Gender budgeting in the Nordic Council of Ministers

1. Gender budgeting in the Nordic Council of Ministers Søren Juel Andersen Adviser sja@norden.org

2. Background • Resolution made by the Co-operation Ministers in June 2000 • The Nordic Countries has committed themselves to incorporate gender equality perspectives into all important political decision-making (mainstreaming) • This applies also to national budgets which are central tools to: • Economic policy • Implementation of government policies

3. The main goals of the Nordic Council of Ministers • To incorporate gender and equality perspectives into all activities • To develop methods to assess the effects of Nordic Councils of Ministers budgets of gender equality • To use the assessments to incorporate the gender equality perspective

4. The budget as an instrument • The budget has a tendency to mirror the society, including its inequalities. • The budget can on the other hand be a powerful instrument for equalizing the society • The budget process is a highly complex decision-making process affected by numerous interests and perspectives • Balancing these different objectives is challenging and it can be difficult to give gender equality a voice • The gender perspective are more likely to have an effect if it is integrated into both existing and new budgetary tools and processes

5. Incorporating mainstreaming into the budget process • The budget process is often conservative and changes happens slowly and are incremental • It is important to focused and set realistic goals • It can be useful to focus on practical examples and identify barriers to introduction of gender oriented budgeting • It is often easier to start at the local level than the entire budget

6. Output focus • Decentralizing of the budget process means that decision-making takes place on more than more level • There is not necessarily any mechanical correlation between input and outcomes • Focus on input not necessarily improve gender equality if barriers are institutional • Output focus is more likely to provide the information which can improve policy design and the use of resources • Increased output focus in the budget process can facilitate gender equality

7. Implementation Plans for mainstreaming the budget Collection of data New priorities and strategies Evaluation of results

8. The first steps in the budget of the Nordic Council of Ministers • A number of councils have been selected as pilots • Focus on activities where gathering of data is easy • Started with services which is easily measurable in a gender perspective • Initially it is possibly for app. 25 % of the budget

9. Status in 2004 • Gender equality information are now available for app. half of the relevant budget accounts • Relevance and quality fluctuate

10. Overview of budget accounts

11. The degree of inequality of the distribution 47 %* 14 %* * Numbers = percent of the total number of gender relevant budget accounts

12. Examples of gender equality information

13. An attempt to interpret the information • Overall equality and balance • Wide variation depending on the type of information • Often the distribution seems to reflect the society as a whole • However there are examples where NCM do better than the society as a whole: • Result of allocating resources to gender equalization • The existence of other competing arrangements which are more dominated by men

14. Moving on.. • All councils must be expected to present plans for incorporating a gender perspective • Those councils which already have relevant information will present it in their budget proposals • … as well as assess the need for alternative priorities or new strategies in response to the information • It is mandatory for all councils to provide gender equalizing information and statistics latest 2005 (2006 budget)