GENDER ORIENTED BUDGETING AS A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY

Abstract

The article explores the issues of gender-oriented budgeting as a tool of gender-sensitive policy, which enables to ensure gender equality, increase the efficiency of use of the budgetary funds and achieve a fair distribution of the budgetary expenditures by gender. The national legislative framework for gender budgeting has been analyzed. Gender analysis has been identified as a tool for examining the socio-economic differences between women and men, girls and boys. The main steps of the gender budgeting analysis are outlined. It is substantiated that gender-oriented budgeting, as a management technology tool, allows us to assess how and to what extent the public budget spending policies affect men and women (girls and boys) as service consumers, infrastructure users and taxpayers. Gender budgeting was found to relate to both the revenue and expenditure side of the budget; means budgeting centered on people by their gender (both adults and children); prompting a more thorough examination of the results of the budget implementation; calls for a broader range of stakeholders to participate, and therefore, forges democratic processes. Therefore, when allocating funds to healthcare, education, sports, social policy institutions, one should consider the gender dimension and keep in mind that the needs of women and men, girls and boys are different. It is proved that the essence of gender-oriented budgeting — this new tool for Ukraine — is to plan the revenue and expenditure part of the state and local budgets with respect to who will be the end consumer of the services financed by the respective budget. That is, the overall goal of the gender-oriented budgeting is to increase economic efficiency and transparency of the budget expenditures, taking into account the needs of women and men, girls and boys.