Gender-responsive budgeting encouraged for inclusive development

The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection continues to encourage the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting so that inclusive development can be realised, namely development that can be felt equally by all members of society.

“Policy cannot simply stop at the normative level. The commitment of every ministry/agency, the central government, and regional governments at the provincial, regency, and city levels is essential to translate gender mainstreaming into programmes, activities, public service budgets, and development outcomes that are felt evenly throughout Indonesia,” said Deputy for Gender Equality at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Amurwani Dwi Lestariningsih in Jakarta on Monday.

She made the statement in a dialogue titled “Gender-Responsive Budgeting as a Strategic Agenda of the Ministry of Finance for Inclusive Development and Quality Public Spending”.

According to her, the gender gap that still exists in Indonesia also contributes to the emergence of cases of violence against women.

Therefore, public policy requires affirmation that genuinely sides with women, one of which is based on disaggregated data.

“The need for gender-disaggregated data is crucial so that the government can formulate policies that are well targeted and suited to the specific needs of women. Government budget allocations must be present to answer and address the impact of the gender issues occurring today,” said Amurwani Dwi Lestariningsih.

She emphasised that the success of Gender-Responsive Budgeting is not only measured by budget tagging alone, but also by the commitment to incorporate gender mainstreaming issues into the substance of work programmes.

In addition, instruments are needed that are capable of tracking the quality and impact of such state spending.

“As the national machinery, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection plays an important role in orchestrating and ensuring that gender mainstreaming issues become a primary concern of all ministries and agencies in Indonesia,” she said.

On that occasion, Amurwani also expressed appreciation for the progressive step taken by the Ministry of Finance in launching seven microlearning modules on Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting.

She expressed hope that this innovation would not only be utilised internally by the Ministry of Finance, but would also be widely accessed by other ministries and agencies.