Budget

Budget as a category in this framework speaks to internal (to the institution) resource allocations, including earmarks and other means of dedicating funds to the gender mandate.

Putting it in Practice

Explore a story illuminating the practical implementation of this element

“The budget is where we prove our commitment to gender equality. Setting aside budget for our institution’s gender staffing and capacity building was our first step. Each team and region also has budget targets so we can track our investments’ commitment to gender equality. These targets ladder up so we can track progress on our institutional investments worldwide, and challenge other institutions to do the same. Budget targets keep us and our grantees accountable -- grantees that dedicate more budget to gender equality help us meet our targets as well.”

  • STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

    How are budgets allocated to gender?

    • The institution commits an annual attribution of funding against a set number of institutional gender priority areas.

    • The institution sets a minimum quantified budget target (based on the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] gender equality policy marker score, or UN-System-Wide Action Plan [UN-SWAP] minimum standard) for gender-related efforts.

    • The “gender marker” attribution tracks the investments' level of gender integration along the “gender continuum” (e.g., gender unintentional, intentional, transformational) by investment type and quantity/amount.

    • The institution’s gender equality budgetary commitments are integrated into existing institution-wide instruments and approaches (e.g., blended finance models or sustainability-linked finance models [gender bonds, etc.] that create additional lending capacity to financial institutions).

    ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

    How are budgetary commitments that support the gender mandate enforced?

    • Foreign policy and political will serve to incentivize institution funding priorities, commitments, and targets (e.g., a higher level of political scrutiny will serve as an enforcement mechanism for budgetary commitments.).

    • Some funding priorities are "earmarked", therefore requiring specified spending levels and/or budgetary reporting to Congress/Parliament. Congress/Parliament may request that institution leadership attend hearings to respond to questions.

    • Institutions require certain "Key Issues" to be reported upon in order to track institution spending in those areas.

    • Some bilateral institutions adhere to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) reporting requirements for gender, enforcing budgetary commitments and allocations in specified areas.

    • Internal institution "gender markers" or “gender tags” serve to track and hold the institution accountable to financial allocations and expenditures.

    • NGO "watchdog" organizations apply pressure on institutions to carry out their commitments, serving as an external enforcement mechanism. They request meetings with institution leadership to hear about levels of expenditure, request access to records through ‘freedom of information’ policies, etc.

    • Funding recipients/implementing partners apply pressure to institutions when they question procedures or provide public statements, serving as external enforcement mechanisms.

    RECOMMENDATIONS

    What conditions might help enforce institutional budgetary allocations to align with the gender mandate?

    START HERE: Ensure there is an adequate, dedicated budget for gender (including for internal gender staffing and capacity building), in order to enable institution efforts.

    • Broader political commitment to gender provides an enabling environment for institutions to reach/accomplish their financial commitments.

    • Earmarks ensure spending: Country offices/missions meet earmarks if they are required to do so.

    • Gender marker/tagging serves as an effective mechanism to track spending, when required consistently and uniformly. This needs frequent tech support to ensure effective implementation.

    • Investments in stand-alone gender activities/projects are easier to track and account for investments, compared with funds attributed to gender when integrated into other projects. Advocate for percent allocation for stand-alone technical assistance to clearly translate into budget earmarks for gender.

    • Track investment levels of gender-specific technical assistance within an overall project to account against the overall budgetary commitment for gender.

    • Corporate gender funding targets are an effective mechanism for certain institutions who are very target-driven.

    • Consider corporate gender funding targets as an effective mechanism for institutions who are very target-driven.

    • Ensure that a recourse mechanism is in place when commitments aren’t met.

    • Instate clear accountability mechanisms for gender in country management plans (e.g., hold regular meetings to discuss gender priorities, etc.), making gender-related spending easier to track and enforce.

    • Track gender budget expenditures against targets annually and make the results available within institutions and to external stakeholders.