the goal has been identified.

What is gender budgeting?

• It is a way of linking gender equality policy with macroeconomic policy.
• It is based on the premise that budgets are not gender neutral.
• It applies to the revenue raising side as well as the expenditure side of budgets.
• It begins with analysis of the impact of the budget on women and men, and progresses to integrate gender into budget-planning.
• It is a way of expediting gender mainstreaming.
• It does not mean a separate budget for women.
• It means people-centred budgeting.
• It means closer scrutiny of the outcomes of budgets.
• It allows for better targeting and, therefore, more efficient allocation of public expenditure.
• It calls for the participation of a broader range of stakeholders and thereby deepens democratic processes.
• It can be applied to specific budget lines, or budgetary programmes.
• Its ultimate goal is that a gender-sensitive approach is applied to all aspects of all budgetary processes, that gender is mainstreamed.