Training on Gender-Responsive Budgeting and Policy Analysis

Governments worldwide are increasingly recognizing that public policies, budgets, and development programs often affect women, men, girls, and boys differently. While national budgets are commonly perceived as gender-neutral, the allocation of public resources can inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities if gender considerations are not systematically integrated into planning, budgeting, implementation, and evaluation processes.

Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is an internationally recognized approach that examines how public expenditures, revenues, policies, and programs impact different population groups and seeks to ensure that resource allocation contributes to gender equality and inclusive development. Rather than creating separate budgets for women and men, GRB focuses on integrating gender perspectives into mainstream budgeting and policy processes to improve equity, effectiveness, accountability, and development outcomes.

Gender-responsive policy analysis complements this approach by assessing how laws, regulations, strategies, and programs influence gender equality, access to opportunities, economic participation, service delivery, social protection, education, healthcare, employment, and broader development goals. Effective gender analysis helps policymakers identify disparities, understand underlying causes, evaluate policy impacts, and design interventions that address structural inequalities.

International frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Gender Equality Agenda, and various regional and national commitments have strengthened the importance of integrating gender considerations into public financial management and policymaking. Governments, development agencies, and public institutions increasingly require professionals who can apply gender-responsive approaches to planning, budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation.

This course provides comprehensive training on gender-responsive budgeting and policy analysis. Participants learn how to conduct gender analysis, assess budget allocations, identify gender gaps, develop gender-responsive policies, establish performance indicators, and integrate gender considerations into public sector decision-making.

Through practical exercises, budget analysis workshops, policy assessments, case studies, stakeholder engagement activities, and implementation planning sessions, participants develop the skills necessary to advance gender equality through evidence-based budgeting and policymaking.

Duration

5 Days

Who Should Attend

• Government officials and policymakers
• Public finance and budget officers
• Planning and development professionals
• Gender specialists and focal points
• Monitoring and evaluation practitioners
• Public sector managers
• Parliamentarians and legislative staff
• Development agency personnel
• Civil society and NGO professionals
• Researchers and academics
• Local government officials
• Governance and public administration professionals

Individual Impact

• Strengthen expertise in gender analysis and public finance
• Improve budgeting and policy evaluation capabilities
• Enhance understanding of inclusive governance approaches
• Develop stronger analytical and stakeholder engagement skills
• Improve monitoring and reporting competencies
• Strengthen professional effectiveness in policy and development roles

Organizational Impact

• Improve equity and inclusiveness in public spending
• Strengthen accountability and budget transparency
• Enhance policy effectiveness and development outcomes
• Support compliance with national and international gender commitments
• Improve allocation of resources to underserved populations
• Promote inclusive governance and sustainable development

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the principles and objectives of gender-responsive budgeting
• Conduct gender analysis of policies, programs, and budgets
• Identify gender disparities and resource allocation gaps
• Apply gender-responsive budgeting tools and methodologies
• Integrate gender perspectives into planning and budgeting processes
• Develop gender-sensitive performance indicators and targets
• Assess policy impacts on different population groups
• Strengthen accountability and transparency in public spending
• Support inclusive and equitable development outcomes
• Design gender-responsive policy and budgeting frameworks

Module 1: Foundations of Gender Equality and Gender-Responsive Governance

• Concepts of gender equality and social inclusion
• Gender and development frameworks
• Gender dimensions of public policy
• International and national gender commitments
• Introduction to gender-responsive governance
• Exercise: Gender equality assessment
• Case Study: Gender-responsive governance reforms

Module 2: Principles and Frameworks of Gender-Responsive Budgeting

• Understanding gender-responsive budgeting
• Public financial management and gender considerations
• Budget cycles and entry points for gender integration
• Institutional arrangements for GRB
• Global experiences and lessons learned
• Exercise: GRB framework analysis
• Case Study: National gender budgeting initiatives

Module 3: Gender Analysis of Policies and Programs

• Gender analysis methodologies
• Gender-disaggregated data and indicators
• Identifying gender gaps and inequalities
• Policy impact assessment techniques
• Stakeholder and beneficiary analysis
• Exercise: Gender policy analysis workshop
• Case Study: Gender-responsive policy reforms

Module 4: Gender Budget Analysis and Resource Allocation

• Budget review and expenditure analysis
• Revenue and taxation from a gender perspective
• Tracking gender-related expenditures
• Developing gender budget statements
• Performance-based budgeting approaches
• Exercise: Gender budget assessment simulation
• Case Study: Sectoral budget analysis

Module 5: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Institutionalization

• Gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation frameworks
• Developing indicators and reporting systems
• Accountability and transparency mechanisms
• Institutionalizing gender-responsive budgeting
• Future trends in inclusive public finance
• Capstone Exercise: Develop a gender-responsive budgeting and policy analysis framework
• Case Study: Sustaining gender-responsive governance initiatives