Gender Budgeting and Initiatives in Serbia |
Summary: The text presents key objectives and gender effects of governmental economic policy and its main instrument – the budget. It points out the significance of the gender-sensitive approach to the budget from the point of view of the objectives of economic efficiency and gender equality that are integrated into all stages of the political process: analysis, formation, and evaluation. Key words: budget tools, gender budget initiatives, gender equality What Is a Gender Budget, and Why Is Gender Budgeting Important? A budget is a key political decision of government for it presents the process of funds allocation in accordance with set objectives. A political objective that goes beyond the financial resources necessary for its realisation remains only a futile dream or demagogy. Governmental economic policy usually means activities planned by a state through which the state directs economic growth and economic and social development. Each state defines particular objectives and uses relevant instruments to realise these objectives. For example, usual economic policy objectives are: growing the economy at a desirable rate, reducing the unemployment rate, achieving price stability, and a harmonised balance of payment (deficit decrease). Usual economic policy instruments are: monetary policy, fiscal policy and foreign trade policy. The objectives and instruments of economic policy are often mutually in conflict, i.e. the achievement of one economic policy objective usually results in the disturbance of or the failure to realise one or more other objectives. This is a well-known problem in economic theory solved by prioritising. A budget is the key point where information is outlined on the amount of governmental funds available for a period of time and on the sources and allocated uses of those funds (Andy Norton and Diane Elson, 2002: 5-14; Katarina Ott, 2000: Katarina Ott, 2003). In the narrowest sense, a budget indicates: total government expenditures (for spending and investment), income (mostly from taxation), and income distribution to sectors (education, health, transportation, agriculture, finance, defence, etc.). Usual budgetary functions are: resource allocation, income and wealth distribution, and economic stabilisation. To a great extent, feminist economics has shown that the gender neutrality of economic policies, their objectives, and their instruments is an illusion (Diane Elson, 1994: 33 – 45; Nilufer Cagatay, 2003: 22-41; Ingrid Palmer, 2003: 42-87). The engendering of economic policy covers a twofold analytical process. First, gender macroeconomic analysis studies the impact on men and women of emphasising paid activities and neglecting reproduction in macroeconomic policy. Secondly, macroeconomic decisions and constrains have a significant retroactive effect on gender-based social, economic, and political differences that should be analysed. The issue of direct versus indirect taxation presents a good example of how the effects of fiscal policy differ by gender. As for taxes, in principle there are no differences according to gender; however, some gender effects may be seen if observed as direct (income) taxes versus indirect (consumption) taxes. For example, indirect taxation is recognised as the one that has significant impact on women due to their general and prevailing role as household budget managers, while direct income tax is considered to have a greater impact on men because they have greater access to significant employment and higher income accordingly. Although there are few studies on this topic, it has been observed that indirect tax payment affects women more than men. When goods and services get more expensive, due to the increase of tax on particular goods and services, women then have two possibilities. One possibility is to try to increase their paid working hours. The other possibility is to try to invest more of their unpaid labour into the production of these goods. Thus, in both cases, they increase their efforts. Consumption taxes put a disproportionately higher burden on social groups with lower earnings because, relative to other groups, they spend a larger proportion of their money on consumption (Isabella Bakker, 1994: 2-29). Usual shortcomings of budgets are their gender neutral economic framework, the lack of socio-economic and gender-sensitive statistics, non-transparency, and the lack of public participation (Transparency and Participation in the Budget Process, 2002). A major problem of standard budgeting processes is that they are based on prevailing economic opinion that assumes the rational behaviour of individuals who are exclusively market-oriented and led by their own best interests, without considering gender, class, age, or ethnicity. Such individuals live beyond specific historical, geographic, and social contexts. It is also assumed that the decisions made by such individuals are not affected by ruling power relations. Differences between men and women remain unrecognised due to the assumption that economic policy objectives and instruments are broadly applicable and “gender neutral” accordingly. Gender budgeting is not, by itself, either pro or contra government’s role in the economy (plan versus market), and it does not mean the making of separate budgets for men versus for women. Budget gender analysis shows a financial relationship between economic development of a nation’s economy (economic growth, poverty reduction, investment, and savings) and gender equality (women’s poverty and access to resources). Therefore, gender budgeting relates to the processes of disaggregating expenses and income to show their various impacts upon women and men, thus indicating points where a state’s collection and distribution of resources is unfair. In other words, this means that gender analysis of all forms of public consumption and the identification of causes and effects born by women compared to men may improve economic policy efficiency. On the other hand, gender budgeting is just one strategy focused toward gender equality, and it should be a constituent part of a wider strategy directed toward breaking unequal power relationships in societies. The Objectives of Gender Budget Analysis The key questions of gender-sensitive budget analysis are: Do resources reach those who need them and for whom they are intended? Do government economic policies and instruments decrease or increase gender inequalities? Including gender analysis in the process of national budgeting means taking the following steps (Debbie Budlender and Guy Hewitt, 2003; Isaac Shapiro, 2001; Debbie Budlender, 2002: 82- 87): 1. Estimate the gender-awareness of policy – to what extent do different ministries pay explicit or implicit attention to gender considerations by analysing to what extent their policies and available resources impact the decrease or increase of gender inequalities. (For example, in privatisation in Serbia: To what extent may women count on the resources generated through selling state-owned companies? May women get credit to buy the property from the state … and so on?) 2. Conduct gender-disaggregated assessment of public services beneficiaries and of budget prioritisation by studying the attitudes of existing or potential beneficiaries (through interviews, group discussions, public polls, etc.), assessing the extent to which governmental policies and programmes reflect the beneficiaries’ priorities and needs. (For example, consider the methods in which the decrease of military expenses may be directed to programmes that will empower women, like employment programmes and training, campaigns against violence against women, assistance to the elderly, etc.) 3. Conduct gender-disaggregated analysis of public expenses using statistical data on households, the nature of the benefit provided by the public sector, and the distribution of benefits by gender. Is public spending of equal use to men and to women? This analysis measures the budgeted resource distribution to women, girls, men, and boys by recalculating the total volume of costs belonging to each group. To do this, first, annual expenses are calculated for particular types of services. Then, the expense totals are divided by the annual quantity of each service provided (hospital beds, places in school). Finally, the extent to which these units have been used by women versus men is analysed. Conduct gender-disaggregated analysis of public income regarding the amount of direct and indirect forms of taxation paid by various categories of the population (i.e. households) including governments at various levels. To evaluate how tax policy impacts men and women, the impact of direct taxes (on income) and of indirect taxes (on consumption) must be observed. The objective of gender budgeting in this case is gender-disaggregated analysis of taxes. For example, the amount of tax paid by an individual or household is observed, as well as whether tax exemptions are distributed in different manner for women than for men 4. Conduct gender-disaggregated budget analysis from the point of view of time, identifying the ratio between the national budget and the way time is spent in households. This provides for including time spent on unpaid labour in the analysis. Gender budget analysis studies the ratio between unpaid men’s and women’s labour and men and women’s contributions to care economy. Such analysis assesses the degree to which the budget depends on the care economy and women’s unpaid labour (such as care for the elderly, cooking, cleaning, ironing). This is analysis disaggregates the gender impact of the budget on the ways in which time is used. A decrease in public spending mostly results in increases in the time women spend in the care economy to compensate for lost public services. 5. Formulate a gender-aware, mid-term economic policy framework as the approach that includes the gender perspective in macroeconomic models. This assumes the measuring of various gender impacts of both national economic activities and those of each individual, including gender-sensitive indicators. Mechanisms to initiate and intensify dialogue between various government ministries and the civil sector (stakeholders) are necessary also. This objective, through the inclusion of the feminist gender perspective in mid-term policy, aims to change gender-blind opinions assumed by prevailing economic models. Long-term budgeting facilitates the activity of the Ministry of Finance and provides for more effective gender mainstreaming of such policies into the future. 6. Formulate a gender-responsible budget statement. This is one of the objectives of gender budgeting initiatives. Such a statement takes into account a series of factors, such as the gender balance of employment in governmental institutions, the share of public spending on services used mainly by women, and gender-sensitive indicators of development. Gender Budgeting Initiatives (GBI) Gender budgeting initiatives are gender aware analyses of governmental budgets that recognise various contributions of men and women in production and goods and services distribution (Karen Judd, 2002: 13-86). Gender budget analyses consider whether budgets covers various interests, needs, rights, and obligations of women and men, girls and boys, both in the paid economy and in the care economy. Gender budget initiatives answer the following questions: - Are budgets and tax systems actually gender neutral as it seems at first sight? - How may gender become a constituent part of governmental policy? - How may women and non-governmental organisations be involved further in budget proposal preparation, and in collection and analysis of macroeconomic data disaggregated by sex? Gender budget analyses have shown that governmental budgets are the instruments transferring and reproducing gender relations, but they can become important instruments in transforming gender inequalities (Maeve Taylor, 2003: 65- 84; Karen Judd, 2002: 163 – 181; Hazel Reeves and Heike Wach, 1999; Hazel Reeves and Charlie Sever, 2003; Debbie Budlender and Julius Mukunda, 2001: 17-21; Simel Esim, 2000). GBI Experiences of Various Countries During past dozen years, the interest in gender budgeting has been increased in the world (Debbie Budlender and Julius Mukunda, 2001: 1-31; Karen Judd 2002: 99- 162; Tatjana Djuric Kuzmanović et al, 2005). Today, over fifty countries have some form of a gender-sensitive budget. Initiatives for gender-sensitive budgets have originated from civil societies, parliaments, or governments themselves. The majority of gender budgeting initiatives are not only aimed at identifying governmental tasks or promoting the of focusing more money toward women, but also aim to discontinue various impacts of governmental taxation and economic policy on women and men, girls and boys. Therefore, they may significantly contribute to the achievement of social, economic, and cultural rights of the whole population and to the realisation of good government. The earliest GBIs were inspired by women’s budgeting initiatives accepted by the Australian Government in the 1980s. Further initiatives have followed the experiences of the South African gender budget and the Philippines’ gender development budget. Australia is the first country that introduced a women’s budget in 1985. It assessed the extent to which women had or did not have benefits from the budget, considering the activities of all ministries. The governmental service for women’s positions had a key role in coordinating activities among the Ministries of Finance, Economic Planning, and others regarding how to facilitate dialogue with the civil sector. From 1985 to 1990, Australia introduced gender-sensitive budget analysis as a comprehensive view of the budget from a women’s standpoint. During one budget year, each ministry had the task to analyse its expenses. Feminists from the government strongly affirmed the management of the budget aimed at women, although to the detriment of broader women’s activism. Many GBIs throughout the world were initiated through the application of three key categories used by the Australian women’s budget. GBI required (Balmori, Helena Hofbauer, 2003) first, specification of women’s costs (resources to be allocated to the programmes specifically related to women); second, provision for equal employment opportunities by providing assets to support affirmative actions (promoting an equal number of employed men and women, as well as equal presentation of men and women in managerial positions and equal salaries); and, third, coverage of the remaining expenses not covered in the previous two categories in such a way that government as a key “player” will advocate the engendering of its own policy. In Tanzania, a gender budget was first adopted in 1993. The non-governmental organisation Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) focused its activity on the stimulation of gender equality at all social levels. During 1997, with twenty other non-governmental organisations, a GBI was started focused on macroeconomic policies and planning with specific emphases on the process of budgeting and on the budget’s impact on various population categories. Within this process, studies at the macro level were managed by four ministries: the Planning Committee and the Ministries of Finance, of Education, and of Health. Also, selected research at the local level was done by a team of representatives from the governmental and non-governmental sectors, avoiding the threat of being co-opted by the government. In Mexico, non-governmental organisations researched governmental programmes in the field of birth rates in 1999. Afterwards, the non-governmental organisation Gender Equality organised workshops on budgets that dealt with the needs of the poor, and the non-governmental organisations Fundar Centre for Analysis and Research implemented budget research. After that, the Project Plan for Providing Support to Women and Local Budget Understanding was made. In South Africa, the assembly committee for finance and two non-governmental organisations established the Initiative for Women’s Budget in 1988. Many researchers were involved in their activities, but economists were represented in the lowest number. They started their activities by analysing national budget items, public sector employment, and taxation. In the following years they prepared studies, reports, and research results, and influenced other groups to consider the impact of budgets on other population groups, above all children and people with disabilities. In 1995 in Brazil, the local government of Refice introduced a system of public consultations regarding budget. In the earliest stages of this process, attention had not been paid to gender inequalities until 2001 when Women's Coordination Group was established, with the task to coordinate governmental gender policies. This group started various initiatives to increase women's involvement in participative budgets. One such initiative referred to the creation of recreational facilities to be used by children while their mothers were at meetings where a budget was discussed. Another initiative was related to the introduction of “women's meetings” with the participation of governmental officials, women's movement representatives, and other activists who searched for ways to increase women's participation in budgeting processes. In 2002 such meetings were transformed into the Women's Thematic Forum that defined the priorities to be applied by the General Council of Participative budgets within the budgeting process. In Uganda, women politicians, who were involved in the preparation of the proposal of a new constitution, established the non-profit organisation, Forum of Women for Democracy (FOWODE), comprised of men and women gender activists. This Forum was active in promoting gender equality with the aim of including gender in all government policies and programmes at all decision-making levels. Thus, this Forum, in cooperation with coalition of specific interest groups in Parliament (with representatives including women, the young, employees, and people with disabilities) did gender-aware budget analysis and organised two conferences on this topic (Maeve Taylor, 2003: 76). The majority of GBIs have developed their own methodologies, adjusting GBI objectives and approaches to their own experiences. In Scotland, for example, GBI is closely connected to the process of transferring political power to the Scottish Government. In Rwanda, it is related to the process of post-conflict reconstruction and social decentralisation; while in Peru, it is mostly located at the level of local communities (Helena Hofbauer Balmori, 2003). Many such initiatives are controlled by governments and sometimes include significant participation of donors. In any case, it is not sufficient to let governments make decisions regarding the gender budgeting process on their own. Therefore, the approach advocated in South Africa is significant, which has connected both civil society and MPs from the very beginning of the gender budgeting process. The Mexican initiative has represented a wide coalition of the civil sector of Mexican society, and as such it has been presented to Parliament. The Application and Benefits of Gender-Sensitive Budget Initiatives Although there is no pattern that would guarantee success in the application of gender budget initiatives, certain strategies may strengthen the gender budgeting process. It seems that central elements of gender budgeting initiatives are to be driven in parallel through the research process and public advocation. As for governmental and civil sector initiatives, it is important that they are based on good knowledge of processes, characteristics, and effects created by the budget. Although no country is able to claim that it has had a fully operational gender budget so far, women's training to impact Public finance is an important element of strengthening gender budgeting. Benefits resulting from gender-sensitive budget analysis flow to governments, women, and citizens. Governmental benefits from gender budget analysis include the improvement of policy efficiency, democratic progress, responsibility, and public strength, as well as ending corruption and all types of discrimination against women. Benefits of gender-sensitive budget analysis for women and other citizens include the intensification of civil initiative, the provision of gender-sensitive data as a basis for fighting corruption and discrimination, consideration of the needs of the poor, and responsibility intensification. Besides growing enthusiasm among donors, governments, and civil society, the majority of gender budget initiatives have been made at the level of analysis, while the key objective of GBI is to integrate gender into the criteria for the planning, formulation, and application of budgets. The key challenge for the majority of GBIs is to move from gender budget analysis to gender sensitive budget formulation (Helena Hofbauer Balmori, 2003:2-3). On this route, it is important to: - Estimate GBI impact: the success of previous GBIs, the difference of GBI types in relation to comprehensive objectives of empowerment, equality, and involvement (engagement, empowerment and equity); - Identify and document specific methodology resulting from the analytical framework; then, test, and focus it on the integration of gender as the criterion in budgeting; - Learn various GBI activity stages, and simultaneously build the capacities of GBI advocates at all levels and in all sectors of society; - Study new approaches, allies, and new objectives, such as participative budget initiatives and gender approaches to gender and budgets based on rights; and - Develop gender-sensitive, participative research techniques that integrate the needs identified at the core of society when formulating a budget, thus intensifying possibilities for broader participation in budgeting. What is necessary to realise GBIs is to interpret them as complementary strategies to the strategies of decreasing poverty and developing the national economy. To be efficient, gender budgeting means partnership among women's organisations, researchers, media, and those creating government policies. Steps in Defining GBI for Serbia: How Would We Like to See Our Budget? In 2002 in Serbia, the Group for the Promotion of Women's Political Rights, Voice of Diversity, in co-operation with Institute G17, and the Centre for Alternative Study, researched the competitiveness of women with children in the labour market. In the same year, a group of non-governmental organisations (Association for Women's Initiative, Group for the Promotion of Women's Political Rights, Acting Women, Vojvodjanka, Paz, and Star Network of World Learning) made a campaign for economic equality and empowerment of women from the point of view of economic and social inequality of women in today's Serbia, and they made comments on existing and announced laws. In early 2003, the United Nations Development Programme’s Belgrade Office organised a one-day workshop for civil society members in the field of gender equality and specifically in the field of national budgeting in accordance with gender equality. The first step in designing a gender sensitive budget is to define the key problems in Serbia, their causes, and their effects (Law on Budget, 2002, 2004). This is the stage of gender strategy identification that would be adopted by Parliament. Afterwards, proposals should be stated for good, stimulating legal, economic, and political measures, programmes, and activities through additional laws. Budget management should be targeted, but without excessive administration. The existing budget in Serbia is non-transparent. Therefore, mid-term objectives for the Serbian budget are for it to be made according to programmes that will commonly cover definition of the situations to be solved by programmes, including objectives, activities, resources, and indicators of gender concerns. Literature:
http://www.internationalbudget.org/openbudgets/Fullreport.pdf http://www.internationalbudget.org/openbudgets/index.htm http://www.internationalbudget.org/themes/BudTrans/transp.htm http://www.odi.org.uk/pppg/publications/books/budget.pdf
Useful Internet Addresses: International Budget Project - http://www.internationalbudget.org http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/hdr04_HDI.pdf
Gender Responsive Budget Initiatives - http://www.gender-budgets.org UNIFEM, 2002, Gender Budget Initiatives: strategies, concepts and experiences - UNIFEM_GBI_2002.pdf
BRIDGE, 2003, Gender and Budgets, BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies - International conference: Taking Civil Society Budget Transparency and Participation Work Forward. Transparency and Participation in the Budget Process http://www.internationalbudget.org/themes/BudTrans/transp.htm http://www.internationalbudget.org/openbudgets/Fullreport.pdf
Elson, D., 2000, ‘Accountability for the Progress of Women: Women Demanding Action’ in D. Elson, Progress of the World's Women: UNIFEM Biennial Report, New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) -
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