Gender Responsive Budgeting Training in Reykjavik

Program Introduction

Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is a governance tool for analyzing and restructuring budget revenues and expenditures to fairly represent the diverse needs of women, men, girls, and boys. GRB is an essential component of both gender and fiscal justice. It does not imply the creation of separate budgets for women and men. Instead, it suggests that systemic inequalities need to be addressed by ensuring that public resource allocation reflects varied needs of both groups fairly. Gender responsive budgeting is a step towards accountability to women’s rights as well as greater public transparency.

This training program has exclusively been developed by Risalat to help public servants and finance professionals effectively engage in mainstreaming gender in planning and budgeting processes at country level.

Target Audience

This training program has been tailored to benefit a variety of groups including but not limited to:

• Finance professionals
• Budget analysts and budgeting specialists
• Government representatives
• Sustainability professionals
• Gender consultants and researchers
• Members of civil society organizations

Program Objectives

The ultimate aim of the program is to help participants enshrine gender analysis into budgeting processes. Upon the successful completion of the training, it is expected that the delegates will be able to:

• Comprehend the impact of gender parity on economic and social outcomes.
• Analyze and identify gender-specific needs and set public budget priorities accordingly.
• Apply gender-responsive criteria to budget allocation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Ensure accountability and transparency in budgeting processes and practices via gender lens.
• Advocate for gender-responsive policymaking and help drive systemic change.

Program Contents

First Day

• The concept and principles of gender responsive budgeting
• Understanding gender equality and equity
• The concept of gender intersectionality
• Identification of gender gaps and disparities
• Gender dynamics

Second Day

• Gender analysis, budget planning, and allocation
• Gender-sensitive budget priorities
• Costing tools
• Key instruments for gender-sensitive budgeting
• Gender-specific indicators
• Gender budget statements and reports
• Data requirements for gender budget analysis

Third Day

• Gender responsive budget monitoring
• Advocating for gender responsive budgeting
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
• Communicating with decision-makers
• Action plan development for gender-responsive budgeting
• Evaluating budgets against gender responsiveness criteria

Program Methodology

This training course has been developed alongside adult learning theory and proven techniques. It combines elements of blended and experiential learning. These include open presentations, case studies, simulations, group projects, and collaborative assignments.

Host Country Profile

Iceland began implementing GRB in the early 2000s, focusing on legislative requirements and strategy development, including the use of gender impact assessments and gender-sensitive budgeting tools. The government has pushed all significant policies and budgetary decisions to be analyzed for gender implications and, where relevant, focus on closing gender gaps. Today, Iceland serves as a role model for the nations yet to implement GRB into their public finance management.