Gender-sensitive budgeting helps adjust priorities to advance women’s rights
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Gender equality has been a burning issue for some time, with little tangible progress made. In response to growing demands for justice, organisations, have become vocal in advocating against, and raising awareness around, social challenges that oppress women. Foremost of these challenges are the scourges of gender-based violence, femicide, patriarchy and poverty — each functioning to perpetuate gender inequality in all imaginable spheres of women’s lives. Over recent months, Covid-19 has exacerbated this state of inequality and disparity in our society.
The global pandemic has disproportionately affected women (more so black women), in different and intersecting ways, including at home, work, financially and in terms of physical and mental health.
In many cases, women continue to earn less than their male counterparts. More women work part-time or with flexible schedules, which is a particularly insecure position to be in, especially in the face of reduced hours and job losses. This sense of insecurity is intensified by the fact that in many households, women take on the role of primary caregivers for the vulnerable — including children, the elderly and the sick.
The financial weight of Covid-19, combined with increased anxiety and stress levels, and our society’s inclination to patriarchal violence, can lead to increased household tension and domestic abuse.
As women continue to negotiate the demands occasioned by the different societal roles of employee, parent and caretaker, there is a heightened need for employers to respond with empathy, in the context of providing their employees with access to opportunities and support. How a business or an employer spends its money is a direct reflection of its social and economic priorities, and its appetite to make meaningful change in response to gender inequality, gender-based violence and other forms of marginalisation.
Every day, women around the globe experience considerably less access to education and employment opportunities, and less representation than their male counterparts. While many businesses already recognise the need for gender equality and women’s empowerment, a practical way to put this into action would be to structure spending in a way that is designed to achieve gender equality objectives — a process called gender-responsive budgeting.
Most of us perceive budgets at all levels to be gender-neutral or as a set of figures with no differential positive or negative effect for gender relations or equality. However, a closer look suggests otherwise. The way budgets are conceived and implemented has a different effect ...
The global pandemic has disproportionately affected women (more so black women), in different and intersecting ways, including at home, work, financially and in terms of physical and mental health.
In many cases, women continue to earn less than their male counterparts. More women work part-time or with flexible schedules, which is a particularly insecure position to be in, especially in the face of reduced hours and job losses. This sense of insecurity is intensified by the fact that in many households, women take on the role of primary caregivers for the vulnerable — including children, the elderly and the sick.
The financial weight of Covid-19, combined with increased anxiety and stress levels, and our society’s inclination to patriarchal violence, can lead to increased household tension and domestic abuse.
As women continue to negotiate the demands occasioned by the different societal roles of employee, parent and caretaker, there is a heightened need for employers to respond with empathy, in the context of providing their employees with access to opportunities and support. How a business or an employer spends its money is a direct reflection of its social and economic priorities, and its appetite to make meaningful change in response to gender inequality, gender-based violence and other forms of marginalisation.
Every day, women around the globe experience considerably less access to education and employment opportunities, and less representation than their male counterparts. While many businesses already recognise the need for gender equality and women’s empowerment, a practical way to put this into action would be to structure spending in a way that is designed to achieve gender equality objectives — a process called gender-responsive budgeting.
Most of us perceive budgets at all levels to be gender-neutral or as a set of figures with no differential positive or negative effect for gender relations or equality. However, a closer look suggests otherwise. The way budgets are conceived and implemented has a different effect ...