In Ukraine, the Budget Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men”, the Strategy for Reforming the State Finance Management System for 2017-2020 and the Action Plan for its Implementation serve as thebasis for implementing measures to implement a gender approach in the budget process.
Thus, the Decree of the CMU clearly states that “The program-target method should ensure the optimal use of limited budget resources to achieve the maximum efficiency and quality of the provision of services by the state... The integration of a gender-oriented approach into the budget process will ensure an increase in the efficiency and quality of the provided public services, taking into account the needs of social groups, including on the basis of gender, will make it possible to strengthen the accountability of managers of budget funds and the transparency of the budget, will ensure the effective assessment of performance indicators with the aim of making timely management decisions aimed at adjusting the activities of the budget institution to achieve goals”.
The Order of the Ministry of Finance as of January 02, 2019 No. 1 approved Methodological recommendations for the implementation and application of a gender-oriented approach in the budget process (hereinafter - Methodological recommendations). Also, in 2019, a norm was introduced regarding the display by the chief managers when forming effective indicators of budget programmes of the degree of ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men, benefits for society from the point of view of ensuring gender equality (amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Finance as of December 10, 2010 No. 1536 “On Effective indicators of the budget programme”).
According to the Methodological Recommendations, a gender-oriented approach in the budget process is the consideration of gender aspects at all stages of the budget process and highlighting in the relevant budget documents the focus on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men (gender equality). It also provides an explanation of what a gender-sensitive budget programme is and what it includes.
Gender-oriented budgeting (hereinafter - GOB) is an effective tool for achieving gender equality, recognized throughout the world, which contributes to increasing the efficiency of the use of budget funds.
In this context, in March 2019, the NAСS, the Project “Gender Budgeting in Ukraine” and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Representation in Ukraine concluded a Cooperation Agreement with the aim of ensuring effective cooperation, according to which the parties will work towards the inclusion of gender equality and gender-oriented budgeting for educational programmes of the system of training, specialization and advanced training of civil servants and local self-government officials.
In 2019, NACS together with partners held 6 trainings on gender-oriented budgeting for trainers in different cities of Ukraine. Representatives of the NACS and its interregional offices (40 people), higher education institutions that provide master's training in the specialty “Public management and administration” (91 people), and regional advanced training centers (30 people) took part in the trainings.
At the same time, in 2020, within the cooperation of the NACS, the Project “Gender Budgeting in Ukraine” and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Representation in Ukraine a manual “Applying of a gender-oriented approach in the budget process” was prepared. The publication defines the essence of gender policy, reveals the content of the gender-oriented approach and methods of its application in the budget process, characterizes the essence of gender influence in public administration.
The manual is available at http://www.center.gov.ua/biblioteka
