Rina Jimenez-David
Philippine Daily Inquirer

IN MANILA recently, for the Asia-Pacific Workshop on Gender-Responsive Budgeting, was Aster Zaoude, senior gender adviser of the United Nations Development Program, to help government officials in the region understand what “gender-responsive budgeting” is all about and how other countries and governments have put it in practice.

Zaoude, who hails from Ethiopia, advises not just the UNDP but governments around the world on how to achieve gender equality in governance, policies, legislation and actual practice. For many governments, the “push” for gender fairness has come from international bodies, especially the UN, which has gathered them in international conferences to sign off on common goals and shared commitments to achieve these goals on an agreed timeline.

In her introduction to the 2002 Annual Report of the UNDP/Japan Women in Development Fund, Zaoude mentioned that one of the seven Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which 189 world leaders adopted in September 2000, is the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Four indicators for measuring progress at the local and global level are: the ratio of girls to boys in all levels of education; the ratio of literate females to males; the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector; and the proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament.

“To date, the data available show that only seven developed countries — Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — have met the levels set for ALL these MDG indicators,” writes Zaoude. “The best achievers among developing countries are Argentina, Costa Rica and South Africa.”

The greatest improvements, says Zaoude, is in the proportion of seats held by women in parliaments. In 2002, 11 countries achieved the benchmark of 30 percent female representation, while 20 countries reached 20 percent or more, including five in Africa and five in Asia. The Philippine average has hovered around 16 percent, with the highest proportion achieved in the last Congress. Sadly, the number of women has gone down in the incoming Congress. Still, 38 countries have a higher share of women in parliaments than the United States, which remained at about 12 percent.

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“THE NUMBER of women elected to public office is worth measuring to show increased participation of women in democratic governance,” Zaoude points out. “India provides a striking example: an estimated 800,000 women were elected to local government positions… through the Panchayat system of affirmative action,” an innovation that guarantees at least 30 percent representation of women at the basic village councils.

The data also show that poor countries have made more progress on this front than some of the leading democracies. Says Zaoude: “Expanding women’s access to public leadership positions is more a matter of political choice than an outgrowth of wealth or progress.”

“Many of the women heads of state happen to be in Islamic countries, where women still have limited rights,” Zaoude observes. “By itself, the number of women in office does not indicate the scope of rights enjoyed by the majority of women in a given society. In addition, women leaders are not automatic promoters of women’s rights.”

What matters more, it seems, is the leader’s understanding of, and commitment to, gender equality. Which is why men’s roles in promoting such a policy is also a focus of the UNDP.

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AN INDICATOR of whether the number of women in government and decision-making positions is making a difference is the national budget, which, as a former woman senator asserts, is the “expression of the policy.”

That’s why the adoption of gender-responsive budgeting is an integral part of any gender equality policy, for without the money to fund gender-responsive programs, or mainstream gender concerns in government programs, then gender equality will remain a mere ideal without any realistic means of achievement.

Zaoude says some 40 countries in the world, including the Philippines, already have some sort of gender-responsive budget initiative, while 20 others have adopted a “gender audit,” auditing the national budget for gender bias in allocations.

The “gender budget” in the Philippines often refers to the five percent allocation given to gender and development concerns. But Zaoude stresses that women “should not be content with just the five percent,” but also with “influencing the remaining 95 percent.” As it is, though, as many women officials report, just accessing the five percent is itself a thorny problem.

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THERE is not one single “correct” approach to gender-fair budgeting, asserts Deborah Landey, UNDP resident coordinator in the country. This is why much of the workshop was devoted to sharing the experience of officials in countries that have adopted a gender-fair budget policy.

Crucial to the success of such a policy, says Zaoude, is “understanding what the budget process is,” and whether women have a voice in setting priorities, whether at the national or local level. Monitoring where the money goes, that is, checking whether the programs funded really respond to gender concerns or merely involve women (as in ballroom dancing sessions!) is also part of the process.

Happily, there are many examples of the difference made when governments adopt a gender-responsive budget, such as greater allocations for education and health budgets which have in turn translated into impressive improvements in women’s and children’s health and educational achievements.

“We need to show our leaders, women and men, the cost implications of not investing in women and not investing in girls,” says Zaoude.