## _wp16150

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### II. Gender equality in Asia — key findings and indicator trends
- Asian countries show differing degrees of gender inequality; most are middle or lower income (Figure 1).
- Progress and indicator trends:
  - Gross secondary enrollment (female to male ratio): trend toward greater equality (Figure 2).
  - Child mortality, under the age of 5 (female to male ratio): female survival advantage is natural; India shows a high ratio indicating significant female disadvantage (Figure 3).
  - Maternal mortality ratio (modeled estimate, per 100,000 live births): almost universal declining trend though maternal mortality remains high (Figure 4).
  - Labor force participation rate, ages 15–64 (female to male ratio): trend toward equality, though several countries show a declining ratio (Figure 5).
  - Seats held by women in national parliaments (percent of total): trends point to an increased role for women (Figure 6).
- Aggregate index:
  - Gender Development Index (GDI, time-consistent version): presented for latest year available; values range from 0 to 1 where higher numbers represent more equality (Figure 7).
- Caveats:
  - Missing women concept cited (Klasen and Wink 2003); natural advantage of girls in survival complicates interpretation.

### III. Fiscal context and overview of gender budgeting in Asia — context and institutional observations
- Fiscal context:
  - Size of public sector varies across the region (public expenditure to GDP ratio).
  - Low level of human development expenditure, especially health and education.
  - Relatively weak public financial management scores in a few Asia Pacific countries.
  - No comprehensive studies on macroeconomic impacts of fiscal austerity and fiscal rules on gender inequality in the region; econometric testing of gender budgeting impacts is premature in most cases.
- Overview of practice:
  - Gender budgeting undertaken by many Asian nations; often driven “within government” by Ministries of Finance with support from think tanks and others.
  - Gender Budget Statements within budget papers are a noted strength for transparency and accountability.
  - Subnational gender budgeting is important but still limited.
- Legal standing and mandates:
  - Legislation supporting gender budgeting is rare; more often a fiscal fiat than legal fiat.
  - Countries with legal mandates (Table 2):
    - The Philippines — Gender and Development (GAD) Budget, earmarking 5 per cent of all sectoral budgets for women. Year of Commencement: 1995.
    - The Republic of Korea — National Finance Law (Articles 16, 26, 57, 68-2, 73-2). Year of Commencement: 2006.
- Revenue-side approaches (Table 3 overview):
  - Direct income taxes: examples include India (prior differential exemption for women, revoked) and Vietnam (tax exemption for women entrepreneurs in SMEs).
  - Filing of direct taxes: personal filing instead of joint filing noted for India, Thailand (recently debated), Australia.
  - Property taxes: differential rates for women property owners in certain Indian provinces (including New Delhi).
  - Mining taxes/royalties: linking mining revenue to human development discussed in India (District Mineral Fund linkage not yet implemented).
  - Indirect taxes: tax incidence analysis by income quintiles and household type undertaken in India.
- Time use and care economy:
  - Valuation of unpaid care using time use data incorporated in some exercises (Nepal includes women’s time use as a criterion).
  - India integrated gender budgeting in the energy sector (Union Budget 2016-17; LPG subsidies to uplift poor women).

### Country case summaries — scope, methods, outcomes
- Australia
  - Pioneer: gender budgeting at national level from 1983; three political phases (1983–1996; 1996–2007; 2007–2013).
  - Initial project (1983–1996): 13 departments; Women’s Budget Statement introduced in 1983-84.
  - Accounting framework: categories 1–3 (targeted; promote employment/equal pay; mainstream).
  - Outcomes: improved sex-disaggregated data but limited sustained policy change; Women’s Budget Statements ceased in 2014.
- India
  - Institutionalization across national and subnational levels; integrated into Budget Circulars, Expenditure Budgets, Outcome Budget.
  - Phases (Table 4):
    - 2000-03 Knowledge building and networking (NIPFP, MWCD, UNIFEM, MoF) → ex-post analysis.
    - 2004-05 Institutionalizing → Gender Budget Statements included from 2005-06; Gender Budgeting Cells (GBC).
    - 2005-present Capacity Building → training, Charter on gender budgeting.
    - 2012-present Enhancing Accountability → CAG publishing Report on Gender Budgeting in State Finance Accounts.
  - Analytical methods:
    - NIPFP three-category modification of Sharp: (i) specifically targeted to women; (ii) pro-women allocations (≥30 percent targeting); (iii) mainstream with gender-differentiated impacts (0–30 percent).
    - Fiscal marksmanship and benefit incidence analysis used; Rs.14,379 crore recorded in BE 2005-06 for 10 demands for grants.
  - Subnational examples: Karnataka (PRES classification), Kerala (Gender Board; She-Taxi; Gender Park; new Ministry for Women announced July 8th 2016 Budget).
  - Revenue-side: limited sex-disaggregated tax data; some provincial property duty differences (New Delhi: 4 per cent for property registered in woman’s name; 6 per cent for man).
- Philippines
  - GAD Budget started 1995 with earmarking at least 5 per cent of departmental expenditure for women.
  - Reforms: 2012 “harmonized GAD” rule for flexibility; critiques that 5 per cent floor became de facto ceiling and led to misuse.
  - Institutional: Philippine Commission on Women monitors compliance; GAD planning integrated in agencies; cost of implementing GAD reported as at least five percent (5 percent) of annual appropriation per General Appropriations Act.
  - Local examples: Sorsogon (health) and Hilongos (agriculture).
- Korea
  - National Finance Act (2006) mandates gender budgets and balance reports from 2010 onward; Ministry for Planning and Budget to prepare revenue-side gender budget statement from 2011.
  - Institutional support from Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI); Gender Budget Balance Sheet concept; identified 67 women-targeted projects in 2010 and 128 mainstream projects for gender analysis.
  - Applications: public infrastructure adjustments (rest room design based on waiting times: men 1 min 24 sec; women 2 min 30 sec); labor force participation research suggesting raising female LFP from 54.4 to 67.5 percent and increasing per capita income growth from 3.6 percent to 4.1 percent over a generation.
  - Challenges: integrating gender budgeting into performance budgeting and building capacity.
- Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, others
  - Bangladesh: annual gender budget report since 2009; Food for Education (FFE) program (1993) improved enrollment, with larger increases for girls.
  - Nepal: introduced classification and scoring for gender responsiveness in 2007-08; scoring schema includes values 20, 20, 30, 20, 10 for five criteria; directly responsive defined as scoring 50 percent or more.
  - Indonesia: 2008 Ministry of Finance decree; gender budget statement introduced in 2010.
  - Malaysia: gender objectives embedded in Results Framework and Program Logic Model (ProLL) from 2013.
  - Pakistan: Gender Resource Budgeting Initiative (2005); first time-use survey in 2007 (~20,000 households).
  - Sri Lanka: early pilots (1997, 2003) with benefit incidence analysis; 2004 requirement for ministries to allocate 10 percent of budgets to improve status of women; process later ended.

### Methodologies and analytical tools
- Ex-ante vs. Ex-post classification (Appendix A; Table A1):
  - Ex-ante: identify gender concerns then translate into budget objectives (e.g., Philippines at commune level; India energy sector 2016 LPG policy).
  - Ex-post: analyze whether existing allocations address gender concerns (e.g., India, Australia, Korea).
- Fiscal marksmanship: assessment of forecast errors (deviation of budget estimates and revised estimates from actual results).
- Benefit incidence analysis: formula preserved from source:
  - X_j ≡ Σ_i U_ij (S_i / U_i) ≡ Σ_i (U_ij / U_i) S_i ≡ Σ_i e_ij S_i
    - X_j = sector-specific subsidy enjoyed by group j
    - U_ij = utilization of service i by group j
    - U_i = utilization of service i by all groups combined
    - S_i = government net expenditure on service i
    - e_ij = group j’s share of utilization of service i
- NIPFP analytical matrices and practitioners’ manual used to generate Gender Budget Statements.
- Appendix B matrices I–VII (2016-17 BE/RE, 2015-16 Actuals, 2017-18 BE columns): definitions preserved including W-exp = TE * W-pro; Ex ante W-pro and Ex post W-pro definitions.

### Key findings, implementation challenges, and outcomes
- Classification and accounting gains:
  - Improved availability of sex-disaggregated data and greater understanding of gender-related concerns.
  - Institutional mechanisms (Gender Budgeting Cells; Gender Budgeting Secretariat) created capacity for gender analyses.
- Implementation gaps:
  - Significant deviations between budgeted and actual expenditure undermined intended outcomes; higher allocation did not guarantee higher actual spending for gender-sensitive programs.
  - Difficulty identifying gender-relevant components within mainstream programs from budget documents.
  - Data paucity and lack of systematic benefit incidence studies limited accountability.
  - Revenue-side gender analysis constrained by lack of sex-disaggregated tax data.
  - Political shifts and cuts in public spending led to backsliding (example: Australia).
- Country-level outcomes:
  - Modest results in most countries; substantive fiscal policy impacts mainly in India, the Philippines, and Korea.
  - Notable regional outcomes: subnational gender budgeting gains in India; Nepal’s incorporation of time use and care economy; some revenue-side innovations in Indian states.

### Policy implications and recommendations (preserved wording and emphasis)
- Strengthen data systems:
  - Improve sex-disaggregated data collection across ministries and programs to validate classifications, trace fund flows, and support benefit incidence analysis.
- Institutionalize analytical routines:
  - Implement Lahiri Committee recommendations fully, including opening a “budget head” on gender development in classification of budgetary transactions.
  - Sustain Gender Budgeting Cells with clear bureaucratic composition and responsibilities.
- Mandate and monitor implementation:
  - Enforce Budget Circular instructions requiring Ministries to undertake Demand for Grants gender analyses and report in Gender Budget Statements.
  - Strengthen accountability through follow-up of CAG gender budgeting reports and linkage to performance monitoring.
- Expand revenue-side analysis:
  - Conduct sex-disaggregated tax incidence studies and explore gender-sensitive tax measures where data permit.
- Leverage intergovernmental fiscal space:
  - Use increased unconditional transfers (e.g., devolved tax pool shares) to allow subnational governments flexibility to prioritize gender-sensitive human development.
- Build capacity and civil-society engagement:
  - Continue capacity building for GBC officials, ministries, and state officers; support civil society and research institutions to undertake ex-post analyses and microsimulations.

### Appendices and data resources
- Appendix A: Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Frameworks — classification and Table A1 examples (India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan).
- Appendix B: Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting — Matrices I–VII (MATRIX I: Public Expenditure Specifically Targeting Women (100%); MATRIX II: Pro-Women Allocation (100> exp. ≥30); MATRIX III: Residual Expenditure (0 ≥exp. > 30); MATRIX IV–V: PRESS / PRES categorisation; MATRIX VI–VII: Economic classification).
  - Key formula: W-exp = TE * W-pro; definitions of Ex ante W-pro and Ex post W-pro preserved.
- Appendix C: Gender Budgeting in Asia — selected indicators (Australia, India, Korea, The Philippines):
  - Start years: Australia 1983; India 2002; Korea 2009; The Philippines 1995.
  - End year: Australia 2014; India (blank); Korea (blank); The Philippines (blank).
  - Institutional features and checklist items for the four countries preserved as tabulated in source.

*Source: _wp16150 (IMF Working Paper content provided).*

### References .............................................................................................................

### _wp16150 - References .............................................................................................................

### Figures and Tables Inventory
- Figures (with page numbers as in source)
  - 1.  Asian Countries by Level of Income ................................................................................ 4
  - 2.  Gross Secondary Enrollment ............................................................................................ 4
  - 3.  Child Mortality, Under the Age of 5 ................................................................................ 5
  - 4.  Maternal Mortality Ratio .................................................................................................. 5
  - 5.  Labor Force Participation Rate, Ages 15-64 .................................................................... 6
  - 6.  Seats Held by Women in National Parliaments ............................................................... 6
  - 7.  GDI, Time-Consistent Version ......................................................................................... 7
  - 8.  Distribution of the Gender-Oriented Budget in the Total Budget ...................................19

- Tables (with page numbers as in source)
  - 1.  Asian Fiscal Indicators ....................................................................................................... 9
  - 2.  Legal Fiat of Gender Budgeting .......................................................................................10
  - 3.  Revenue-Side Gender Budgeting ......................................................................................11
  - 4.  Phases of Gender Budgeting in India................................................................................16
  - 5.  Institutionalizing Gender Budgeting in Korea ..................................................................28
  - 6.  Criteria of Gender Responsive Budgeting and Scores in Nepal .......................................38

- Appendices (with page numbers as in source)
  - A. Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Frameworks...................................................................................55
  - B. Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting ......................................................................56
  - C. Gender Budgeting in Asia Data Template  ......................................................................62

### Introduction — Framing and Purpose
- Context and motivation
  - Recalls the debate set off by Amartya Sen when he claimed that millions of women were “missing” in China and India, referring to the number of females who have died as a result of foeticide and unequal access to household resources, nutrition, and health care (Klasen and Wink, 2003; Klasen, 1994, 2008; Kynch and Sen, 2003).
  - States it is critical for Asian countries to assess the role of public policy, and specifically fiscal policy, in addressing gender inequality (Chakraborty, 2010a).

- Definition and scope
  - Defines gender budgeting as an approach to fiscal policies and administration that translates gender-related commitments into fiscal commitments through identified processes, resources, and institutional mechanisms.
  - Notes gender budgeting can work on both the spending and revenue sides of the budget (Chakraborty, 2014a).

- Purpose of the paper
  - Reviews gender budgeting in Asia.
  - States the work is part of a larger research project to survey worldwide practices in gender budgeting.

### Thematic Emphases and Analytical Focus
- Major gender-oriented concerns in Asia (as identified in the source)
  - Addressing the burden of the unpaid care economy.
  - Redressing female deprivation in education and health.

- Analytical components signaled by the source
  - Use of multiple indicators (education, child mortality, maternal mortality, labor force participation, parliamentary seats, GDI) as in the figures listed.
  - Examination of both legal/institutional frameworks and revenue/spending instruments (as suggested by table titles such as "Legal Fiat of Gender Budgeting" and "Revenue-Side Gender Budgeting").
  - Phased and country-specific institutionalization approaches (e.g., India, Korea, Nepal) indicated by table titles.

### Data and Methodological Resources
- Data and tools included in appendices
  - Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Frameworks (Appendix A).
  - Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting (Appendix B).
  - Gender Budgeting in Asia Data Template (Appendix C).

### Key Structural Elements for Readers
- Empirical presentation
  - Multiple figures and tables provide country-level and thematic indicators across Asia (see Figures 1–8 and Tables 1–6).
- Country case emphasis
  - Specific institutional case studies or assessments indicated for India, Korea, and Nepal (Tables 4, 5, and 6).

*Source: _wp16150 - References .............................................................................................................*

### Section II provides a summary of key regional

### _wp16150 - Section II provides a summary of key regional

### II. GENDER EQUALITY IN ASIA — key findings and indicator trends
- Asian countries encompass a range of levels of development and show differing degrees of gender inequality.
- Most countries are considered middle or lower income (Figure 1 distribution).
- General progress:
  - Asian countries have generally been making progress in addressing gender inequality and women’s advancement, even though gender inequality remains high.
  - Gross secondary enrollment (female to male ratio): trend toward greater equality (Figure 2).
  - Child mortality, under the age of 5 (female to male ratio): figures show female survival advantage is natural; India shows a high ratio indicating significant female disadvantage (Figure 3).
  - Maternal mortality ratio (modeled estimate, per 100,000 live births): almost universal declining trend though maternal mortality remains high (Figure 4).
  - Labor force participation rate, ages 15–64 (female to male ratio): trend toward equality, though several countries show a declining ratio (Figure 5).
  - Seats held by women in national parliaments (percent of total): trends point to an increased role for women (Figure 6).
- Aggregate index:
  - Gender Development Index (GDI, time-consistent version): presented for latest year available; generally ranges from 0 to 1 where higher numbers represent more equality (Figure 7).
  - Regional pattern: advanced countries and some developing countries do better overall; South Asian countries tend to lag.
- Noted caveats and references:
  - Missing women concept cited (Klasen and Wink 2003) as a severe nineteenth/twentieth-century demographic problem.
  - Natural advantage of girls in survival and missing women estimation noted as complex and beyond this paper’s scope (references cited in text).

### III. FISCAL CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF GENDER BUDGETING IN ASIA — context and institutional observations
- Fiscal context and public finance:
  - Size of public sector varies across the region (public expenditure to GDP ratio).
  - Low level of human development expenditure, especially health and education, presents a bleak picture for public finance’s role in social spending.
  - Relatively weak scores for public financial management in a few Asia Pacific countries call for strengthening fiscal administration.
  - No comprehensive studies exist on macroeconomic impacts of fiscal austerity and fiscal rules on gender inequality in the region; econometric testing of gender budgeting impacts is premature in most cases.
  - Gender budgeting experiences in the region have contributed more to judicious reprioritization of public expenditure than to increased allocations (to be revisited in country sections).
- Overview of gender budgeting practice:
  - Gender budgeting seen as a powerful tool to integrate gender into fiscal policy; undertaken by many Asian nations (advanced and developing).
  - National-level gender budgeting does not fully address fiscal challenges in countries with heterogeneous regions and decentralization; subnational gender budgeting is important and spreading but still limited.
  - Successful initiatives have been “within government” exercises with Ministries of Finance spearheading the process, often collaborating with policy think tanks and others.
    - India highlighted as a leading example with the Ministry of Finance incorporating gender budgeting in Budget Circulars, Expenditure Budgets, and the Outcome Budget; National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) provided analytical templates.
  - Gender budget statements within budget papers are a strength:
    - They help ensure budgets include allocations in national and subnational governments for women’s development.
    - They increase transparency and accountability and help articulate how much governments spend on women and mainstream gender concerns across ministries.
  - Incorporation of the care economy and time use:
    - Valuation of work done by women using time use data has been incorporated in some gender budgeting exercises (example: Nepal includes women’s time use as a criterion in a gender budgeting matrix).
    - India integrated gender budgeting in the energy sector in the Union Budget 2016-17 via a policy initiative on the care economy (LPG subsidies to uplift poor women), as an example of a prima facie gender-neutral ministry (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) designing policy to address women’s needs.
- Legal standing and mandates:
  - Legislation supporting gender budgeting is rare in the region; gender budgeting is more often a fiscal fiat than a legal fiat.
  - Countries that made gender budgeting mandatory through law (Table 2):
    - The Philippines — Gender and Development (GAD) Budget, earmarking 5 per cent of all sectoral budgets for women. Year of Commencement: 1995.
    - The Republic of Korea — National Finance Law (Articles 16, 26, 57, 68-2, 73-2) to introduce gender budgeting principles and statements, and to do gender differential impacts/analyze in balance sheet, flow of funds and audits. Year of Commencement: 2006.
- Revenue-side gender budgeting — overview of approaches (Table 3 content)
  - Direct income taxes:
    - Tax exemption policy examples:
      - India — different tax exemption for women in the personal income tax, subsequently revoked.
      - Vietnam — tax exemption for women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises.
    - Filing of direct taxes:
      - Personal filing of taxes instead of joint filing of direct taxes: India, Thailand (recently debated), Australia.
  - Property taxes:
    - Differential rates for women property owners: India (in certain Provinces including New Delhi).
  - Mining taxes and royalties (non-tax revenue):
    - Linking of mining revenue for human development: India (District Mineral Fund in latest mining regulations bill, linking coal proceeds and mining taxes to human development, is yet to be implemented).
  - Indirect taxes:
    - Tax incidence analysis across income quintiles, region-wise: India (examining incidence for households headed by females and males, and with children and without children).
- Additional observations:
  - Region has comparatively rich fiscal data disaggregated by sex for programs and expenditures with gender impact, which can be used for empirical analysis.
  - Exercises incorporating time use into planning have revealed that many policies considered gender-neutral are not gender-neutral.

*Source: _wp16150 - Section II provides a summary of key regional (IMF PDF content provided)*

### introduction of reforms in budgetary processes, in both developing and industrialized countries,

### _wp16150 - introduction of reforms in budgetary processes, in both developing and industrialized countries,

### Overview of results-based budgeting and gender budgeting
- Results-based budgeting shifts assessment of government programs away from the raising and spending of money (budgetary inputs) to the achievement of results in the form of outputs and outcomes.
- Gender budgeting efforts fit well into a results-based budgeting approach.
- Tangible criteria of success for gender budgeting include whether these efforts help to reduce gender inequality and lead to the advancement of women.
- The paper analyzes how gender sensitive budget making processes are, and how effective countries have been in developing transparent and accountable mechanisms in revealing the gender sensitivity of budget processes and allocations.
- Government budgets, and gender responsive budgets, are multi-faceted processes with substantive outputs resulting from government activities and their effects on the economy and society (Elson and Sharp, 2007).

### Country-specific gender budgeting efforts in Asia (scope and patterns)
- The survey and assessment focus on countries in the region with the most notable experience: Australia, India, the Philippines, and Korea.
- The gender budgeting initiatives vary in:
  - scope,
  - objectives,
  - strategies,
  - entry points to the budget,
  - tools of analysis,
  - participants, and
  - the politics of engagement.
- Many countries in the region have begun gender budgeting initiatives, but most were one-off initiatives or undertaken outside government.
- The paper narrates and assesses the experiences of countries with a comparatively rich experience of gender budgeting in the region, with particular focus on Australia, India, South Korea, and the Philippines.

### Australia — history and broad outcome of gender budgeting
- Australia was the pioneer in introducing gender budgeting in 1983-84 at the national level.
- Three phases of government during which gender budgeting took shape:
  - the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments (1983–1996);
  - the Howard Liberal-National Governments (1996–2007);
  - the Rudd and Gillard Labor Governments (2007–2013) (Sharp and Broomhill, 2013).
- The paper highlights briefly the fiscal process and outcome of thirty years of gender budgeting in Australia, which abruptly ended in 2014.
- The Australian model of gender budgeting inspired both developed and developing countries to adopt such exercises, with the aim to strengthen gender equity and women’s economic empowerment.

### Initial project on gender budgeting — Phase I (1983 to 1996)
- Phase I (1983 to 1996), under the Labor governments, is cited in a number of retrospective assessments as the most successful phase of gender budgeting.
- The initial project involved 13 departments.
- The project led to the submission of a Women’s Budget Statement as part of the 1983-84 budget documentation (Sawer, 2002).
- This gender budgeting framework was subsequently extended to states and territory governments as well.

*Source: _wp16150 - introduction of reforms in budgetary processes, in both developing and industrialized countries,*

### Appendix A provides a means to classify regional gender budgeting initiatives in ex ante and ex post terms.

### _wp16150 - Appendix A provides a means to classify regional gender budgeting initiatives in ex ante and ex post terms.

### Australia: history, framework, and outcomes
- Early practice:
  - Statements were very comprehensive documents in Australia and were an effective first step towards transparency and accountability of budgeting in ensuring that gender equity concerns were heard.
  - Sawer (1990) traced genesis to quarterly meetings of federal, state and territory “femocrats” from the 1970s.
  - Sawer (2002) noted that the 1983 Cabinet Handbook ensured that all Cabinet submissions should include a statement discussing their impact on women.
- Analytical approach:
  - Government entities categorized public expenditure into gender allocations:
    - Category 1: Public expenditure for programs that specifically targeted women;
    - Category 2: public expenditure for programs to promote employment of women and men in equal numbers, equal representation within management posts, and equal pay; and
    - Category 3: mainstream expenditures that have components where gender might be relevant, consisting of the bulk of the remaining expenditures not covered by the first two categories.
  - Sharpe’s framework (an accounting framework and not an “outcome framework”) was used to classify expenditures; it categorizes public allocations for gender development but does not analyze impact on gender outcomes.
- Institutional trajectory and impact:
  - Categorization sustained at federal, state and territorial level from 1984 to 1996; remnants persisted at state level until early 2000s.
  - South Australia published the Women’s Budget Statement as an appendix to the budget papers during the early 2000s.
  - Australian Women’s Budget Statements improved the availability of sex-disaggregated data by sectoral ministries and agencies, essential for assessing gender-disaggregated budgetary impacts.
  - Despite improved understanding and the need to quantify policy impacts on women, initial efforts failed subsequently to produce significant policy change, which was attributed to cuts in public spending.
- Backlash and cessation:
  - Phase II (1996 to 2007) saw reduced emphasis: the Office of the Status of Women was demoted from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Office for Women in the Department of Family and Community Services.
  - Production of Women’s Budget Statements abruptly ceased in 2014, though reasons are unclear.
  - Civil society and political opposition produced alternative statements in 2014 (e.g., “Women’s 2014 Budget Reply Statement”; “Budget 2014-15–A Gender Lens”).

### India: institutionalization, methods, and subnational diffusion
- Overall scope and goal:
  - India’s gender budgeting efforts influenced expenditure and revenue policies and extended to national and subnational levels.
  - Goal: ensure efficiency and gender equity in fiscal policy; integrated into tax reforms, budget classification, inter-governmental fiscal transfers, fiscal decentralization, local budgeting, and benefit incidence analysis.
- Historical steps and phases:
  - Ninth Plan (1997-2002) adopted a “Women’s Component Plan”; in 1997 earmarked 30 per cent of developmental funds for women in all sectors, but the 30 per cent was not spent effectively on women.
  - India moved from “component plans” to macro level gender budgeting in 2000, encompassing the entire budget.
  - Gender budgeting efforts encompassed four sequential phases: (i) knowledge building and networking, (ii) institutionalizing the process, (iii) capacity building, and (iv) enhancing accountability.
  - Table 4 (Phases of Gender Budgeting in India) summarizes actors and outcomes across phases:
    - 2000-03 Knowledge building and networking: NIPFP, MWCD, UNIFEM, Ministry of Finance → ex-post analysis of budgets through a gender lens; highlighted unpaid care economy; linked public expenditure and gender development.
    - 2004-05 Institutionalizing: Ministry of Finance; NIPFP → Expert committee on “Classification of Budgetary Transactions”; Gender Budget Statements included in Expenditure Budgets from 2005-06; Gender Budgeting Cells (GBC) instituted in Ministries.
    - 2005-present Capacity Building: NIPFP, MWCD, MoF, UN Women → GBC officials and state officers training; Charter on gender budgeting specifying responsibilities.
    - 2012-present Enhancing Accountability: Planning Commission, NIPFP, CAG → CAG publishing Report on Gender Budgeting in State Finance Accounts; accountability mechanism still developing.
- Analytical methods developed and used:
  - 2002: Government commissioned NIPFP to analyze the entire Demand for Grants documents to identify programs/schemes for women and to assess fiscal marksmanship (deviation of budget estimates and revised estimates from actual results).
  - Fiscal marksmanship analysis found significant deviations of budgeted from actual expenditure; higher allocation did not ensure higher actual expenditure on gender-sensitive human development; led to expenditure tracking and benefit incidence analysis.
  - NIPFP methodology categorizes expenditures into three categories (modified Sharp approach):
    - (i) Expenditure specifically targeted to women and girls;
    - (ii) Pro-women allocations: expenditure schemes with at least a 30 percent targeting of women, on a scale of 30 to 100; and
    - (iii) Mainstream public expenditures with gender-differentiated impacts (between 0 to 30 targeting of women).
  - NIPFP conducted five analyses of the budget through a gender lens for 2000-2005, leading to the Gender Budget Statement in Expenditure Budget, Volume 1.
  - Ministries instructed via Budget Circular to undertake gender budgeting using analytical matrices and practitioners’ manual; Ministries mandated to undertake analysis for specific Demand for Grants.
  - Gender-disaggregated public expenditure benefit incidence analysis was recommended but hardly undertaken by Ministries for specific schemes.
- Subnational adoption and examples:
  - Karnataka (2006-07): institutionalized gender budgeting within its Ministry of Finance using Lahiri Committee recommendations; first gender budget statement followed consultations across 21 Secretariat Departments and 34 Administrative departments; data paucity constrained validation and monitoring.
  - Karnataka emphasized disaggregated classification into Protective, Regulatory, Economic and Social Services (PRES) to assess whether programs reinforced traditional roles or supported economic empowerment; found major part of gender allocations in social sector and need to strengthen economic empowerment allocations.
  - Kerala (2008 onward): Centre for Development Studies produced “Analysis of Kerala State Budget 2007-08 Through a Gender Lens”; led to announcement that a special Statement on Gender would be submitted with the Budget from next year; “Gender Board” announced in 2008 Budget speech.
  - Kerala integrated gender budgeting in infrastructure programs and local level; noted that 15-20 per cent of local governments have undertaken studies on the Status of Women as prelude to local gender planning.
  - Examples of Kerala initiatives: She-Taxi (2013) for safe mobility of women; Gender Park (announced 2011-12; officially inaugurated in February, 2016); July 8th 2016 Budget announced new Ministry for Women and enhanced allocations for gender budgeting; Budget 2016 roadmap expected to yield significant impact over next five years (impact still too early to analyze).
- Intergovernmental transfers and revenue-side measures:
  - Ongoing debate to integrate gender in formula-based transfers; not yet materialized.
  - Fourteenth Finance Commission (reported in January, 2015) integrated “climate change” variables; decentralization outcome: devolving 42 per cent of the tax pool of the central government to states — viewed as providing flexibility at subnational level for gender-sensitive human development.
  - Anand and Chakraborty (2016) found transfers would be progressive if gender incorporated in formula-based transfers.
  - Revenue-side gender budgeting remains elementary due to lack of sex-disaggregated tax data.
  - Personal income tax system mostly gender-neutral in statute; one prior exemption under Section 88C (additional rebate for women below 65) marginally benefited women and was phased out.
  - Some provinces gave favorable stamp and transfer duty rates for property registered in a woman’s name (example: New Delhi duties set at 4 per cent if property registered in the name of a woman and 6 per cent if registered in the name of a man).
  - NIPFP study on tax incidence of indirect taxes found effective tax rate of indirect taxes is higher on women in low income quintiles; recommended broadening equity goals to include gender.
- Accountability and capacity gaps:
  - Gender Budget Statements strengthened civil society advocacy for better funding and provisioning for women’s rights.
  - Lahiri Committee framework not fully implemented at national and subnational levels.
  - CAG has been publishing a Report on Gender Budgeting in State Finance Accounts since 2010 covering money “actually spent” on women; accountability mechanisms need stronger follow-up.
  - Data paucity and difficulty in identifying components of mainstream programs that are “pro-women” remain major constraints.

### Methodological and analytical tools highlighted
- Fiscal marksmanship: assessment of forecast errors (deviation of budget estimates and revised estimates from actual results).
- Benefit incidence analysis: method allocates unit costs according to individual utilization rates to identify beneficiaries of public spending; symbolic formula presented to estimate sector-specific subsidy enjoyed by group j:
  - X_j ≡ Σ_i U_ij (S_i / U_i) ≡ Σ_i (U_ij / U_i) S_i ≡ Σ_i e_ij S_i
  - where X_j = sector-specific subsidy enjoyed by group j; U_ij = utilization of service i by group j; U_i = utilization of service i by all groups combined; S_i = government net expenditure on service i; e_ij = group j’s share of utilization of service i.
- NIPFP analytical matrices and practitioners’ manual: used to generate Gender Budget Statements and guide Ministries’ Demand for Grants analysis.
- Expenditure classification variants:
  - Sharp’s three-category accounting framework (used internationally).
  - NIPFP modification with thresholds (30 percent threshold for “pro-women” allocations).

### Key findings and challenges
- Classification and accounting gains:
  - Gender budgeting frameworks improved availability of sex-disaggregated data and increased understanding among officials of gender-related concerns and need to quantify budget impacts.
  - Institutional mechanisms (Gender Budgeting Secretariat; Gender Budgeting Cells) created government capacity to conduct gender analyses.
- Implementation and impact challenges:
  - Significant deviations between budgeted and actual expenditure undermined intended outcomes; higher budget allocation did not guarantee higher actual spending for gender-sensitive programs.
  - Difficulty discerning gender-relevant components within mainstream programs from budget documents.
  - Data paucity and absence of systematic benefit incidence studies by Ministries limited accountability.
  - Revenue-side gender analysis constrained by lack of sex-disaggregated tax data and limited gender-sensitive tax provisions.
  - Institutional demotion, political shifts, and cuts in public spending led to backsliding in some contexts (e.g., Australia).
- Subnational variability:
  - Successful institutionalization examples (Karnataka, Kerala) illustrate potential but also reveal constraints in data and monitoring.
  - Local-level initiatives exist but cover only a subset (15-20 per cent) of local governments in some states.

### Policy implications and recommendations (as reflected in the source)
- Strengthen data systems:
  - Improve sex-disaggregated data collection across ministries and programs to validate classifications, trace fund flows, and support benefit incidence analysis.
- Institutionalize analytical routines:
  - Implement Lahiri Committee recommendations fully, including opening a “budget head” on gender development in classification of budgetary transactions (recommendation noted but not implemented).
  - Sustain Gender Budgeting Cells with clear bureaucratic composition and responsibilities.
- Mandate and monitor implementation:
  - Enforce Budget Circular instructions requiring Ministries to undertake Demand for Grants gender analyses and report in Gender Budget Statements.
  - Strengthen accountability through follow-up of CAG gender budgeting reports and linkage to performance monitoring.
- Expand revenue-side analysis:
  - Conduct sex-disaggregated tax incidence studies and explore gender-sensitive tax measures where data permit.
- Leverage intergovernmental fiscal space:
  - Use increased unconditional transfers (e.g., devolved tax pool shares) to allow subnational governments flexibility to prioritize gender-sensitive human development.
- Build capacity and civil-society engagement:
  - Continue capacity building for GBC officials, ministries, and state officers; support civil society and research institutions to undertake ex-post analyses and microsimulations (as exemplified by studies and state-level initiatives).

*Source: _wp16150 - Appendix A provides a means to classify regional gender budgeting initiatives in ex ante and ex post terms.*

### introduction of periodic benefit-incidence analysis. Government will examine the recommendations, and I hope it

### _wp16150 - introduction of periodic benefit-incidence analysis. Government will examine the recommendations, and I hope it

### India: gender budgeting origins, scope, and challenges
- Initiation: Budget documents and Union Budget speeches for 2004-05 and 2005-06 referenced introduction of periodic benefit-incidence analysis and consideration of gender budgeting.
- Inclusion in 2005-06 documents: A separate statement highlighted gender sensitivities of budgetary allocations under 10 demands for grants; total amount in BE 2005-06 is Rs.14,379 crore.
- Implementation intent: Statements indicated that “in course of time, all Departments will be required to present gender budgets as well as make benefit-incidence analyses.”
- Outcomes and gaps:
  - The gender budgeting statement led to “gender mainstreaming in budgeting” and initiatives in ministries such as Finance, Science and Technology, Road Transport and Highways, Communications and IT, Corporate Affairs, Ocean Development, and Petroleum and Natural Gas.
  - Capacity constraints: Sectoral gender-budgeting cells have limited capacity to carry out specific analyses of gender-related needs and to advocate for policies and programs.
  - Accountability and methods: Few ministries began benefit incidence analysis despite budget statements indicating government would conduct such exercises.

### The Philippines: GAD budget experience, lessons on earmarking, and local initiatives
- National policy:
  - Gender and Development (GAD) budget introduced in 1995 with earmarking of at least 5 per cent of departmental expenditure on programs for women in national and sub-national budgets.
  - Quota-based earmarking led to misuse (e.g., funds spent on ballroom dancing in certain departments) and unspent surpluses due to lack of penalties.
  - Reform: From 2012 a “harmonized GAD” rule allowed flexibility so departments could spend money only on effective programs; aim “to ensure that different concerns of men and women are addressed equally and equitably” (Budget Circular 2012).
- Critiques and comparative approaches:
  - Setting a floor (5 per cent) resulted in misallocation and marginalization of gender issues from mainstream budgeting; floor limits were taken as ceilings.
  - Suggested alternatives: differential targeting of expenditures based on identification of appropriate programs for women, or reprioritizing based on a generic list of appropriate programs and policies for women.
- Institutionalization and results:
  - GAD policy led to annual gender plans and budgets across government entities; authorities reported in 2015 that GAD planning is integrated in agencies and the cost of implementing such is at least five percent (5 percent) of their total annual appropriation based on the General Appropriations Act.
  - The Philippine Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act, 9710) and the General Appropriations Act require agencies to review and remove gender-discriminatory policies and promote gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
  - The Philippine Commission on Women is the primary agency monitoring compliance.
  - Public expenditure gender analyses conducted in sectors including education, health, environment and climate change, social welfare and protection, peace, and security.
- Limitations and subnational developments:
  - No gender-budgeting initiatives on the tax side or with respect to employment or procurement policies reported.
  - Fiscal decentralization: devolution (1991) created opportunities and challenges; devolved functions were largely unfunded mandates, and intergovernmental transfers and local budgetary processes were politically determined, creating resource gaps that constrained gender budgeting.
  - Local examples: Sorsogon (health sector, Millennium Development Goal health goals identified and budgeted) and Hilongos (agriculture sector; initiatives included revamping irrigation to strengthen agricultural productivity and reduce forced migration of women).
  - No direct incorporation of gender concerns into intergovernmental fiscal relations; equalization transfers criteria included equal sharing (25 per cent), population (50 per cent), and area (25 per cent) but were noted as not equitable for gender-specific needs.

### Korea: legal mandate, institutional structures, and implementation milestones
- Legal framework:
  - National Finance Act (legislated in 2006) requires submission of gender budgets and gender balance reports from the 2010 fiscal year onward.
  - Statutory requirements include gender budget statements analyzing impact on women and men in advance (spending and revenues) and a gender balance sheet assessing whether the budget benefits women and men equally and remedies gender discrimination.
- Specific Articles and requirements:
  - Article 16 (principle of budgeting): Government must evaluate how the national budget might have different effects on women and men and reflect results in budget preparation.
  - Article 26 (gender budgeting statement): (i) prepare report examining how national budget will influence women and men differently; (ii) include expected outcomes in enhancing gender equality, objectives related to gender budgeting, and gender analysis of program recipients.
  - Article 34: include gender budgeting statement in the budget plan submitted to the national assembly.
  - Article 57 (preparation and submission of balance sheets): (i) prepare report evaluating whether women and men equally receive budget benefits and whether execution reduced gender inequality; (ii) include execution records, analysis, and evaluation.
  - Article 68-2 (gender sensitive funds management): prepare report on differential effects of funds and include expected outcomes and recipient analysis based on gender.
  - Article 73-2 (gender sensitive balance sheets of funds): evaluate whether funds equally benefit women and men and whether fund execution reduced gender inequality; include execution records, analysis, and evaluation.
  - Timeline: ministries to begin submitting gender budget statements by 2010; Ministry for Planning and Budget to prepare gender budget statement about revenue side from 2011 onwards.
- Institutional and methodological development:
  - Budget reforms include a Medium Term Expenditure Framework, performance-oriented budgeting, top-down budgeting, and a digital budgeting accounting system.
  - The Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI) led research and methodology development, pilot analyses, and consultation processes (international symposiums, Gender Budget Forum, Gender Budget Net).
  - KWDI developed a gender budgeting statement (2008) with two parts: expenditure specifically targeted to women and mainstream budgetary activity.
  - KWDI identified 67 projects in 2010 specifically targeting women and 128 mainstream projects for gender-based impact analysis (Cho, et al, 2012).
  - A Gender Budget Balance Sheet evaluates expenditure performance via impact analysis on gender equality.
  - Gender Budgeting Task Force co-chaired by director of social budget (Ministry of Planning and Budget) and director of women’s policy (Ministry of Gender Equality); members include KWDI, Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education, Korean Development Institute, and Korean Institute of Public Finance.
- Applications and local level adoption:
  - Infrastructure example: gender budgeting led to modifications in rest room construction after identifying average waiting times—men: 1 min 24 sec; women: 2 min 30 sec—resulting in changes to accommodate more women and a modification of the Act on the Public Toilet (Article 7 Standard for Public Toilet Construction).
  - Policies to reduce women’s home care burden aimed at enhancing labor force participation; research suggested removing disparities at home and in labor market would raise female labor force participation rate from 54.4 to 67.5 percent and increase growth rate in per capita income from 3.6 percent to 4.1 percent on average over a generation.
  - Local governments began to draft gender budget statements since 2013 under Article 36 Clause 2 and Article 53 Clause 2(‘II.3.8) of the Local Public Finance Act; 2012 guidelines by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration provided selection criteria.
- Challenges:
  - Integrating gender budget into performance budgeting, building capacity of budget officials, creating consultative-service regulations for gender budgeting, and establishing legal basis and roadmap for implementation.
  - Lack of clear selection criteria for target projects affected credibility of local gender budget statements; projects dichotomized into “mandatory projects” and “recommended projects.”

### Comparative summary of prominent gender budgeting efforts
- India:
  - Notable for national and subnational implementation; integrated gender budget within the Expenditure Budget and instructed integration into the Outcome Budget.
  - Ongoing challenge: capacity of sectoral gender-budgeting cells to conduct analyses and advocate effectively.
- Korea:
  - Legal backing via National Finance Act; developed frameworks and methodologies with support of think tanks and research institutions; institutionalized reporting and balance sheets.
- Philippines:
  - Demonstrated pitfalls of uniform earmarking (5 per cent) and later improved strategy by linking spending to results-oriented budgeting.
- Subnational examples:
  - Indian states: Kerala and Karnataka; Philippine communes: Sorsogon and Hilongos provided local-level examples.
- Australia:
  - Pioneer of gender budgeting but ceased Women’s Budgets within budget documents.

### Other countries with gender budgeting efforts: Bangladesh (brief)
- Bangladesh integrated gender concerns into national policies through the fifth five-year plan (1997-2002), National Policy for the Advancement of Women, and National Action Plan for the Advancement of Women (1997).
- Initiatives included gender-disaggregated beneficiary assessment of community health services; Ministry of Finance agreed to incorporate gender-related and anti-poverty concerns into the budget after presentation of analysis.
- Lead agencies: Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs; assignment of Women in Development focal points in 47 ministries.

*Source: _wp16150 - introduction of periodic benefit-incidence analysis. Government will examine the recommendations, and I hope it*

### Section 3 of the Budget circular instructs the ministries to assess the impact of their strategies on

### _wp16150 - Section 3 of the Budget circular instructs the ministries to assess the impact of their strategies on

### Gender budgeting implementation and capacity building (Bangladesh focus)
- Section 3 of the Budget circular: ministries must assess impact of their strategies on gender-related and anti-poverty objectives; Section 4: ministries must assess impact of their activities on the outlined gender and poverty goals.
- Gender “shares” for each expenditure are calculated using the RCGP (Recurrent, Capital, Gender and Poverty) database and methodology.
- Financial Management Reform Program: involved gender budgeting training of all ministries engaged in the Medium Term Budgetary Framework.
- PLAGE II (Policy Leadership and Advocacy for Gender Equality‐Phase II): complements Ministry of Finance and Financial Management Reform Program by strengthening:
  - partner ministries’ capacity to analyze gender-related concerns and mainstream gender across programs;
  - capacity and position of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs to lead gender mainstreaming.
- Bangladesh gender budgeting practice:
  - Government produces a document with the budget explaining how different activities of ministries/divisions affect women’s advancement and rights.
  - First year analysis: four ministries; second year: ten ministries.
  - Since 2009: annual gender budget report produced (a form of gender budget statement).
  - 2012 review of 20 ministries concluded Bangladesh has been successful in institutionalizing the gender budgeting process.
- Food for Education (FFE) program (introduced in 1993):
  - Purpose: raise enrollment rates, reduce dropout rates, improve nutrition.
  - Evaluation suggested better targeting of subsidies by geographical and categorical targets to maximize benefits.
  - IFPRI study: enrollment increase greater for girls than for boys; quality of education remained a problem for all children.

### Regional country practices and initiatives (selected highlights)
- Bhutan (2006 onward):
  - Institutional framework for gender responsive planning and budgeting established with UNDP support.
  - Draft Gender Budget Statement prepared; Budget Call Circulars 2013-14 and 2014-15 instructed sectoral agencies to incorporate gender-related concerns in budget proposals.
- Brunei:
  - No formal gender budgeting initiative; Vision 2035 stresses equal opportunities for women.
  - Special Committee on Family Institutions and Women established in 2008.
  - 2011: increase in maternity leave from 56 days (8 weeks) to 105 days (15 weeks); government allocated budgetary provisions to help bear costs of salaries to be paid to private sector employees during the first five weeks of their 15 weeks maternity leave.
  - Microfinance programs noted: average repayment rates above 90 per cent; some programs measured success in terms of poverty alleviation.
  - One instance of reallocated funds: US$1.4 million in excessive or wasteful spending reallocated to health and education (Asia Foundation program example).
- Cambodia:
  - 2003: UNDP project led to inclusion of gender chapter under World Bank Integrated Fiduciary Assessment and Public Expenditure Review; Gender Development section added to 2003-05 Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
- China (Jiaozuo City, 2009):
  - Multi-volume publication presenting gender analysis of key budget allocations in education, employment, public health, cultural activities, family planning and poverty alleviation.
- Hong Kong, SAR China:
  - No gender budgeting; Gender Focal Points set up in all bureaus and departments in 2003.
  - 2009: government web portal launched; 2015-16 onward bureaus/departments required to refer to Gender Mainstreaming Checklist.
- Indonesia:
  - 2008 Ministry of Finance decree provided framework for gender budgeting; gender budget statement introduced in 2010.
  - 2012 circular: central ministries must submit completed gender budget statements for 2012 and subsequent years to the Director General of Budget and to Bappenas and Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection.
- Japan:
  - No gender budgeting initiative; Basic Act for Gender Equality led to Five-Year Plans (2000, 2005, 2010).
  - Cabinet approved new Five-Year Plan for gender equality on December 25, 2015.
- Laos:
  - 2005 GRIDC manual (with World Bank support) for gender-related indicators and sex-disaggregated data collection; no evidence of projects using the manual.
- Malaysia:
  - 2012 ADB meeting in Putrajaya to initiate template on gender budgeting statement in outcome based budgeting.
  - 2013: move to performance/results-based budgeting; gender budgeting embedded in Results Framework and Program Logic Model (ProLL).
  - Budget circulars instruct line ministries to incorporate gender objectives and inform agencies of budget “ceiling”.
- Mongolia:
  - Gender budgeting developed from gender mainstreaming framework; 2003‐2015 National Program for Gender Equality and National Council on Gender Equality established.
  - Sex-disaggregated data collected but underused.
- Myanmar:
  - Nascent stage; signatory to 2006 Tokyo Joint Ministerial Communiqué; government has not committed to gender budgeting.
  - Spending on health, education and social welfare combined is less than spending on defence.
  - Budget allocation for Department of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is 0.1 percent of the total government budget.
- Nepal (introducing gender budgeting in 2007-08):
  - New classification of budgetary transactions to incorporate gender budgeting by benefits to women.
  - Line entities must classify demands into directly gender responsive (G01), indirectly gender responsive (G2) and neutral, scoring as per indicators.
  - Table of Criteria and Scores (from Budget Speech (2015-16), Ministry of Finance):
    - Women’s participation in formulation and implementation of the program — 20
    - Women’s capacity development — 20
    - Women’s share in the benefit — 30
    - Promoting employment and income generation for women — 20
    - Qualitative improvement of women’s time use or reduced workload — 10
  - Programs classified by scores:
    - Directly responsive: programs scoring 50 percent or more; described as more than half related to programs directly responsive to gender (> 50 percent).
    - Indirectly responsive: scoring 20 to 50 percent (>20 to < 50 percent).
    - Neutral: scoring less than 20 percent (<20 percent).
  - Criticism: complexity and subjectivity of scoring; alternative classification proposed by Acharya et al. (2002).
- New Zealand:
  - No official gender budgeting; time use survey conducted to examine unpaid care economy and policy implications for maternal work participation.
- Pakistan:
  - Ministry of Women and Development called for gender budgeting in 2001.
  - Gender Resource Budgeting Initiative began in federal government and Punjab in 2005; integrated into Strengthening Poverty Reduction Strategy Monitoring (SPRSM) funded by UNDP (2008-2012).
  - Initiative integrated gender in Medium-Term Budgetary Framework Secretariat and engendered targets in output-based budgeting (2008-2012).
  - First time-use survey in 2007: close to 20,000 households surveyed.
  - Budget Call Circular 2006-07 (Punjab) requested sex-disaggregated information; led to increased women’s employment in government, reduced gender wage gap, and publicly funded day care centers.
  - Gender-responsive analysis of FY2015/16 budget produced baseline for FY2016/17 budget to foster gender equality in education and workforce participation.
- Papua New Guinea:
  - No gender budgeting initiative.
- Singapore:
  - No formal gender budgeting initiative; budgetary measures to encourage parenthood introduced in 2004.
- Sri Lanka:
  - Joined Commonwealth’s gender budgeting pilot in 1997; UNIFEM initiative in 2002.
  - Donor role significant; two phases of gender budgeting initiative (1997 initial Commonwealth; 2003 ex-post analysis by Ministry of Women’s Affairs with UNIFEM).
  - Department of National Planning report: women benefited from 48 percent of recurrent expenditure in education, 56 percent in health, and 57 percent in social services (benefit incidence analysis).
  - 2004 National Budget Statement required all ministries to allocate 10 percent of their budgets to improve status of women.
  - Gender budgeting process later abruptly ended.
- Taiwan, Province of China:
  - No evidence of gender budgeting at national/sub-national levels; subsequent legislation tried to incorporate some elements.
- Thailand:
  - 2006 Office of Women’s Affairs and Family Development initiated gender budgeting via workshops and training.
  - Tenth National Economic and Social Development Plan (2007-2011) includes Thai Women’s Development Plan recognizing need to analyze differential impact of budgeting on women and men.
  - Revenue Department efforts to alter direct tax policies to encourage female labor force participation and options for individual or “family unit” income tax filing.
- Viet Nam:
  - Gender Equality Law stipulates gender mainstreaming in formulation of legal documents.
  - Revised Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents (approved June 2015) assigns Parliamentary Committee for Social Affairs responsibility to appraise mainstreaming of gender equality issues in draft laws (article 69).
  - Gender responsive budgeting identified as a key accountability tool to monitor implementation of gender equality commitments.

### Macroeconomic links between fiscal policy and women’s development
- Causal linkage challenges:
  - Limited time-series data prevent econometric analysis of gender budgeting impact on gender inequality indicators in this paper.
  - Lahiri et al. (2002) caution that contemporaneous transformations of many socioeconomic and policy variables complicate establishment of a bivariate link between fiscal policies and gender-related development.
- Empirical findings cited:
  - Lahiri et al. (2002), fixed effects model (pooled least squares, early 1990s): a one percent increase in per capita combined expenditure on health and education results in:
    - 0.33 percentage increase in the Human Development Index for the period 1993-1995.
    - 0.06 percent increase in the Gender Development Index for the period 1993-1995.
  - Chakraborty (2003d, 2005b), fixed effects panel estimation for Asia Pacific: both economic growth and public policy stance matter for gender-related development; public policy variables (expenditure on human development, especially education and health) were more meaningful than economic growth for gender-related outcomes.
- Implications:
  - Effectiveness of public expenditure on education and health differs across gender and regions due to asymmetric socio-economic conditions.
  - Strengthens case for gender budgeting in social sectors like education and health.
  - Need to track benefit incidence and expenditure flows to capture gender differential impacts.

### Conclusion and country-specific outcomes
- Main conclusion: gender budgeting is sustainable only if the Ministry of Finance owns the process, with adequate support from stakeholders (civil society, parliamentarians, academicians, public).
  - Example: India’s institutionalization attributed to nodal role of Ministry of Finance with support from policy think tanks, Ministry of Women and Child Development, UN entities, and civil society.
- Regional assessment: gender budgeting has potential to transform gender equality, but results are modest in most countries except India, the Philippines, and Korea, where efforts led to substantive fiscal policies.
- Country-specific outcomes (summary bullets preserved from source):
  - India: Ministry of Finance leadership and support networks led to institutionalization at national and subnational levels; gender mainstreaming in budgets and reporting to Ministry of Finance.
  - Korea: Legally compulsory gender budgeting; significant changes in fiscal policies though scope for deeper impact.
  - The Philippines: Shifted from earmarking budget portions for women to results-linked gender budgeting.
  - East Asian region: Recognition exists but more awareness and capacity building via technical assistance needed.
  - Bangladesh: FFE program (not in the name of gender budgeting) improved enrollment/retention and nutrition; evidence suggests stronger effect on girls.
  - Nepal: Integration of time use statistics and the statistically invisible care economy into gender budgeting is notable (almost non-existent elsewhere in the region).
  - Malaysia: Integration of gender budgeting into outcome-based budgeting is incomplete.
  - India, Australia, Korea: Accountability and transparency are objectives of gender budgeting; integration of gender budgeting statements into budget documents and accountability mechanisms largely absent except in India.
- Positive outcomes of gender budgeting (regional observations):
  - Led to fiscal policies oriented to gender equality in some countries and mainstreaming in prima facie gender-neutral ministries in a few others.
  - Fiscal decentralization increases importance of subnational gender budgeting; local initiatives rare except in India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
  - Revenue-side innovations: differential property tax rates by gender in a few Indian States; gender budgeting prompted reconsideration of income tax structures (analysis of revenue side needs strengthening).
  - Led to analysis of public spending effectiveness through a gender lens via benefit incidence analysis and expenditure tracking.
  - Public finance management in some countries now integrates gender as a category of analysis; monitoring outcomes rather than inputs emphasized.
  - Improved dialogue to integrate gender in budgetary classification for better tracking and management.
  - Gender budgeting statements within budget documents enhance transparency in allocations for women; exist in a few countries including India, Australia, Korea, Bangladesh and Nepal.
  - Empowered women activists and civil society organizations to call for better budgetary allocations for gender equality and equity concerns.

*Source: _wp16150 - Section 3 of the Budget circular instructs the ministries to assess the impact of their strategies on (IMF PDF chapter content provided).*

### References

### _wp16150 - References

### References
- An extensive alphabetical list of works cited on gender budgeting, gender-responsive fiscal policy, public expenditure benefit incidence, and related topics. The list includes:
  - Academic journal articles (e.g., World Development, Review of Economic Studies, Feminist Economics).
  - Working papers and reports from research institutes (e.g., Levy Economics Institute Working Papers, NIPFP Working Papers).
  - Country reports and government publications (e.g., Government of India Budget documents, National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2011-2020 period — Government of Vietnam).
  - Multilateral and international organization outputs (e.g., UNIFEM/UN Women, UNISA, World Bank World Development Indicators, IMF Working Papers and World Economic Outlook).
  - Regional and country case studies covering Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and comparative studies across developing and developed countries.

- Notable referenced items and authors (selection reflecting the source list; exact citation details are in the source):
  - Chakraborty, Lekha — multiple works on gender budgeting, fiscal decentralization, time use, and public expenditure analysis (2003–2016, including several Working Paper numbers: No. 536, No. 590, No. 785, No. 797, No. 738, No. 761, etc.).
  - Sharp, Rhonda; Diane Elson; Monica Costa; Sanjugta Vas Dev — multiple UNISA/UNIFEM studies on Gender Responsive Budgeting in Asia Pacific (2009–2010).
  - Stotsky, Janet G. — IMF Working Paper No. 21 (2016) and IMF Working Paper No. 149 (2016) on gender trends and gender budgeting.
  - Government documents cited include: “Justice Verma Committee Report on Amendments to Criminal Law” (Government of India, 2013a); “Fourteenth Finance Commission Report” (Government of India, 2014-15); “Union Budget 2016-17 documents” (Government of India, 2016).

### Appendix A: Ex-Ante versus Ex-Post Frameworks
- Explanatory summary:
  - One way of classifying gender budgeting efforts is by ex-ante and ex-post approaches (Table A1).
  - The ex-ante approach starts by identifying gender-related concerns, and then translates these concerns into relevant objectives in budget policies and programs (for details, see Chakraborty, 2010c).
  - The ex-post approach applies to budgets with no prior identification of gender-related needs. It focuses on how expenditure allocations address gender-oriented concerns, and whether public decisions are supported by benefit and tax incidence analysis.
  - For instance, Australia, India and Korea have predominantly undertaken ex-post gender budgeting while the Philippines has undertaken ex-ante gender budgeting at the commune level with the advent of fiscal decentralization.
  - The details of these exercises are taken up in the country-specific case studies.

- Table A1: Public Expenditure Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Gender Budgeting — Key country entries (preserving original wording and numbering):
  - India
    - Ex-ante:
      - (i)In Karnataka, an ex-ante building up of gender budgets was attempted to test whether feminization of governance can alter public expenditure decisions in favor of women.
      - (ii)In Kerala, at the local level, ex-ante planning is practiced in Gram Sabhas, to design the 10 percent Women Component Plan.
      - (iii)Energy Sector: In 2016, the Government of India designed a policy to integrate gender budgeting in the energy sector, providing a liquefied petroleum gas connection to poor women in rural households.
      - (iv)Infrastructure: In 2012, the Government of India designed a policy “Nirbhaya” towards safeguarding and securing women in public spaces, after the Justice Verma Committee (2013) recommendations. This policy is cross-sectoral and still in nascent stages.
    - Ex-post:
      - (i)In India, at the national and subnational levels, Gender Budget Statements were formulated using analytical matrices.
      - (ii)In India, the Classification of Budgetary Transactions, Expert Group of the Ministry of Finance instructed all Departments/Ministries to carry out periodic public expenditure benefit incidence analysis.
  - The Philippines
    - Ex-ante:
      - (i) The Gender and Development Budget is designed to integrate gender concerns in all sectors.
      - (ii) In Hilongos and Sorsogon, ex-ante gender budgeting addresses the sectoral concerns of women, after a mapping of needs.
    - Ex-post: (no entry in table for the Philippines’ ex-post column in the source)
  - Bangladesh
    - Ex-ante: Nil
    - Ex-post: Incorporating gender budgeting within the medium term fiscal framework
  - Nepal
    - Ex-ante: Nil
    - Ex-post: Preparing gender budgets in selected sectors, using matrices
  - Korea
    - Ex-ante: Nil
    - Ex-post: Incorporating gender budget statements through the National Finance Law
  - Australia
    - Ex-ante: Nil
    - Ex-post: Preparing Women’s Budgets annually as a separate document until 2014.
  - Indonesia
    - Ex-ante: nil
    - Ex-post: Preparing gender budget statements.
  - Malaysia
    - Ex-ante: nil
    - Ex-post: Integrating gender in outcome budgets.
  - Sri Lanka
    - Ex-ante: nil
    - Ex-post: Analyzing public expenditure benefit incidence and sectoral budgets through a gender lens.
  - Pakistan
    - Ex-ante: nil
    - Ex-post: Integrating gender budgets within the medium term fiscal framework

- Source attribution:
  - Source: Author’s compilation

*Italic: Source PDF: _wp16150 - References*

### Appendix B: Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting

### Appendix B: Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting

### Matrices I–VII: Purpose and structure
- MATRIX I: Public Expenditure Specifically Targeting Women (100%)
  - Columns per programme/scheme: 2016-17 BE, 2016-17 RE, 2015-16 Actuals, 2017-18 BE with subcolumns P NP T (Plan, Non-Plan, Total).
  - Note: Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation. P is Plan, NP is Non- Plan, and T is Total. The Plan-Non- Plan distinction of expenditure will be redundant in 2017-18. The data on actual expenditure comes with a time lag.
- MATRIX II: Public Expenditure with Pro-Women Allocation (100> exp. ≥30)
  - Columns for 2015-16 and 2016-17: W-exp (BE), Ex-ante W-pro (%), W-exp (RE), Ex-ante W-pro (%), W-exp (ACTUAL), Ex-ante W-pro (%), W-exp (BE), Ex-ante W-pro (%).
  - Notes:
    - Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.
    - W-exp is the expenditure on women, (that is, W-exp = TE * W-pro) where TE is the total expenditure and W-pro is the pro-women allocation in percentage terms.
    - Ex ante W-pro is the percentage of allocation ’earmarked’ for women, as prescribed in policy directives. Ex-post W-pro is the percentage of allocation on the basis of ’actual beneficiaries’ in period T-1.
- MATRIX III: Residual Expenditure (0 ≥exp. > 30)
  - Same column structure as MATRIX II for 2015 and 2016.
  - Notes:
    - Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.
    - W-exp definition identical to MATRIX II.
    - Ex ante W-pro and Ex-post W-pro definitions as above.
    - Denote ’zero’ in W-pro columns, if the expenditure is strictly gender neutral.
    - Denote ’alpha’ in W-pro columns, if the expenditure is not strictly gender neutral, but cannot be gender-partitioned. Also, state the reason why it cannot be gender-partitioned, whether due to paucity of data, conceptual problems or any other reasons.

### Categorisation frameworks (PRESS / PRES)
- MATRIX IV: Categorisation of Specifically Targeted Programmes in 'PRESS' Framework
  - Clusters: Protective & Welfare Services; Regulatory Services; Economic Services; Social Services.
  - Columns: 2016-17 (BE), 2016-17 (RE), 2015-16 (Actual), 2017-18 (BE).
  - Note: Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.
- MATRIX V: Categorisation of Public Expenditure with Pro-women Allocation in 'PRES' Framework
  - Same clusters and columns as MATRIX IV, with Note: Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.

### Economic classification of gender-targeted expenditure
- MATRIX VI: Economic Classification of Specifically Targeted Expenditure on Women
  - Clusters mapped to economic categories:
    - Wages and Salaries
    - Transfer Payments (subsidies, grants etc)
    - Capital (developmental) Expenditure
    - Others
  - Columns: 2016-17 (BE), 2016-17 (RE), 2015-16 (Actual), 2017-18 (BE).
  - Note: Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.
- MATRIX VII: Economic Classification of Public Expenditure with Pro-women Allocation (100> exp. ≥30)
  - Same economic categories and column structure as MATRIX VI.
  - Note: Trace the matrix back to 2005 to analyse the trends in allocation.

### Key formula and terminology (preserved)
- W-exp = TE * W-pro, where:
  - W-exp is expenditure on women.
  - TE is total expenditure.
  - W-pro is the pro-women allocation in percentage terms.
- Ex ante W-pro: percentage of allocation ’earmarked’ for women (policy-prescribed).
- Ex post W-pro: percentage of allocation based on ’actual beneficiaries’ in period T-1.

### Origin of matrices
- All seven analytical matrices on gender budgeting presented here were initially developed by the author working with the Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India in 2003, which were also included in the Classification of Budgetary Transactions Report, Ministry of Finance, which led to introducing gender budgeting in India.

### Appendix C: Gender Budgeting in Asia — selected indicators (Australia, India, Korea, The Philippines)
- Does the government have a gender budgeting initiative
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- If yes, start year
  - Australia: 1983
  - India: 2002
  - Korea: 2009
  - The Philippines: 1995
- If any, end year
  - Australia: 2014
  - India: (blank)
  - Korea: (blank)
  - The Philippines: (blank)
- Supported by international organizations or bilateral aid agencies
  - Australia: No
  - India: No
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Tied to MDGs or national development plan or gender equality strategy
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Focus on spending
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Spending focus on key human development (education and health)
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Spending focus on physical infrastructure (transport, water, electricity, and energy)
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Spending focus on justice and security (violence against women, judicial assistance)
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Spending focus on jobs, entrepreneurship, wages etc
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Structural reforms in spending (subsidies, transfers, incentive or distributional objectives)
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Focus on revenue
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: No
- Personal income tax focus
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: No
- Other tax focus, including general or selective sales and trade
  - Australia: No
  - India: No
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: No
- Broad statement of goals of Minister of Finance
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: No
- Gender budgeting statement in budget documentation
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Gender budgeting circular or related to instruct the bureaucracy
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Gender budgeting in planning and programming
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Gender budgeting outcome report or audit
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Explicit reporting on gender equality spending
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Gender budgeting has constitutional standing
  - Australia: No
  - India: No
  - Korea: No
  - The Philippines: No
- Gender budgeting is incorporated in organic budget or other finance laws
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Ministry of Finance lead entity
  - Australia: No
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: No
- Other ministries play consequential role and which
  - Australia: Yes; The Office of the Status of Women
  - India: Yes; Ministry of Women and Child Development
  - Korea: Yes; The Philippine Commission on Women
  - The Philippines: Yes; The Korean Women Development Institute; Gender Budgeting Task Force
- Subnational government
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: Yes
- Significant encouragement or participation of civil society
  - Australia: Yes
  - India: Yes
  - Korea: Yes
  - The Philippines: No

*Source: _wp16150 - Appendix B: Analytical Matrices for Gender Budgeting*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/wp/2016/_wp16150.pdf_