Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women

EGM/FFGE/2007/REPORT Financing for gender equality and

the empowerment of women

Report of the Expert Group Meeting*

Organized by

The Division for the Advancement of Women

Hosted by the Government of Norway

Oslo, Norway

4-7 September 2007

Division for the Advancement of Women

Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Two UN Plaza – DC2-12th Floor, New York, NY 10017

Fax: (212) 963-3463 Email: daw@https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,

*The views expressed in this document are those of the experts and

do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

I. Introduction (3)

II. Organization of work (3)

A.Participation (3)

B. Documentation (3)

C.Programme of work (4)

D. Election of officers (4)

E. Opening statements (4)

III. Background (5)

IV. Theme 1: Macroeconomic policies and follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus.11 V. Theme 2: Public finance and gender-responsive budgeting (15)

VI. Theme 3: Bilateral and multilateral aid (23)

VII. Theme 4: Funding the women’s movement (31)

Annexes

Annex I. List of proposed indicators (36)

Annex II. List of participants (38)

Annex III. List of documents (42)

Annex IV. Programme of work (45)

I. Introduction

1.In accordance with its multi-year programme of work for 2007-2009, the Commission on the Status of Women will consider “Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women” as its priority theme during its fifty-second session, from 25 February to 7 March 2008. In order to contribute to a deeper understanding of the issue and to assist the Commission in its deliberations, the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on the topic. The EGM was hosted by the Government of Norway at Lysebu, Oslo, from 4 to 7 September 2007.

2.The Expert Group Meeting explored the mechanisms of financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women, in particular in relation to follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus on financing for development, including macroeconomic policies; public finance, including gender-responsive budgeting; mobilization of international resources, including bilateral and multilateral assistance; and new and innovative sources of funding. The potentials and challenges of the different modalities and mechanisms, as well as the role of key actors involved, were discussed.

3.This report is the outcome of the meeting. It will provide inputs for the report of the Secretary-General to the Commission on the Status of Women. The report will be widely disseminated at the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), including through presentation during a panel discussion.

work

of

II. Organization

A. Participation

4.The Expert Group Meeting on Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women was attended by 14 experts from different regions of the world (11 individual experts and 3 institutional experts)1, 19observers (6 representatives of the United Nations, 1 representative of an intergovernmental organization, 2 government representatives, 3 representatives of non-governmental organizations, and 7 observers nominated by the Government of Norway), and one consultant. Three representatives from the host country and four staff members of the Division for the Advancement of Women also attended the meeting. (see Annex II).

B. Documentation

5.The documentation of the meeting consisted of:

- A background paper prepared by a consultant on behalf of the Division for the Advancement of Women;

-Fifteen papers prepared by experts;

-Four papers prepared by observers.

1 Two experts submitted their papers, but were unable to attend the meeting.

6.This report and all documentation relating to the meeting (see Annex III) are available online at the website of the Division for the Advancement of Women:

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/womenwatch/daw/egm/financing_gender_equality/egm_financing_gender_equali ty.htm

C. Programme of work

7.At its opening session on 4 September 2007, the meeting adopted the following programme of work (see Annex IV):

- Opening of the meeting;

- Election of officers and adoption of the programme of work;

- Presentation and discussion of the background paper prepared by the Division for the Advancement of Women;

- Presentation of papers prepared by experts;

- Working groups on issues and recommendations;

- Introduction of the draft report;

- Adoption of the draft final report;

- Closing

session

officers

D. Election

of

8.The experts elected the following officers:

Chairperson: Ms. Lydia Alpízar Durán

Co-chairperson: Ms. Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

Rapporteurs: Ms. Katrin Schneider and Mr. Edward Mhina

statements

E. Opening

9.Ambassador Guro K.H. Vik?r of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed all participants to Norway and to the Expert Group Meeting. Ms. Carolyn Hannan, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, expressed appreciation to the Government of Norway for hosting the Expert Group Meeting and thanked Ambassador Guro K.H. Vik?r of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for her personal support. 10.Ms. Hannan gave an overview of the international commitments on financing for gender equality and empowerment of women. She noted that the Beijing Platform for Action called for funding to be identified and mobilized from all sources and across all sectors.

11.She noted that gender perspectives had been incorporated into the international agreements on financing for development adopted at the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey in 2002. Gender equality and the empowerment of women have received, however, limited attention in the follow-up processes to Monterrey. While the gap between policy commitments at international and national level and action on the ground is now well recognized, there has been limited assessment of the extent to which gaps in resource allocations in support of these commitments have contributed to the implementation gap. Ms. Hannan noted that some

research pointed to serious failings and challenges in this area, indicating the resources remained insufficient to adequately support policies and programmes that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. While the costs of addressing gender inequality are significant, the means to meet these costs are available. Research has shown, for example, that investing in women is affordable within existing commitments on ODA; however, gender equality should be funded, at least in part, through the mobilization of domestic resources to promote ownership and sustainability.

12.Despite the mounting body of evidence demonstrating that promotion of gender equality is “smart economics”, public sector expenditures have not systematically addressed gender equality concerns. Efforts have been made in many countries to integrate gender perspectives into national budgets in order to better align policy commitments on gender equality with resource allocations. Little is known, however, of the practical impact of many of these efforts.

13.Ms. Hannan emphasized that particular attention should be given to the resource needs of national machineries for the advancement of women. Around the world, many such machineries are limited in their effectiveness because they are marginalized in national government structures and hampered by a lack of human and financial resources and insufficient political support. It is essential that these mechanisms receive the financial and human resources necessary to carry out their mandates in support of the implementation of policies and programmes that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.

14.Ms. Hannan called on the experts to consider how to systematically assess resource allocations for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, and where these fall short, how to increase resources. She encouraged the experts to consider possible recommendations on indicators on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

III. Background

15.The last decades have witnessed important progress in the development of global commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Commitments on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women have been made by Governments at the international level, including at the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000), and the Millennium Summit (2000).

16.In its discussion of the resources required for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, the Beijing Platform for Action emphasized that funding had to be identified and mobilized from all sources and across all sectors.2 As Governments have the primary responsibility for implementing the strategic objectives of the Platform for Action, they were called upon to make efforts to systematically review how women benefit from public sector expenditures, adjust budgets to ensure equality of access to public sector expenditures, and achieve the gender-related commitments made in other United Nations summits and conferences.3

2Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II, paragraph 345.

3 Ibid., paragraph 346.

17.At the national level, the Beijing Platform for Action called for sufficient resources to be allocated to national machineries for the advancement of women as well as to all institutions, as appropriate, that can contribute to the implementation and monitoring of the Platform for Action.4 Governments were also called upon to create a supportive environment for the mobilization of resources by non-governmental organizations, particularly women's organizations and networks, feminist groups, the private sector and other actors of civil society, to enable them to contribute towards this end.5

18.At the international level, the Beijing Platform for Action called for adequate financial resources to be committed for its implementation in developing countries, particularly in Africa and least developed countries. It also called on countries involved in development cooperation to conduct a critical analysis of their assistance programmes so as to improve the quality and effectiveness of aid through the integration of a gender approach.6

19.At its twenty-third special session, the General Assembly stressed the need for continued international cooperation to increase the flow of resources for the Beijing Platform for Action’s goals of gender equality, development and peace, in particular through reaffirmation and fulfilment of the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance, and support for the Cologne initiative for the reduction of debt and the 20/20 initiative.7

20.The General Assembly also called upon Governments to incorporate a gender perspective into the design, development, adoption and execution of all budgetary processes, as appropriate, in order to promote equitable, effective and appropriate resource allocation and establish adequate budgetary allocations to support gender equality and development programmes that enhance women’s empowerment and develop the necessary analytical and methodological tools and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation.8 Governments were also called upon to provide national machineries for the advancement of women with the necessary human and financial resources, including through exploring innovative funding schemes, so that gender mainstreaming is integrated into all policies, programmes and projects.9

21.In 2000, the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 were established. Quantifiable and time-bound targets have been developed to measure the progress of each country in reaching the MDGs. MDG3 is focused on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

22.At its fiftieth session in 200610, CSW encouraged the international community, the United Nations system, the relevant regional and international organizations and the private sector and civil society to provide the necessary financial resources to assist national Governments in their efforts to

4 Ibid., paragraph 347.

5 Ibid., paragraph 350.

6 Ibid., paragraph 353.

7 General Assembly resolution S-23/3, annex, paragraph 101(j)(l).

8 Ibid., paragraph 73(b).

9 Ibid., paragraph 76(c).

10 CSW Agreed Conclusions on “Enhanced participation of women in development: an enabling environment for achieving gender equality and the advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields of education, health and work” 2006/1.

meet the development targets and benchmarks agreed upon at the major United Nations summits and conferences and their follow-up processes. The Commission also called for mobilization of adequate funding for gender-sensitive development policies and programmes and for national mechanisms for gender equality, through national, regional and international resource mobilization and gender-responsive budget processes in all sector areas, and allocate adequate funding for women-specific measures.

23.The 2006 ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration affirmed the importance of decent work as a key development goal, and in that context reaffirmed the determination of United Nations Member States to promote gender equality, to provide adequate resources and adopt gender-responsive budget initiatives as well as accountability and monitoring mechanisms.11

24.Gender perspectives were incorporated into the Monterrey Consensus12, which highlighted the importance of a holistic approach to financing for development, including gender-sensitive development, and encouraged the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into development policies at all levels and in all sectors. It stressed the critical need for reinforcing national efforts in building capacity for gender budget policies.

25.The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW 1979), commonly referred to as an international bill of rights for women, defines what constitutes discrimination against women. By adhering to this Convention, States parties commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms. Currently over 95 percent of the United Nations member states, some 185 countries, are parties to the Convention.13 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women addressed the issue of financing in its general recommendations on “Effective national machinery and publicity” (No. 6), “Women and health” (No. 24) and “Political and public life” (No. 23) and recommended that the State parties provide adequate resources to the health sector and to national machineries for the advancement of women, and encourage political parties to provide financial resources to overcome obstacles to women's full participation and representation.

26.In a number of recommendations in its concluding comments, the Committee called on State parties to allocate necessary resources to undertake appropriate measures to improve women’s health, to increase educational opportunities for girls, to combat all forms of violence against women and to improve the situation of rural women. The Committee called on some State parties to monitor the effects of macroeconomic policies, including trade agreements, on women, to ensure that all national development policies, plans and programmes explicitly promote women’s equality and empowerment, and to seek innovative sources of funding and assistance for the promotion of gender equality, including in partnerships with the private sector. The Committee also encouraged State parties to provide the national machineries for the advancement of women with adequate financial resources to enable them to work effectively for the promotion of gender equality and enjoyment of women’s rights.

11 E/2006/L.8, paragraphs 7 and 9.

12Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.II.A.7), chapter 1, resolution 1, annex).

13 See https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/states.htm.

27.The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was endorsed by more than 100 countries and donor organisations in March 2005, to reform the ways in which aid is delivered and managed.14 The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness acknowledged that harmonization efforts are needed on cross-cutting issues, such as gender equality and other thematic issues including those financed by dedicated funds.15 And most recently, the Workshop on Development effectiveness in practice16, held in Dublin in April 2007, emphasized that gender equality, human rights and environmental sustainability are fundamental cornerstones for the achievement of good development results and must be harnessed to advance the implementation of the Paris Declaration.

28.Regional commitments reinforcing and applying existing international commitments can be found, for example, in the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa of the Heads of State and Government of Member States of the African Union (2004)17 and the Conclusions of the European Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the European Council (DEVGEN 91 - SOC 205): Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Development Cooperation Europe (2007).18

29.The upcoming “Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus”, to be held in Qatar in 2008, provides a strategic opportunity for the international community to advance concrete action-oriented gender-sensitive policy recommendations and coherence between macroeconomic policies and internationally agreed development goals on gender equality. The “Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness”, which will be held in Accra, Ghana in 2008 to assess the progress in the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, provides another opportunity to advance gender-sensitive policy recommendations.

Many more resources are needed to improve women’s lives and eliminate gender gaps

30.Despite the commitments of governments to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the progress in some areas such as education, the situation of women in many countries remains bleak.

Violence against women is a major cause of death and disability for women of reproductive age, ranking alongside cancer, and a greater cause of ill-health than traffic accidents and malaria combined.19 It is estimated that worldwide, one in five women becomes a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.20

14 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness: Ownership, Harmonization, Alignment, Results and Mutual Accountability, High-level Forum, Paris, 28 February – 2 March 2005, paragraph 1.

15 Ibid., paragraph 42.

16 The Workshop on “Development effectiveness in practice” was organized by the OECD-DAC Networks on Environment and Development, Governance and Gender Equality and the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, with the support of the Irish and Danish Governments, in Dublin, Ireland, 26-27 April 2007.

17 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, Assembly/AU/Decl.12(III) Rev.1, adopted during the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, Third Ordinary Session, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6-8 July 2004.

18 Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, (DEVGEN 91 - SOC 205), No. 9561/07, Brussels, 15 May 2007.

19 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 2002, Recommendation 1582 (2002) on Domestic Violence against Women.

20 García-Moreno et al. (2005). WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women. Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses, Geneva: WHO. 74.

Young women are 1.6 times more likely to be living with HIV than young men. Young women make up over 60 per cent of 15-24 year olds living with HIV.21

Today 980 million people live on less than one dollar a day, and a majority of the world's absolute poor are female.22 Worldwide, women on average earn slightly more than 50 per cent of what men earn.23

Every minute, a woman dies in childbirth. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications.24 According to the World Health Organization, the estimated number of maternal deaths in 2000 for the world was 529,000. In terms of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR), the world figure is estimated to be 400 per 100,000 live births. By region, the MMR was highest in Africa (830), followed by Asia (330), Oceania (240), Latin America and the Caribbean (190), and the developed countries (20).25

31.Research indicates only limited progress in allocating and channelling resources to translate the commitments to women’s empowerment and gender equality into actions. While the twin-track approach to achieving gender equality through: (i) gender mainstreaming; and (ii) targeted elimination of gender based discrimination and women’s empowerment, was adopted in the Platform for Action, a disproportionate emphasis on gender mainstreaming in some contexts is considered by some to have resulted in a substantial reduction in resource allocations to women’s empowerment and the elimination of gender-based discrimination. Exceptions are found in individual sectors such as education.

32.The narrow focus on the education target to measure progress in MDG3 has been strongly criticized by many women’s activists as a step back from the commitments made in the Beijing Platform for Action. In its review report, the Millennium Development Taskforce on Education and Gender Equality therefore recommended a broadening of focus and proposed some additional indicators that cover areas such as violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, and access to infrastructure, property rights and employment.26

33.It has been estimated that the financing gap for implementing MDG3 specific goals and gender mainstreaming activities in low-income countries ranges from $8.6 billion (2006) to $23.8 billion (2015).27 To realize MDG3 by 2015 would require external resources dedicated to financing gender equality-promoting interventions, in the range of $25-28 billion annually in the low-income countries. What these figures indicate is that achieving gender equality objectives requires a reallocation of existing resources and a huge injection of additional and predictable resources.

21 United Nations. In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary General, 2006. A/61/122/Add.1. 6 July 2006.

22The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007, (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.07.I.15), p.6.

23 https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/intercenter/beijing/poverty.htm

24 https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/mothers/

25 Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates developed by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva 2004.

26 Caren Grown, Geeta Rao Gupta, Aslihan Kes (2005). Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, UN Millennium Project, Task Force on Education and Gender Equality.

27 Caren Grown, Chandrika Bahadur, Jessie Handbury and Diane Elson (2006). The Financial requirements of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, Paper prepared for the World Bank, August.

34. A review undertaken in 2005 of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action28 illustrated that budgetary allocations to national machineries for the advancement of women were insufficient or had decreased. In many countries, resources fell short in specific sectors, such as education, rural development, health, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and violence against women. Funding gaps reportedly resulted from political and macroeconomic changes. Even where funding had increased, shortfalls were experienced because of increased needs, as in the case of reproductive health programmes. Funding modalities were sometimes a cause for concern: reliance on short-term project funding could be an obstacle to sustainability of gender equality policies.

35.Gender equality and the empowerment of women have received limited attention in the Monterey Consensus follow-up processes. During the 2005 High-level Dialogue, it was emphasized that domestic resource mobilization policies should incorporate the international commitment to gender equality, and participants recommended the use of gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that the relevant commitments are resourced.29 Likewise, t he annual Special High-level Meetings of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization have paid limited attention to gender perspectives. In 2003, participants emphasized that the cross-cutting nature of gender equality and women’s empowerment should be recognized as critical to the achievement of all development goals and that gender perspectives should be incorporated into trade policies.30 In 2004, the important contribution of women in support of, and as part of, private sector development was highlighted.31 In 2007, participants emphasized the importance of addressing the gender dimension in development finance; in particular, the effective participation of women in the implementation of aid programmes and the adoption of gender-sensitive budgeting.32

Global trends

36. A number of global factors have had an impact on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women, among them: trade liberalization, increasing migration, the international security agenda, rising religious fundamentalism, international private capital flows, foreign direct investment (FDI), speculative capital flows, economic growth patterns that increase inequalities between countries and in countries, the feminization of poverty, and the privatization of public services and enterprises.

37.The dominant approach to economic and social management is often preoccupied with matters that work against the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. For example, the payment of external debt/debt services by low-income countries has been prioritized over the provision of essential services such as health care and access to safe water. There has also been a push towards the privatization of services delivery to for profit companies, to the detriment of universal access to basic social services and social protection. Trade liberalization has also been vigorously pursued, without sufficient attention to the fact that such liberalization can have a negative impact on government budgets, particularly those with high dependence on trade taxes, as well as on food security in some countries because local producers may forced out of business.

28 E/CN.6/2005/2, paragraph 75.

29 A/60/219

30 A/58/77-E/2003/62

31 A/59/92–E/2004/73

32 A/62/76–E/2007/55

38.The pursuit of fiscal austerity requirements in programmes of international financial institutions (IMF and World Bank), as well as the focus on low inflation, have had detrimental consequences on the capacity of poor countries to finance public services. While low inflation targets protect and enhance the profits of foreign investors and the rich, they result in a cap or ceiling on public expenditures, with implications for social sector spending on health and education.

39.The following sections of this report will explore in detail the implications of national and global trends on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. Issues are divided into four themes: macroeconomic policies and follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus; public finance and gender-responsive budgeting; bilateral and multilateral aid; and funding the women’s movement.

A proposed list of indicators to gauge progress in these areas is provided in Annex I.

IV. Theme 1: Macroeconomic policies and follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus

40.The Monterrey Consensus represents an important recognition that financing for development has implications not just for financial markets but for all people in a society.33 The process draws attention to the value of bringing more representatives from a broad spectrum of interests into discussions about financing for development. The Monterrey Consensus encompasses the wider aspects of development such as democratic institutions responsive to the needs of all people, respect for human rights, and a commitment to just and democratic societies (para.11). Such a framework offers the potential for integrating initiatives for financing for gender equality as part of these broader processes of sustainable development.

41.Nevertheless, one of the key shortfalls of the Monterrey Consensus in terms of financing for gender equality concerns the lack of coherence between economic policies that emphasize low inflation and mobility of capital on the one hand, and the social commitments to poverty reduction, human rights and gender equality on the other. The latter commitments often require public spending to support social provisioning and to stabilize the social imbalances that result from deflationary policies.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Monterrey Consensus

42.Several references are made to women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Consensus, including the need for a holistic and interconnected approach to financing for development that is gender-sensitive (para. 8); good governance, sound economic policies and the importance of gender equality for realizing such goals (para. 11); empowering women in the context of appropriate national policy and regulatory frameworks (para. 12); investments in basic social and economic infrastructure that is gender-sensitive (para. 16); microfinance, particularly for women (para. 18); capacity building that includes gender budget policies (para. 19); business frameworks that are sensitive to the gender implications of their undertakings (para. 23); and calls for governments to “Mainstream the gender perspective into development policies at all levels and in all sectors” (para. 64).

43.The importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment to development is thus recognized in the Consensus. However, attention to gender equality and women were not directly 33 Joseph Stiglitz, “Finance for Development,” in Melvin Ayoen and Don Ross (eds.) Development Dilemmas: The Methods and Political Ethics of Growth Policy, (Routledge 2005).

integrated throughout the key areas for action – mobilization of domestic resources for development; trade; private capital flows; official development assistance; debt and systemic issues related to the international financial system. There is a call for gender-sensitivity in applying policies and programmes without a clear time frame or a set of institutional arrangements for implementing gender mainstreaming objectives in the context of other development goals. Furthermore, the distributive and social consequence of market liberalization and other economic policies referred to in the Consensus are not considered from a gender equality perspective.34

44.Macroeconomic policies have important implications for financing for gender equality. For example, the removal of tariffs and other trade barriers has an impact on prices of goods and services consumed by households. Decreases in government revenues can lead to cuts in social spending, with direct impact on household budgets, and a disproportionate impact on women.

45.There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that gender inequality is bad economics. According to the 2007 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, for example, gender inequality costs the region $80 billion a year. The region loses up to $47 billion a year because of restrictions on women’s access to employment, and up to $30 billion because of gender gaps in education.35 Gender inequality also limits pro-poor growth, as pointed out in a recent edition of Poverty in Focus, which highlights that addressing gender inequality in education and employment, women’s unequal access to productive assets and increased time burdens due to women’s unpaid work, can help to accelerate both overall economic growth and pro-poor growth.36

46.There is emerging evidence that macroeconomic policies based on high levels of both tax revenue and public expenditure are more conducive to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Restrictive macroeconomic policy rules such as balanced budget amendments leave less room for manoeuvre for governments to pursue a wide range of policies, including counter-cyclical policies that may alleviate some of the harsh social effects of economic downturns.37 A more balanced approach that is context-specific, rather than ‘one size fits all’, and that aims to bring together economic and social stability, would free up resources for financing gender equality objectives.

A note on microfinance

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,ernments and other stakeholders, including donors, have specified that working with women to deliver financial services and credit through microfinance schemes offers immediate resources for meeting women’s livelihood needs. After three decades of experience with microfinance, however, a number of critical questions have been raised around the potential for empowerment of women and sustained poverty alleviation. A number of specific challenges have been identified:

34 For a detailed discussion, see Maria Floro, Nilufer Cagatay, John Willoughby, and Korkut Erturk, (2004). Gender Issues and Concerns in Financing for Development Santo Domingo: INSTRAW Papers. https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/en/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=0

35 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific: Surging ahead in uncertain times, New York, NY (Sales No.

E.07.II.

F.4), p. 103.

36 Stephen Klasen (2007). Pro-poor growth and gender inequality: Insights from new research, published in Poverty in focus: analysing and achieving pro-poor growth, Pro-poor growth: summaries of recent research, UNDP International Poverty Centre (2007).

37 Diane Elson (2006). Budgeting for Women’s Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW, UNIFEM, New York, pp.149-151.

There is a need to provide greater access to the vast majority of women not yet being reached;

Microfinance increases women’s indebtedness by targeting women who already have few assets and may contribute to making their overall net-worth negative; and

Microfinance puts the debt and poverty burden almost exclusively on women as women are recognized as reliable credit takers.

48.Microfinance is not a panacea for realizing the full range of women’s entitlements and rights. Broader macroeconomic measures addressed at creating more pro-poor economic conditions need to work in tandem with a critical assessment of the access, delivery and evaluation of microfinance systems.38

Gender equality in the intergovernmental follow-up processes to the International Conference on Financing for Development

49.Gender equality and the empowerment of women have received limited attention in the follow-up processes to Monterrey to date. In the General Assembly only one of the eight ministerial roundtables during the first High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development in 2003 addressed gender equality and made specific proposals, such as integrating women’s issues and rights into the other MDGs. During the 2005 High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, participants emphasized that domestic resource mobilization policies should incorporate the international commitment to gender equality and recommended using gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that the relevant commitments are resourced, to upgrade the employment of women in the value chain, and to increase women’s access to assets and property rights.39

50.Similarly, the annual Special High-level Meetings of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have paid limited attention to gender perspectives. In 2003, participants emphasized that the cross-cutting nature of gender equality and women’s empowerment should be recognized as critical to the achievement of all development goals and that gender perspectives should be incorporated into trade policies. In 2004, the important contribution of women in support of, and as part of, private sector development was highlighted. In 2007, participants emphasized the importance of addressing the gender dimension in development finance; in particular, the effective participation of women in the implementation of aid programmes and the adoption of gender-sensitive budgeting.

51.The informal hearings of civil society conducted in preparation for the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development in 2003 and 2005 underscored the need for the Bretton Woods institutions and WTO to incorporate gender equality concerns in their policies40 and the need to undertake analysis of the impact of agreements on women, and emphasized the urgent need to 38 Ramesh Arunachalam (2007). “Microfinance and Innovative Financing for Gender Equality: Approaches, Challenges and Strategies,” (Commonwealth Secretariat 2007), Background Paper WAMM (07)11.

39 A/60/219

40 A/58/555/Add.1

address the situation of women and proposed indicators, including those on the empowerment of women, for monitoring progress and their impact.41

RECOMMENDATIONS

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,ernments should incorporate social development and gender perspectives into the WTO

Trade Policy Review Mechanism. The WTO review process of national trade policies should include monitoring for social impacts, which incorporate gender equality objectives, within trade commitments.

b.The WTO should systematically undertake analysis of trade agreements, instituting indicators

and time bound targets for monitoring progress and the impact on empowerment of women in

a diversity of countries.

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,ernments should ensure that all trade negotiators have regular training in the gender

perspectives on trade.

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,ernments should integrate a gender perspective into all follow-up intergovernmental and

multilateral processes relating to financing for development, with particular attention to establishing coherence between economic and social policies, including gender equality policies. This would include gender sensitive impact assessments of trade liberalization, employment and fiscal policy.

e.Decision makers should adopt a gender perspective in implementing the development goals

of full and productive employment, using the ILO’s decent work policy interventions on employment planning, social protection, fundamental principles and rights at work, access to credit for entrepreneurial activities, market support, skills training, and the full participation of women in social dialogue in labour market planning.

f.Given the importance of financing to meet internationally agreed development goals

including gender equality and the empowerment of women, United Nations Member States should engage proactively with gender equality stakeholders, including national mechanisms for the advancement of women, social and labour ministries, women’s organizations, and trade unions in the preparatory processes leading up to the 2008 Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus in Doha. These include: the General Assembly High-Level Dialogue (New York, October 2007), the 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (New York, March 2008), the Spring Meeting of ECOSOC with the BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD (New York, April 2008), UNCTAD XII, (Ghana, April 2008), and the ECOSOC Development Forum (New York, July 2008).

g.It is further recommended that United Nations Member States participate at the highest

possible level in the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and that the conference be preceded by a Preparatory Committee (PrepComs). This modality offers the best opportunity to engage 41 A/59/855

Member States with all relevant stakeholders, including gender equality actors and women’s organizations, in a thorough evaluation of progress in meeting the Monterrey Commitments.

h.The theme of ‘Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women’ should be a

central one in the preparatory meetings for and during the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

i.The outcome of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to

Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus should be a negotiated Declaration with new commitments to mobilize resources for the attainment of internationally agreed development goals, including gender equality and the empowerment of women.

V. Theme 2: Public finance and gender-responsive budgeting

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,ernment budgets are the largest single source of financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment for most countries. It is through national and sub-national budgets that government promises are translated into practical policies and programmes. Empirical findings show that expenditure patterns and the way governments raise revenue have different impacts on women and girls as compared to men and boys, often to the detriment of the former. This is due to the socially determined roles that women and men play in society, the gendered division of labour, different responsibilities and capabilities, and the different constraints that women and men face, all of which often leaves women in an unequal position in relation to the men in their community, with less economic, social and political power.

53.Differential gender impacts of public finance systems can emerge in a variety of ways, in relation to how these systems seek to fulfil their functions of:

The provision of public goods and services: Allocations to certain functions, policies and programmes will benefit women more than men, and vice versa.

The distribution of income and wealth: Inequalities exist between women and men, as well as between and within households or other groups.

The stabilization of the economy: The level of employment, stability in prices, economic growth, environmental sustainability and external balance requires economic, political judgments in determining which objectives have priority at any one time, and the assumptions and theories that underpin macroeconomic policy shape the capacities of public finance systems to promote both gender equality and economic growth.

Financial control and accountability: The frameworks and mechanisms adopted and the relative scope for effective participation of men and women have gender impacts.

54.Despite the evidence of the importance of gender equality for economic progress, and the many calls for gender mainstreaming in economics and in budget processes, public sector expenditure has not systematically addressed gender equality concerns. Efforts have been made in many countries to integrate gender perspectives into national budgets in order to better align policy commitments on gender equality with resource allocations, in recognition of the direct and

reinforcing links between the budget and social policy. Restrictive fiscal policy measures, such as the imposition of value added taxes or a rise in sales taxes on consumer items, can have a pronouncedly negative effect on social equity because these instruments impact directly on household budgets. World Bank research confirms that indirect taxes increase poverty since they take the biggest chunk out of the budgets of the poor. In addition, higher taxes on consumption goods increase the relative prices of these goods in the context of static or falling incomes. What is usually less acknowledged is that women in households will seek to produce these goods themselves in order to protect their family’s consumption patterns.42

55.Gender-responsive budgeting has been identified as a public finance strategy in a range of international commitments on gender equality and financing for development including the Beijing Platform for Action, the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the United Nations General Assembly, and the Monterrey Consensus. Gender-responsive budgeting has also been identified as a crucial element of the full implementation the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, most specifically MDG3 on gender equality and the empowerment of women. It has also been cited as critical to the development and implementation of national poverty reduction strategies. The increasing focus given to gender-responsive budgets is underpinned by compelling economic, social, good governance and rights based rationales, a growing body of theoretical work and analytical tools, and more than 20 years of practical experiences and their lessons.

56.Gender-responsive budgets involve two broad interrelated types of activities, both technical and political in nature:

A systematic examination of budget programmes and policies for their different impacts on

men and women, boys and girls – gender budget analysis; and

Decision-making that changes budgets and policies so that gender equality is promoted – informed actions that change financing processes and gender equality outcomes.

57.Ideally these assessments and decisions should take place throughout the budget cycle, cover both revenues and expenditures, involve a range of actors (including finance ministries, national machineries for the advancement of women, sector ministries, statistical and planning bureaus, parliamentarians, media, donors and international organizations and civil society) and be fully integrated into budgetary and policy procedures and decision-making. In practice, a wide range of interventions for integrating a gender perspective into public finances have emerged – varying in scope, resource commitments, institutional embeddeness, political commitment and sustainability. 58.Participatory budgeting and analysis – whether pro-poor, environment-sensitive or gender-responsive – offers a new innovative means for ensuring government accountability to international and national commitments as well as a more balanced distribution of public resources. It needs to be combined with other measures to produce policies that create sound outcomes in terms of social and gender equality. There are a number of compelling reasons why gender-responsive budgets offer a link between the commitments to financing for development (Monterrey Consensus, Paris 42 All findings drawn from Mariama Williams, Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UNDAW EGM/FFGE/2007/EP.15, August 2007.

Declaration) and the more specific goals of attaining resources to meet the goals of achieving substantive gender equality.

59.First, greater allocation of domestic resources toward gender equality is critical to achieving MDG3 and signals a country’s commitment to achieving gender equality through investments of their own resources. Such a commitment signals the necessary ‘ownership’ articulated in the Paris Declaration. In the case of low-income countries, “between 35-52 per cent of the total costs of the MDGs can be directly attributed to the achievement of gender equality objectives”.43 In other words, investments that directly and indirectly promote gender equality and women’s empowerment represent a significant share of total investments for all the MDGs. Also, as was reaffirmed by General Assembly resolution 60/210 of 22 March 2005, gender equality is of fundamental importance for achieving sustained economic growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development. In other words, investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect.44

60.Second, two recent studies, by Budlender (2004)45 and Elson (2006)46, focus on government budgets – that is, public expenditure and revenue – as indispensable tools for the realization of human rights. Both of these reports offer detailed templates for linking budgeting processes and outcomes to gender equality commitments and as such, make important contributions to the financing for gender equality follow-up process. Budlender, for instance, provides a budget checklist or series of budget questions which relate budget allocations and distribution of resources to each of the Articles and recommendations of the CEDAW Convention in the South African context.47 This is an important contribution as most manuals provide questions on laws, policies and programmes but do not deal with budgets. Budlender also provides a series of outcome indicators based on the Beijing Platform for Action.

61.Elson offers a comprehensive guide which analyzes government expenditure, revenue, macroeconomic policy and budget decision-making processes from a CEDAW perspective. Her report clarifies “that government budgets (like any other activity carried out by the State) should be constructed and implemented in ways that respect, protect and fulfill human rights”.48 Linking women’s human rights to government budgets affords both a legal force and a moral authority. CEDAW imposes binding legal standards on States parties. The discourse of human rights also introduces a moral and value-based assessment of finance, relating finance to human rights norms.49 62.Third, the emerging aid architecture points to an increasing proportion of aid financing through direct budget and sector support. Such a trend has raised concerns about gender equality objectives ‘falling off the table’ as less opportunity exists for special donor-funded ‘gender equality projects’. On the other hand, there are concerns that targeted interventions and financing may reduce the focus on serious gender mainstreaming in activities supported through the general budget. As the evidence from Sector-Wide Approaches (SWAPS) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)

43 Grown, et.al., (2006) op. cit.

44 https://www.wendangku.net/doc/4b13672150.html,/womenwatch/daw/documents/ga60.htm#resolutions.

45 Debbie Budlender (2004). Budgeting to Fulfill International Gender and Human Rights Commitments. UNIFEM, Zimbabwe.

46 Diane Elson (2006). Budgeting for Women’s Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW. UNIFEM, New York.

47 Budlender (2004) op. cit.

48 Elson (2006) op. cit., p.141.

49 Ibid., p.142.

seems to suggest, gender-sensitive approaches are more likely to be taken into consideration in the social sectors (education, health and even agriculture) than in the ‘harder’ economic sectors (transport, rural infrastructure, finance).50

63.Fourth, budgets have also been tied to the ‘New Public Management’, which has reshaped approaches to public policy and management in both developed and developing countries. New Public Management entails the restructuring of many public services in an attempt to enhance the efficiency of firms and government, the introduction of more competition and private market discipline and promote a more accountable and results- and citizen-oriented government.51 One limitation of this shift is that it tends to eclipse other concepts of efficiency such as social and allocative efficiency. In the area of budgeting, the emphasis is on performance and results rather than inputs. Referred to as performance oriented budgeting or results-based budgeting, the goals are twofold: to allocate resources according to government priorities and objectives and; to relate the budget’s resource allocation, or how the funds are planned to be used, to expected results or impacts. These goals offer an entry point for harmonizing with gender-responsive budgeting. Achievements and challenges

64.There are different ways of assessing gender-responsive budgeting but a central issue is their capacity to foster government accountability for financing gender equality commitments. Accountability is an aspect of governance that involves power and authority relationships (of governors to the governed), transparency (the ability to inspect and establish the truthfulness of claims) and the credibility of policies over time (a government’s intentions and actions with regard to policy must be believed by its constituents or the market players). Women, particularly the poorest women in a society, are often at the margins of economic governance and decision-making about fiscal policy. Gender-responsive budgets were developed as a tool for inserting women’s voices into discussions of taxation, spending and debt to underscore that budgets are not gender neutral. Achievements

65.Gender-responsive budgeting work has been carried out by different actors in different countries, with some initiated by the Ministry of Women or Ministry of Finance, some by parliamentarians and some by NGOs. Most of the initiatives focused on the expenditure side of the budget, while only a few also analyzed the gender impact of revenue raising policies. Although in many countries gender-responsive budgeting work was limited in scope and was not institutionalized, such initiatives have contributed to the following:

The awareness that budgetary decisions may have an impact on gender relations and gender equality has increased;

The capacity to analyze budgets from a gender perspective has increased;

50 Debbie Budlender (2007). Financing for Development: Aid Effectiveness and Gender-Responsive Budgets, (Commonwealth Secretariat 2007), Background Paper WAMM (07)9.

51 Paolo DeRenzio (2004). “Why Budgets Matter: the New Agenda of Public Expenditure Management”, ODI, Briefing Paper, May.

Greater understanding of the importance of the care and informal economies in policy impacts generally, and for assessing the impacts on women’s time burdens in particular, has developed;

In some countries, budget allocations have been reprioritized in favour of women and girls;

In some countries, budget guidelines and formats have been changed;

Debates on gender issues have taken place in parliament, and gender issues have been mentioned in the budget speeches of ministers of finance;

Budget processes have become more transparent;

The participation of civil society in the budgetary process has increased;

The availability and use of sex-disaggregated data has increased, and gender-sensitive indicators for monitoring and evaluation of budgetary performance have been developed; and

Gender perspectives have been mainstreamed in economic policy areas and the interrelationships between economic and social policies have been highlighted.

Challenges

66.Although a number of Governments have integrated gender perspectives into their national budgets in order to reflect the differentiated needs and priorities of women and men, resources remain insufficient to adequately support policies and programmes that promote the empowerment of women and political commitment remains inconsistent. Moreover, gender-responsive budgeting is not a panacea; it is one strategy in a multi-pronged approach to financing gender equality and women’s empowerment. Although they have, in some cases, helped to channel development resources in a more equitable manner, there are limitations that must be underscored. In many countries, gender-responsive budgeting work was limited in impact because initiatives adopted a stylized approach52 that was not appropriately adapted to their specific contexts.

67.Furthermore, gender-responsive budgeting work in many countries remained a ‘one-off’ activity (such as sensitization workshops, trainings, and analyses) and was not institutionalized. The gender-responsive budgeting activities were normally not linked to ongoing public finance reforms. Many countries have started to change their public finance systems towards more results-oriented budgeting and have established Mid Term Economic Frameworks to link planning and budgeting more closely. Following the Paris Declaration and the discussion on new aid modalities, such as direct budget support and sector wide approaches, good economic governance in general, and transparent public financial systems in particular, have gained in importance. To increase accountability of governments and donors with regard to their gender equality commitments, a gender perspective needs to be brought into these discussions.

68.Other limitations include: (i) limited impact on macroeconomic policy which is often shaped by international financial institutions and globalization; (ii) little practical linking of budgets to rights 52 Janet Stotsky (2007). Budgeting with women in mind, Finance and Development, Quarterly magazine of the IMF, Volume 44, No. 3, June.

to date; (iii) the contradictions between gender equality as a development goal that cuts across sectors and ministries and the bureaucratic reality of line functions, departments and agents which mitigate against a broad approach; (iv) the difficulty in assessing the impact of gender-responsive budgeting given that policy change is often due to a range of forces and not one single initiative; and (v) those involved often do not have the power themselves to change budgets.53

Public finance reforms

69.The widely adopted New Public Management reforms of the theory and practice of public sector administration have brought a raft of changes to public finances including:

A shift away from inputs and processes to a focus on results in the form of outputs and

outcomes;

Devolution and decentralization of government activities along with the introduction of performance management systems to control what is being done;

A shift from the traditional annual budget cycle to multi-year (or medium term) expenditure

frameworks as the basis for the annual budget process;

The separation of the purchaser and provider roles of government leading to a greater reliance on the private sector and the not-for profit community sector to provide services on behalf of the government;

Re-casting the public as customers, consumers and clients; and

The promotion of the ideas of competition and choice being achieved by deregulation and marketization through privatization, contracting out and competitive tendering.

70.Also underpinning the budgetary changes are the objectives of public expenditure management (PEM). These are advocated by multilateral institutions and adopted by many governments as the basic objectives of resource management systems. These objectives, as expressed by the World Bank, are to: maintain aggregate fiscal discipline to achieve effective control over budget totals; promote allocative efficiency whereby resources are allocated (and re-allocated) in accord with government priorities; and promote operational efficiency or the cost efficient delivery of services.54 The PEM has given added emphasis to matching spending with what is affordable over the medium term, aligning spending with policy priorities and spending for results at the lowest cost. It also has given a new role to the ministries of finance or central budget offices, particularly in the area of results-based or performance oriented monitoring and budgeting.

Results-based Budgeting

71.The shift to performance based or results-based budgeting has led gender equality advocates to ask: Does the adoption of budget reform along these lines offer opportunities for new monitoring and accountability mechanisms for linking budgets (resources) and gender equality commitments?

53 Debbie Budlender (2005). Expectations versus Realities in Gender-responsive Budget Initiatives, (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2005), March.

54 World Bank (1998). Public Expenditure Management Handbook, Washington DC.