Implementation of Gender Budgeting in Belarus: Current State and Prospects

The relevance of the article is due to the need to develop gender budgeting in Belarus, as a recognized and increasingly demanded tool around the world to achieve gender equality, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The purpose of the study is to analyse the work done and the existing problems in the implementation of gender budgeting in Belarus, and to identify measures of State policy that contribute to a more comprehensive implementation of gender budgeting in the country. The methodology of the study consists in the analysis of the normative legal acts and state programs of the Republic of Belarus, scientific publications, Internet sources, official statistics, survey data, and recommendations of international organizations on compliance of the Belarusian policy with international best practice in gender budgeting. The results of the work are an reviewed progress and remaining problems in achieving gender equality and implementation of certain aspects of gender budgeting in Belarus; calculation of the composite indicator on gender budgeting and comparison of its value with OECD countries; development of a set of measures (action plan) for the implementation of gender budgeting in Belarus. The author makes a conclusion that at the moment gender budgeting is practically not applied in Belarus, however, some basis for its implementation already exists. Despite a relatively good position of Belarus in specialized international ratings, the problems of inequality remain relevant, to a greater or lesser extent, for many sectors of the economy and aspects of life of women and men. Comprehensive implementation of a gender approach in the budget process is to be an effective tool for solving such problems. Promising areas for further research are a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the impact of activities and the existing distribution of state programs expenditures on gender equality in Belarus, and implementation of gender budgeting at the level of local budgets.

1. Jorge S., Pimentel L. Debate: On the “why” of gender budgeting. Public Money & Management. 2021;41(7):504– 505. DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2021.1936935

2. Cuberes D. Aggregate Effects of Gender Gaps in the Labor Market: A Quantitative Estimate. Journal of Human Capital. 2016;10(1):1–32. DOI: 10.1086/683847

3. Alonso-Albarran V., Curristine T., Preston G., Soler A., Tchelishvili N., Weerathunga S. Gender Budgeting in G20 Countries. IMF Working Paper. 2021;(269). URL: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/11/12/Gender-Budgeting-in-G20-Countries-506816

4. Kalabikhina I. E., Quinne S., Aivazova S. G., Rzhanitsina L. S. Gender-responsive budgeting: Resource Manual. Almaty: Ex-libris; 2014. 150 p. (In Russ.).

5. Fofanova K. V. Gender budgetary analysis: approaches and practices. Zhurnal issledovanii sotsial’noi politiki = The Journal of Social Policy Studies. 2006;4(3):381–396. (In Russ.). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/gendernyybyudzhetnyy-analiz-podhody-i-praktika

6. Welham B., Barnes-Robinson K., Mansour-Ille D., Okhandiar R. Gender Responsive Public Expenditure Management: A Public Finance Management Introductory Guide. London: Overseas Development Institute; 2018. URL: https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/12188.pdf

7. Downes R., Nicol S. Designing and implementing gender budgeting — a path to action. OECD Journal on Budgeting. 2020;20(2):67–96. DOI: 10.1787/689198fa-en

8. Stotsky J. G. Gender Budgeting: Fiscal Context and Current Outcomes. IMF Working Paper. 2016;(149). URL: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2016/wp16149.pdf

9. Holmes R., Slater R. Gender-responsive budgeting in fragile and conflict-affected states: a review. Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium Working Paper. 2014;(17). URL: https://securelivelihoods.org/wp-content/uploads/Gender-responsive-budgeting-in-fragile-and-conflict-affected-states-a-review.pdf

10. Khan Z., Gifford K. COVID‑19 and fiscal policy: Applying gender-responsive budgeting in support and recovery. UN Women policy brief. 2021;(21). URL: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2021/Policy-brief-COVID-19-and-fiscal-policy-en.pdf

11. Barnes K., Bouchama N., Loiseau E. Shifting wealth, shifting gender relations? Gender inequality and social cohesion in a converging world. OECD paper draft. 2011. URL: https://www.oecd.org/dev/pgd/48619715.pdf

12. Stotsky J. G., Zaman A. The Influence of Gender Budgeting in Indian States on Gender Inequality and Fiscal Spending. IMF Working Paper. 2016;(227). URL: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2016/wp16227.pdf

13. Downes R., von Trapp L., Nicol S. Gender budgeting in OECD countries. OECD Journal on Budgeting. 2017;16(3):71–107. DOI: 10.1787/budget‑16–5jfq80dq1zbn

14. Quinn S. Gender budgeting in Europe: What can we learn from best practice? Administration. 2017;65(3):101–121. DOI: 10.1515/admin‑2017–0026

15. Nicol S., Guven P., Pennisi A. Thailand: Gender Budgeting Action Plan. OECD Journal on Budgeting. 2021;20(3):82– 125. DOI: 10.1787/6c398fc7-en

16. Nicol S., Guven P. OECD scan of equality budgeting in Ireland: Equality mainstreaming and inclusive policy making in action. OECD Journal on Budgeting. 2021;21(1):129–154. DOI: 10.1787/80b7b9a5-en

17. Khalifa R., Scarparo S. Gender Responsive Budgeting: A tool for gender equality. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 2021;79(6):102183. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2020.102183

18. Stanimirović T., Klun M. Gender budgeting in Slovenia — approaches, achievements, and complexities. Public Money & Management. 2021;41(7):548–553. DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2021.1936937

19. Erofeeva O., Kobasa M. Gendernyi analiz v sisteme mestnogo upravleniya i samoupravleniya. Minsk: Medisont; 2019. 44 p. (In Russ.). URL: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ukraine/15685.pdf

20. Khramtsova F. I. Gender Politics in Republic of Belarus: Regional Measurement. Sotsiologicheskii al’manakh. 2018;(9):331–340. (In Russ.).

21. Saskevich V. V. Report on the results of gender equality analysis of Belarusian legislation regulating relations in the field of higher education. Minsk: Unipack; 2015. 24 p. (In Russ.). URL: https://rwi.lu.se/app/uploads/2020/08/ru_saskevich_gender-analysis-legislation.pdf

22. Ivanov N. P., Mitrofanova I. A. Gender budgeting and building a gender-balanced taxation system: problem statement. Ekonomika razvitiya regiona: problemy, poiski, perspektivy = Economics of the Region’s Development: Problems, Searches and Prospects. 2008;(9):506–512. (In Russ.). URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=22628356&