Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspective
Open Access

Abstract

The Need for Gender-Responsive Budget for the Empowerment of Women

Dr.HaseenaV.A

Gender responsive budgets have emerged as an important and widespread strategy for scrutinizing government budgets for their contribution to gender equality. They have utilized a variety of tools and processes to assess the impact of government expenditures and revenues on the social and economic position of men, women, boys and girls. The purpose of these assessments of the gender impacts of budgets are threefold and interrelated. One is to raise awareness and understanding of gender issues in budgets and policies. A second is to foster the accountability of governments for their gender equality commitments. Another is to ultimately change budgets and policies in the light of the assessments and having effected accountability. Gender responsive budget initiatives are a gender mainstreaming strategy that directs attention to economic policy by focussing on government budgets. These exercises have taken on, and been influenced by, the discourse of good governance that has characterised the public sectors reforms of the past decade.