Gender Responsiveness

According to Commission for equity (2018), Gender responsive planning, budgeting,
monitoring, evaluation and auditing is an imperative in achieving the country’s constitutional

vision of a non-sexist society. It is aimed at ensuring better outcomes for women and girls and
more tangible gender impacts in Zambia. Investing in women’s empowerment Gender
responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and auditing and reducing the gender gap
is an important driver of inclusive economic growth and development and will benefit both
women and men, boys and girls.
Gender responsive budgeting as an important component of GRPMBEA and aims to bring

gender mainstreaming to public finances, which eventually results in gender responsive budgets.
Gender responsive budgets are not separate budgets for women but are general budgets that are
planned, approved, executed, monitored and audited in a gender responsive way. The primary
objective of gender responsive budgeting is to ensure that resources are raised and spent to
eliminate gender disparities.
Recent research undertaken by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has clearly
shown that a reduction in gender inequality is also beneficial for economic growth. This research
provides strong evidence that inequality between women and men is costing the world billions a
year in lost economic growth. The IMF suggests that countries should use their annual budgets to
ensure that public money is spent to reduce the gender gap. The World Bank argues that
empowering female entrepreneurs has the potential to create jobs, increase incomes, lift millions
out of poverty, and lead to greater economic and social transformation (2014).
GRPBMEA is therefore a critical strategy in harnessing the gender dividend and ensuring a
paradigm shift towards gender mainstreaming across the state machinery and taking forward the
country’s efforts. For example, South Africa was previously seen as leading globally on Gender
Responsive Budgeting (GRB) initiatives and provided support to a number of African countries
in developing their GRB systems. Over 100 countries globally have or are currently
implementing GRB initiatives (UN Women 2015), across all regions of the world including
countries in Africa, such as Uganda and Rwanda, as well as BRICS countries such as China and
India.
A number of important gender equality and women’s empowerment policies and systems are
outdated, with a lack of implementation and monitoring of implementation. For example, South
Africa’s National Policy Framework for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality, dates
back to 2000. While the Department of Women has made a number of important interventions
over the past year, there is limited evidence of the monitoring of gender programs within national
monitoring and reporting systems or by parliamentary oversight committees. Oversight on
women’s empowerment and gender equality tends to be limited to the Portfolio Committee on
Women rather than as a transversal responsibility of all committees (Akram-Lodhi & van
Staveren , 2003).
This Gender Policy Framework attempts to ensure that the process of achieving gender equality
is at the very center of the transformation process in South Africa within all the structures,
institutions, policies, procedures, practices and programs of government, its agencies and
parastatals, civil society and the private sector. Challenges facing Zambia in the Policy
Framework, it is stated that Zambia is faced with many challenges. To achieve a society free of
racism and sexism the country must undergo a paradigm shift with regard to how resources are
allocated and how people relate to each other ( British Council , 2005). The challenges facing
Zambia have been translated into national priorities. All of these priorities have compelling
gender dimensions which need to be addressed if the country is to advance towards gender
equality. Gender concerns social relations between the sexes, including the power relations
which determine gender relations and which sustain patriarchy. It refers to socially constructed
roles, behavior’s, attitudes, attributes and social norms which are normalized by society and
which act as signifiers for men and women, boys and girls.
According to Bellamy, (2002), gender and the attendant social roles assigned to men and women
are buttressed by a strong ideological apparatus which underpins patriarchal relations and
unequal gender relations. Patriarchy is not just about power relations dominated by men but also
about systemic, institutional and ideological machinations that legitimate the subordination of
women by men.
In conclusion, If the country is to achieve its goal to build a non-sexist society and achieve
gender equality and women’s empowerment, systems of unequal gender relations and oppression
against women have to be dismantled. This includes setting clear policy goals, ensuring
deliberate strategic interventions at the macro and micro levels and the mobilization of strategic
partnerships and active citizenry towards women’s empowerment and gender equality goals.
At the policy level, there is a need to ensure that gender responsive legislative and policy
instruments and commitments, including international, continental and regional conventions to
which Zambia is a signatory, are effectively translated into appropriately designed programs and
budgets across government and public entities. This requires the development and
implementation of government-wide gender-responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring and
evaluation systems in order to achieve gender impacts and gender equality.
References
Akram-Lodhi & van Staveren (2003). A Gender Analysis of The Impact of Indirect Taxes On
Small and Medium Enterprises in Vietnam. Institute of Social Studies. http://www.gender-
budgets.org/uploads/userS/11134035231SMEs_in_Vietnam.pdf
Batmunkh & Uranchimeg (2004). Gender Analysis of the Public Budget on the Employment
Sector Survey Report. UNDP Capacity Building on Gender Sensitive Budgeting Project in
Mongolia Ministry of Finance and Economy Poverty Research Group.
http://www.undp.mn/index.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloaddetails&lid=132
Bellamy, K. (2002). Gender Budgeting A Background paper for the Council of Europe's
Informal Network of Experts on Gender Budgeting, UK. Council of Europe.
British Council (2005). Gender equality news Promoting gender equality.
Budlender, D. (2005). Expectations versus Realities in Gender-responsive Budget Initiatives.

Draft Working Document. Geneva, UNRISD.
http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC17943&resource=f1gender.
Budlender et al (2005). Gender-Responsive Budgeting through the CBMS Lens Implementing the
Community-Based Monitoring System in a way that facilitates gender-responsive budgeting.
Report from a meeting organized in Manila, Philippines March 2005. Gender-responsive
Budgeting Through the CBMS Lens.
Budlender, D. (2004). The Department of Labor. Paper obtained through personal

communication, 31 July 2005.
Budlender et al (2004). Budgets and the Informal Economy: An Analysis of the Impact of the
Budget on Informal Workers in South Africa. South Africa, Community Agency for Social
Enquiry (CASE) and School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Budlender, et al (2002). Gender Budgets Make Cents Understanding gender-responsive budgets.

Commonwealth Secretariat.

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According to Commission for equity (2018), Gender responsive planning, budgeting,

monitoring, evaluation and auditing is an imperative in achieving the country’s constitutional

Gender responsive budgeting as an important component of GRPMBEA and aims to bring

British Council (2005). Gender equality news Promoting gender equality.

Budlender, D. (2005). Expectations versus Realities in Gender-responsive Budget Initiatives.

Budlender, D. (2004). The Department of Labor. Paper obtained through personal

Budlender, et al (2002). Gender Budgets Make Cents Understanding gender-responsive budgets.

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