Implementing Gender Budgeting Three Year Plan The Steering Committee's Proposals Ministry of Finance March 2011
Contents Introduction... 3 International Conventions and Legislation... 4 Premises and Obstacles... 1 Objectives... 2 The Steering Committee s Proposals... 3 Main Policy Areas... 3 The Continuation of Current Pilot Projects... 4 Mainstreaming... 4 Gender Disaggregated Statistics... 5 Cooperation... 6 Education... 6 Capital and Human Resources... 7 Available Resources... 7 What is Needed in Addition?... 7 Final Words... 8 ANNEX I... 9 ANNEX II... 10 2
Introduction In recent decades, gender budgeting has increasingly been emerging as a powerful tool in economic management. There are ample reasons for implementing gender budgeting. On the surface the budget might seem gender neutral. Neither women nor men are mentioned and there is no account of how the budget affects the genders and their status. This has been referred to as gender blindness instead of gender neutrality, since the position of the genders is different in an economic, social and political sense. Decisions which involve the budget can have very different effects and impact on women and men. The objective of the methodology is to highlight these different effects on the genders and seek ways to ensure the equal and fair distribution of capital and other resources. The need for gender budgeting is partly a result of the little headway made when it comes to equality in the world, despite widespread knowledge of gender inequality and international conventions, where countries have made a commitment to promoting equality. With gender budgeting, the government has more detailed information on what effects their actions have on society and are therefore, better equipped to make informed decisions, which are consistent with the government s policies and objectives. Gender budgeting increases transparency in the state s finances and promotes more realistic development of objectives and more effective methods of work. Gender budgeting thus leads to better governance, more economical distribution of revenue, and expenses in the public sector. In the Government s Coalition Platform between the Social Alliance and the Left Green Movement in 2009, it states that gender budgeting shall be a key concern in budget preparation and economic policy. That is consistent with international conventions, which Iceland is a member of, as well as the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men No. 10/2008. This will be discussed in greater detail in the chapter International conventions and legislation. In accordance with this policy, a steering committee was appointed in gender budgeting in April 2009. The Steering Committee is appointed by the Minister of Finance and it is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Welfare, and Centre for Gender Equality, and the Centre for Women s and Gender studies, as well as the Government Office's expert on equality issues. With the appointment of the Steering Committee, the first attempt to implement gender budgeting comprehensively is made in Iceland. Before that, Iceland had worked on one project in the field of gender budgeting as part of a Nordic collaboration. That was between the years 2005-2006. The project was not continued, but the issue was re-visited in 2009. It is clear, that it is a project that will take many years to implement, as the budget is extensive. Currently, the project is at a crossroads. Twenty pilot projects are in progress in ministries and public organisations, but there is a need for a clear vision for the future and objectives on where to head in the next years in the implementation of gender budgeting. This document contains the proposals of the Steering Committee on how to implement gender budgeting in the next three years. 3
International Conventions and Legislation Gender budgeting is not entirely new although its history is not lengthy. The first project was undertaken in Australia in 1984. The project gained a lot of attention and other countries jumped on the bandwagon. Slowly, but surely the international community started to pay more attention to gender budgeting and now it is thought that over 100 countries have implemented gender budgeting in one form or another. In some countries gender budgeting is statutory. Austria has progressed furthest in this field and in Article 13 (b) of the country s constitution it is provided that "Federation, Laendar and municipalities have to aim at the equal status of women and men in the budgeting." In Iceland gender budgeting has not been made statutory in a direct way, but the purpose of the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men No. 10/2008 is to establish and maintain equality and equal opportunities for women and men and thus promote gender equality in all spheres of the society. The Act counts numerous ways towards this goal including observing gender equality perspectives and working towards gender mainstreaming in policy and decision making. Gender mainstreaming is defined in Article 2 of the Act as a process of organising, improving, developing and evaluating the policy making process in such a way that gender equality perspective is incorporated in all spheres in the policy making and decisions of those who are generally involved in policy making in society". Budgeting is not exempt and according to the definition of the European Council, gender budgeting entails mainstreaming gender and equality perspectives into the budgeting process. This is in accordance with the obligations of Iceland on an international level. At the United Nation's Women's Convention in Beijing in 1995, an action plan for gender equality was approved, the so-called Beijing Platform for Action. On the role of the government, it states in Article 346, that: The primary responsibility for implementing the strategic objectives of the Platform for Action rests with Governments. To achieve these objectives, Governments should make efforts to systematically review how women benefit from public sector expenditures; adjust budgets to ensure equality of access to public sector expenditures, both for enhancing productive capacity and for meeting social needs; and achieve the gender-related commitments made in other United Nations summits and conferences 1. The importance of mainstreaming gender- and equality perspectives into the budget is discussed more than once in the plan and it is emphasised, that both capital and human resources are needed to promote the empowerment of women. 1 See www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/bdpfa%20e.pdf 4
Iceland is also a member of Nordic partnerships where gender budgeting has been one of the focal points. In the years 2005-2006, the first project in gender budgeting was started in Iceland. The project was a cooperative enterprise in the Nordic countries and the aim was, inter alia, to coordinate the actions of the Nordic countries in this regard 2. In the Nordic Cooperation Programme on Gender Equality 2006-2010 the following provision can be found: Continuing to work, in collaboration with the Council of Ministers for the Finance, to incorporate gender and equality into the national budget of each country. 3 This emphasis on gender budgeting is not in the latest Nordic cooperative programme for equality 4. Instead, mainstreaming of gender and equality perspectives is emphasised in general, but as pointed out before, the budget is not exempt. Premises and Obstacles Today, sufficient experience has been gained from gender budgeting across the world, in order to define which premises have to be in place so that implementation can be successful and what obstacles need to be overcome. The main premises are: Political support. Long-term commitment. Capital and human resources to work on projects and research. Access to expertise. Education. Cooperation between parties in different fields of expertise. Responsibility has to be defined. Gender disaggregated statistics. Support from stakeholders in society. Other factors which are thought to contribute towards success or hinder the progress of projects are for example: On what level of public administration are the projects undertaken. At what stage in the budget cycle are gender perspectives integrated. 2 Integration of a Gender Equality Perspective in the Nordic National Public Budgets, 2004-2006. 3 Nordic Council of Ministers (2006). Focus on Gender Working Toward an Equal Society. Copenhagen. 4 The Nordic Council of Ministers (2011). Gender equality creates a sustainable society. Copenhagen.
Political environment at the beginning of the projects and when permanent changes are implemented. This refers to society acknowledging that equality has not been reached and that it considers it important to promote changes towards equality. Obstacles are also numerous. The first worth mentioning, is the absence of the necessary premises, e.g. if political support is non-existent or if the necessary funds or human resources would not be allocated to the project. Gender blind economic theories are also an obstacle. That is reasoned in a similar manner as when gender blind budgeting is discussed. This refers to not addressing the different effects on gender and thereby, in fact, ignoring the different status of the genders in society. Another obstacle is the lack of commitment which entails the symbolic allocation of funds to the project, without real will to change. The project then becomes a feather in the cap of the government that can claim gender budgeting is in place, but in fact, there is no intention to change the underlying premises, which form the basis of decisionmaking or the allocation of funds. In its proposals the Steering Committee has taken into account the aforementioned premises and obstacles, so as to ensure that the premises are in place and to reduce the effects of the obstacles. Objectives The budget is sometimes said to be the government's biggest policy statement. The budget reflects the prioritisation of the government where the implementation of the budget, both with regard to expenses and revenue, can have a significant effect on the status of the genders in society. The budget can increase inequality, it can maintain the status quo or it can promote equality. The objective with gender budgeting is to make the impact on the genders visible, so it is possible to respond and re-evaluate policies, expenditures, and sources of revenue in accordance with objectives for equality. The Steering Committee recommends that the following objectives should form the basis of implementing gender budgeting in the long-term: The budget should be used in a systematic way to equal the status of women and men and promote the fair allocation of public funds, as well as fair raising of public revenue. Gender budgeting should be integrated into all policy making, decision-making, and in the daily operations of public administration. If analysis reveals gender discrimination, it should lead to changed decisions so that public allocation of resources and revenue raising is fair and in accordance with the needs of both genders. Gender budgeting should become a part of public administration and good economic management, with the participation of all ministries. Knowledge gained through pilot projects should be utilised for the further build-up of knowledge and the implementation of gender budgeting. The importance of gender budgeting should be promoted through awareness raising and education. 2
The Steering Committee s Proposals In this part the proposals of the Steering Committee are discussed on how to continue implementing gender budgeting. Figure 1 shows an overview of the Steering committee s proposals for the continued implementation of gender budgeting and each part is explained in further detail below. In Annex II an overview of key players in implementation can be seen. Main Policy Areas The Steering Committee recommends that in the next phase of implementation, each ministry should choose a policy area, that will be analysed in the next three years and where gender discrimination emerges, measures should be taken for improvement. The purpose of choosing a main policy area to work on is to gain comprehensive analysis of policy areas that have considerable impact on the status of the genders, as well as re-defining policy and the allocation of funds where applicable. In some cases, three years will not be sufficient. In such cases, the project plan should entail information on how much can be achieved during those three years, and a long term plan should also be prepared, in which the policy area is analysed comprehensively and work done to incorporate gender perspectives into all policy and decision making in relation to the policy area. Ministries shall make provisions for this item in the budget for 2012. After that a period up to the end of 2011 follows, where the ministries in cooperation with the public bodies, which take part, prepare a three year work schedule, which will contain a report on the project, a time plan, and budget for the project. It is recommended that ministries and institutions tie this project into the other relevant policies as well as adapting current tools and processes to the methods of gender budgeting. The Steering Committee will provide further instructions for the ministries and institutions on the criteria for choosing a main policy area, which will be sent from the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance. The Steering Committee recommends that the following criteria will be used as a guideline for choosing a main policy area: The policy area needs to have significant weight in the ministry. The policy area needs to have gender disaggregated statistics available or easily obtainable. 3
The policy area has to be such, that it is likely to affect the position of the genders in society. The policy area needs to be in an area, where there is support for gender budgeting. It is feasible, that knowledge of gender equality issues is present, if not, measures for improvement must be found. Responsibility: Permanent secretaries, Directors General Offices of Finance, Directors General offices the policy areas fall under. The Continuation of Current Pilot Projects It is important that the build-up of knowledge, which has begun with the pilot projects continue and it is therefore recommended, that institutions plan how those projects should continue. Responsibility: Those responsible for the pilot projects. 5 Mainstreaming One of the biggest challenges of gender budgeting is to make it sustainable, i.e. that it is mainstreamed into processes of policy making and decision making and that it becomes a part of day-to-day operations. The Steering Committee recommends the following in order to mainstream gender budgeting into the current budgetary process: In view of the difficulties faced by the treasury due to the economic crisis, and in light of the fact that gender inequality usually increases during a recession, it is desirable to use gender budgeting in measures, which are taken regarding budget cuts and job creation as well as in other areas, known to have a substantial impact on the status of women and men. It is therefore recommended that areas are chosen, which entail policy making or decision making, and that gender budgeting is applied to those areas prior to decisions being made and measures developed which are consistent with gender equality goals. The aim here is to bring the methodology closer to the decision making process and thereby meet the objective of having gender equality as the guiding light in economic management, to promote the just and fair revenue raising and allocation of public funds. Responsibility: Minster of Finance, Permanent Secretaries and Directors General Offices of Finance It is recommended that gender budgeting is made statutory and/or formalised directly. Responsibility: Ministerial Committee for Gender Equality As part of the mainstreaming of gender- and equality perspectives, it is required that gender analysis accompanies new legislation, when appropriate. The responsibility for monitoring this is on the hands of the Department of Legislative Affairs in the Prime Minister s office. The Steering Committee will examine whether it is feasible to link 5 When pilot projects are undertaken within an institution, a responsible party has to be designated at the ministry as well as the institution. 4
gender budgeting to this process in cooperation with the Department for Legislative Affairs. Responsibility: Steering Committee, Director General Department of Legislative Affairs and the Expert on Gender Equality at the Government Offices. The Steering Committee and the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance will define the role of the department in gender budgeting. Responsibility: The Steering Committee and Director General - Budget Department. It is necessary to monitor the projects and evaluate the results. The Steering Committee will find monitoring and evaluation of projects a permanent place within the public administration. Responsibility: Steering Committee and Project Manager The Steering Committee will develop criteria to evaluate how the implementation has progressed. Responsibility: The Steering Committee Information on gender budgeting will be published in the State Budget each year. This should be done in the same manner as it was done in the State Budget for 2011, i.e. there should be a general text on the progress of implementation and the work in general as well as a specific section dedicated to gender budgeting for each ministry. Responsibility: Director General - Budget Department of the Finance Ministry and the Steering Committee. A yearly status meeting to be held with Permanent Secretaries. Responsibility: Permanent Secretaries and Steering Committee Consultation meetings to continue where those who work on projects in gender budgeting can meet, exchange information, and network. Responsibility: The Steering Committee It is recommended that the Steering Committee is assigned the task of preparing a medium and long-term plan for the continued implementation before this plan expires. The plan should be ready in December 2013. Responsibility: The Steering Committee Gender Disaggregated Statistics As previously stated, one of the premises for the successful implementation of gender budgeting, is that gender disaggregated statistics are accessible. In Article 16 of the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men it states: "In the compilation of official economic reports on individuals and in canvassing interviews and opinion surveys, a distinction shall be drawn between the sexes in the collection of data, data processing and the publication of information unless special circumstances, e.g. the protection of personal privacy, argue against doing so. It is a known fact that gender disaggregated statistics are not always readily available, and the Steering Committee therefore emphasise the importance of working towards 5
increased accessibility of gender disaggregated statistics during the three year period of the plan. It is recommended that: Asynchronously to analysing the main policy area and other projects, an evaluation should be made on where there is a lack of gender disaggregated statistics, and how that can be rectified. Responsibility: Those responsible for main policy areas in ministries and the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will examine the possibility of cooperation with Statistics Iceland regarding gender disaggregated statistics. Responsibility: Steering Committee and Statistics Iceland Statistics Iceland and the Steering Committee are assigned the task of looking into the possibility of conducting a time use study in Iceland. The interplay between the unpaid and paid economy is a key factor in gender budgeting. It is important to evaluate the effects of actions on the unpaid work of women and men. In this context, it is considered necessary to have a time use study which entails a study of how the genders use their time on unpaid work. They have been conducted in other countries, but not in Iceland. Nevertheless, studies have been done, which show that unpaid work in care and housework, is divided unequally between the genders, as women still bear the main responsibility of this work. First, a preliminary survey is done on how extensive the research is, and what granting options are available to finance the research. Following that, the relevant budgetary arrangements will be made. Responsibility: The Ministry of Finance and Statistics Iceland Cooperation Experience from abroad has shown that cooperation with different institutions outside public administration can prove beneficial for the implementation of gender budgeting. The importance of cooperating with municipalities, the academia, trade unions, women s movements, associations, and others who intend to take part in gender budgeting is therefore stressed. Responsibility: Steering Committee and Project Manager Education The Steering Committee has stressed the importance of education in the first phase of implementation. That involves, inter alia, the publication of a handbook, conferences, seminars, and presentations. It is recommended that intensive work in awareness-raising is continued, with the aim of increasing knowledge and awareness of gender budgeting. The methods of gender budgeting along with general education should be emphasised, which promote increased knowledge of what this methodology entails, what its benefits are, and its importance. This should be done through seminars, conferences, publication of a report with conclusions and lessons learnt from pilot projects, and publication of a new handbook. The Centre for Gender Equality is an important partner regarding education. The Centre provides professional 6
assistance for the implementation and processing of projects, as well as providing general education on gender mainstreaming and the status of equality. Responsibility: Steering Committee and Project Manager Capital and Human Resources One of the premises for the successful implementation of gender budgeting is that sufficient capital and human resources are allocated to the project. In this chapter the necessary premises will be described in more detailed, and what needs to be added for the successful implementation in the next three years. Available Resources 6 The Steering Committee is appointed until year-end 2011. Project Manager (temporary position). Employees of ministries and institutions that will work on the pilot projects. What is Needed in Addition? Experience from other countries on the implementation has shown that the lack of long-term commitment has impact on projects and their future. It is therefore important that ministries and institutions realise that gender budgeting is to be done in earnest, and that it is not a short-term project. The capital and human resources, which the Steering Committee considers necessary for the successful implementation and to embed gender budgeting, are: In a proposal for parliamentary resolution on a plan in equality for four years, 2011-2014 (parliamentary document 401-334 case) it states that a steering committee for gender budgeting will steer the project. The Steering Committee, however, is only appointed until the end of 2011. The Steering Committee must be appointed for the entire period of the plan. The position of project manager should be made permanent within the Ministry of Finance, and a place found for it in the organisation chart of the Ministry. Funding has to be allocated to the following items: Publication of reports on the conclusions of projects, conferences, participation in foreign conferences, seminars, educational material, and payments to speakers, publication of handbook, and other relevant costs. It is recommended, that ISK 15 million in total, is allocated to this item, which is distributed evenly across the three years, i.e. ISK 5 million per year. It is possible, that funds have to be allocated to Statistics Iceland for the time use study or the gender analysis of statistics. As stated in the chapter on the Steering Committee s proposals, it is recommended that the Steering Committee map out the 6 In addition, several of the leading experts in GB have visited Iceland, participated in conferences and held seminars. 7
need for data in cooperation with Statistics Iceland. That work has yet to be done and therefore, no funds have been allocated to that project in the bill for the budget in 2012 but instead the need should be estimated for the budget in 2013. Final Words The implementation of gender budgeting will span a longer period than the three years which have been planned for here. In the next three years it is, however, expected that large steps forward can be taken. In its proposals, the Steering Committee has approached the implementation process from a number of different standpoints. The importance of analysing particular policy areas is stressed, as well as education and cooperation on measures being taken, when necessary. Last but not least, the importance of gender budgeting becoming a part of decision making and policy making, is stressed, and integrating the methodology into day-today operations. Gender budgeting is a policy as well as a methodology. With sheer determination, it is possible to implement gender budgeting in Iceland, so that the overriding objective is reached; that the budget neither leads to increased inequality, nor maintains a status quo, but rather, that it advances us closer to equality. 8
ANNEX I The following image shows a time schedule for each item of the three year plan. 9
ANNEX II The responsible parties are specified for all of the Steering Committee s proposals, and here their role will be described in a few words. Gender budgeting is both a policy and a methodology, and thus the policy needs to be supported, as well as the implementation. Note that the list is not exhaustive, and not nearly all stakeholders are defined, such as municipalities, academia, trade unions and women s movements. The government plays a key role in the implementation of gender budgeting with political will and support for decisions and measures taken to support the process. The Ministerial Committee for Equality plays a leading role in ensuring that the policy is backed up, as well as its implementation by means of factual discussions on gender budgeting within the government. The Ministry of Finance is the ministry which steers the implementation of gender budgeting. The Steering Committee in gender budgeting is responsible for developing the practical aspects of implementation and following up on pilot projects, as well as education. The Project Manager manages pilot projects and is responsible for education. The Budget Department of the Finance Ministry is responsible for the main tasks in preparing the fiscal budget and prepares fiscal policy according to the main points of political emphasis. Successful implementation cannot be realised without the participation and cooperation of the Budget Department, as it is the contact point with all of the other ministries. The Director Generals Offices of Finances are responsible for finances, the operation of ministries, and its institutions, and are often specified as the responsible parties in the Steering Committee s proposals. It is important that they work with the Director Generals in those offices which the pilot projects fall under. The Director Generals are defined as the responsible parties of the projects which fall under their offices. The Centre for Gender Equality provides professional assistance for the implementation and processing of projects as well as providing general education on gender mainstreaming. The Centre will also share the experience and knowledge gained from these projects through seminars and publications. Equality Opportunity Officers are not defined as responsible parties for the implementation of specific items in the plan. Nevertheless, they play an important role as advisors and for support in the implementation process. Statistics Iceland is the centre of official statistics. As gender disaggregated statistics is one of the premises for successful implementation, it is of primary importance that Statistics Iceland is a partner in the implementation of gender budgeting. The Budget Committee receives the budget bill, the supplementary budget bill, and the bill on the approval of the state accounts after the 1st and 2nd discussion in the Althingi. 10
The Budget Committee is not defined as a responsible party for specific items of this plan, but nevertheless, it is important that the Committee is aware of its role when it comes to enforcing the policy on gender budgeting in reality. Institutions often manage the implementation of pilot projects and the same is expected to apply for the main policy areas. Managers and employees of the government's institutions are also defined as key players in implementation. The proposals do not distinguish between employees of institutions, or ministries, but refer directly to the responsible parties of the pilot projects. 11