Fiscal policy

Explanatory note

Gender mainstreaming in public finance can help identify, highlight and address the ways in which fiscal policies affect women and men differently. From the perspective of financial independence, the public budget is a key tool for strengthening women’s participation in the labour market, recognising and redistributing the value of unpaid care work, promoting access to productive assets and ensuring public services that reduce economic inequalities, among other important issues.

For these advances to be effective and sustainable, it is essential to institutionalise the gender perspective through specific regulations that integrate gender-sensitive planning and spending, alongside mechanisms for evaluation, transparency, participation and oversight that ensure equality objectives are met.

Legislation: Which are the main legislative sources analysed?

Constitution: sections relating to the civil service and the public budget.
Laws and regulations relating to equal opportunities.

State planning laws and regulations, National Development Strategies.

Laws and regulations on public finance, resource allocation, and fiscal sustainability.

Regulations on budgeting with a gender perspective and equity in public spending.

Laws and regulations on decentralisation and local governance.

Laws and regulations on public administration, transparency and accountability.

Sub-areas and criteria: What do we analyse in this area?

Sub-area	Criteria
Fiscal strategy	Existence of regulations stipulating that gender equality must be integrated into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies.
Budget formulation and implementation	Existence of regulations that provide for budgetary allocations specifically earmarked for gender equality; the incorporation of gender equality diagnostics, initiatives and indicators into the creation or modification of budgetary programmes; the incorporation of gender-related initiatives and indicators into the formulation, evaluation and prioritisation of investment projects, including diagnostics; the creation and use of budget classifiers or markers to identify, classify and quantify gender equality expenditure; guidelines for incorporating a gender perspective into the drafting of budget bills; or the incorporation of affirmative action measures to promote gender equality in public procurement.
Control	Existence of regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective.
Monitoring and evaluation	Existence of regulations establishing the obligation to produce interim and final financial reports with analysis and monitoring of gender equality spending; ex ante analysis of the gender impact of spending policies; and ex post evaluations of the gender impact of programmes or projects.
Participatory budgets, transparency and accountability	Existence of regulations requiring the publication of information on gender-specific public spending and public access to such information; or the participation of women and their organisations throughout the budget cycle; or rules safeguarding gender-specific public spending during budget implementation.

Provisions: What information is included in the comments?

Sub-area	Provision
Fiscal strategy	State whether gender equality is integrated into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies.
Budget formulation and implementation	State whether there are regulations that provide for budgetary allocations specifically earmarked for gender equality; the incorporation of gender equality diagnostics, initiatives and indicators into the creation or modification of budgetary programmes; the incorporation of gender-related initiatives and indicators into the formulation, evaluation and prioritisation of investment projects, including diagnostics; the creation and use of budget classifiers or markers to identify, classify and quantify gender equality expenditure; guidelines for incorporating a gender perspective into the drafting of budget bills; or the incorporation of affirmative action measures to promote gender equality in public procurement.
Control	State whether there are regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective.
Monitoring and evaluation	State whether there are regulations establishing the obligation to produce interim and final financial reports with analysis and monitoring of gender equality spending; ex ante analysis of the gender impact of spending policies; and ex post evaluations of the gender impact of programmes or projects.
Participatory budgets, transparency and accountability	State whether there are regulations requiring the publication of information on gender-specific public spending; public access to the information on gender-specific public spending; the participation of women and their organisations throughout the budget cycle; or rules safeguarding gender-specific public spending during budget implementation.

Recommendations: What criteria are used for the recommendation?

Fiscal strategy

Criterion	Definition	Binding recommendation
Preserve	Where there are regulations stipulating that gender equality must be integrated into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies.	No further regulatory action is required. No recommendation is therefore made.
Expand	Where there are regulations stipulating that gender equality must be integrated into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies, but only partially (only some of these regulations).	Extend the requirement to incorporate a gender perspective into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies.
Reform	Where there are no regulations stipulating that gender equality must be integrated into multi-annual fiscal frameworks, development plans and expenditure policies.	Promote the development of regulations that ensure gender mainstreaming is incorporated into development and public finance plans.
Eliminate	Where fiscal strategy policies or practices exist that limit the adoption of a gender-based approach.	Abolish or replace policies or practices that limit the adoption of gender mainstreaming in fiscal strategy.

Budget formulation and implementation

Criterion	Definition	Binding recommendation
Preserve	Where there are regulations that provide for budgetary allocations specifically earmarked for gender equality; the incorporation of gender equality diagnostics, initiatives and indicators into the creation or modification of budgetary programmes; the incorporation of gender-related initiatives and indicators into the formulation, evaluation and prioritisation of investment projects, including diagnostics; the creation and use of budget classifiers or markers to identify, classify and quantify gender equality expenditure; guidelines for incorporating a gender perspective into the drafting of budget bills; or the incorporation of affirmative action measures to promote gender equality in public procurement.	No further regulatory action is required. No recommendation is therefore made.
Expand	Where there are regulations that provide for budgetary allocations specifically earmarked for gender equality; the incorporation of gender equality diagnostics, initiatives and indicators into the creation or modification of budgetary programmes; the incorporation of gender-related initiatives and indicators into the formulation, evaluation and prioritisation of investment projects, including diagnostics; the creation and use of budget classifiers or markers to identify, classify and quantify gender equality expenditure; guidelines for incorporating a gender perspective into the drafting of budget bills; or the incorporation of affirmative action measures to promote gender equality in public procurement, but only partially (only some of these regulations).	Extend the development of regulations that provide for budgetary allocations specifically earmarked for gender equality; the incorporation of gender equality diagnostics, initiatives and indicators into the creation or modification of budgetary programmes; the incorporation of gender-related initiatives and indicators into the formulation, evaluation and prioritisation of investment projects; the creation and use of budget classifiers or markers to identify, classify and quantify gender equality expenditure; guidelines for incorporating a gender perspective into the drafting of budget bills; or the incorporation of affirmative action measures to promote gender equality in public procurement.
Reform	Where there are no provisions requiring gender mainstreaming in the formulation and implementation of public spending, and no specific budget allocations are earmarked for gender equality.	Promote the development of specific rules on gender mainstreaming in the formulation and implementation of public spending. Explicitly state that expenditure must include funds allocated to gender equality.
Eliminate	Where there are fiscal rules or practices that allocate resources without regard to equity or that have regressive effects that exacerbate gender gaps.	Abolish or redesign regressive programmes and replace them with gender-sensitive legislative frameworks.

Control

Criterion	Definition	Binding recommendation
Preserve	Where there are regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective.	No further regulatory action is required. No recommendation is therefore made.
Expand	Where there are regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective, but only partially (only some of these regulations) and they are not binding.	Extend the development of regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective.
Reform	Where there are no regulations mandating gender audits of public expenditure; annexes or sections on gender equality spending in draft budget documentation; or the legislative scrutiny of budgets from a gender perspective, but only partially (only some of these regulations).	Promote the development of specific rules on controlling public expenditure with a gender perspective.
Eliminate	Where there are regulations or control practices that omit or obscure the analysis of distributional impacts, or that make it difficult to monitor expenditure on gender equality and/or with a gender perspective.	Repeal or replace provisions that hinder the incorporation of the gender perspective into the transparency and effective control of public expenditure. Adopt mechanisms that allow for clear and verifiable oversight.

Monitoring and evaluation

Criterion	Definition	Binding recommendation
Preserve	Where there are regulations requiring gender-responsive fiscal reporting in the monitoring and evaluation of public spending.	No further regulatory action is required. No recommendation is therefore made.
Expand	Where there are regulations requiring the preparation of fiscal reports with a gender perspective for the monitoring and evaluation of public expenditure, but these apply only to a part of the non-financial public sector or to a single sector.	Extend the development of regulations requiring the preparation of reports and audits with a gender perspective in order to monitor and evaluate public spending, or to conduct gender impact assessments of programmes or projects
Reform	Where there are no regulations requiring the preparation of fiscal reports with a gender perspective for the monitoring and evaluation of public expenditure; or ex-post assessments of the gender impact of programmes or projects.	Promote the development of specific rules on the monitoring and evaluation of public expenditure from a gender perspective.
Eliminate	Where there are evaluations that omit or obscure the analysis of distributional impacts, or that make it difficult to monitor public expenditure from a gender perspective.	Repeal or replace any provisions that hinder the monitoring and evaluation of public spending from a gender perspective.

Participatory budgets, transparency and accountability

Criterion	Definition	Binding recommendation
Preserve	Where there are provisions on the integration of the gender perspective into participation and accountability	No further regulatory action is required. No recommendation is therefore made.
Expand	Where there are provisions on the integration of the gender perspective into participation and accountability, but only partially for the public sector.	Extend the development of regulations that make it mandatory to incorporate the gender perspective into participation and accountability, or rules safeguarding public spending on gender equality during budget implementation.
Reform	Where there are no regulations, or where regulations governing the integration of the gender perspective into participation and accountability are inconsistent, or where rules make it difficult to safeguard public spending on gender equality during budget implementation.	Promote the development of regulations that make it mandatory to incorporate the gender perspective into participation and accountability, or rules that safeguard public spending on gender equality during budget implementation.
Eliminate	Where there are provisions that impede the integration of the gender perspective into participation and accountability	Repeal or replace any provisions that impede the integration of the gender perspective into participation, transparency and accountability.