Affirmative Actions for Equality, Non-Violence and Strengthening Women's Leadership in Quintana Roo (SDG 5; 5.c; 5.c.1)
Description
The "Affirmative Actions for Equality, Non-Violence and Strengthening Women's Leadership in Quintana Roo" project, run by the Quintana Roo Institute for Women (IQM) between July and December 2018, was financed with federal resources to strengthen and implement the transversal application of the gender perspective. The objective of this program, coordinated by the National Institute for Women, was to contribute to the implementation of the National Equality Policy. We implemented training and capacity building for personnel in the planning, programming and budgeting areas of the State government of Quintana Roo to prepare the Public Account with an applied Gender Perspective.
The objectives of these practices were: 1) To strengthen the technical capacities of state employees in programming-budgeting and reporting to the public account with a gender equality perspective and 2) Design a proposal for the intersection of the Public Account with a gender perspective, including gender components in the programming-budgeting phase. These objectives are designed to meet the framework of Sustainable Development Goal number 5, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; goal 5.c, to approve and strengthen sound policies and applicable laws to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels; indicator 5.c.1, the proportion of countries with systems for monitoring gender equality and the empowerment of women and the allocation of public funds for that purpose.<br />
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The distribution of public resources through Public budgets reflect and differentiate the needs and rights of women and men. Public budgets are instruments through which a government expresses its priorities, and thus it is necessary for budgets to have programming processes with a gender equality perspective, and an annex of this analyses in Public Accounts. We believe that these practices are a fundamental and indispensable public policy tool to guarantee access to human rights under the principles of equality and non-discrimination.<br />
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Applying a gender perspective to the programming and budgeting processes indicates that the government is committed to women's rights and gender equality at the federal, state and municipal levels of government. The application of the gender perspective to public budgeting is one of the most effective strategies for accelerating the pace toward more egalitarian societies and ensures higher levels of well-being.<br />
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There were two main challenges presented during the implementation of this project. First and foremost, there was notable internal resistance to modifying inertial practices in budgetary matters. Second, there was a marked lack of knowledge about the basic and elementary concepts such as the national and state legal frameworks that uphold the obligation to plan and budget with a gender perspective. In the first diagnostic we performed with public servants, we detected these challenges and included basic conceptual elements in training, as well as emphasized the national and state legal frameworks that obliges budgeting and accountability (through public accounts) to apply a gender perspective. Additionally, the needs assessment made it possible to identify personnel who were very well informed on gender issues and normative compliances on the matter, such as the Directorate of Control and Budget Policy
o We performed diagnostic and needs assessment meetings which included information requests to identify how the institutions were attending to and exercising resources specified to promote equality. As a result of this consultancy, the IQM report and public account budget designed with the proposed format for a transversal gender perspective will be integrated into the 2018 State Public Account by Sefiplan.
The information gathered from the diagnostic meetings and needs assessment ensured the adequate design of training workshops and format for the integration of the cross-sectional Annex into the public account. The respective normative framework and analysis of women’s current situation helped to facilitate the training workshops that were inaugurated by Dr. Silvia Damián López, Director General of the Quintana Roo Women's Institute and Lic. María Luisa Alcerreca Manzanero, General Treasurer of the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
The workshops began by introducing the basic concepts of gender equality in order to standardize and establish the link between gender and public policy. We discussed the gender perspective derived from the social construction of sexual differences and analysed the relationships between women and men.
In the trainings, we presented concepts within the public policy framework to help locate the budget and state public accounts that apply a gender perspective, and its importance for reducing inequality gaps, specifically gender. The federal level experience with budgeting was presented as a reference to subsequently address the progress made in the state of Quintana Roo, and addressed the regulatory framework of the budget with a gender perspective and the requirements for its implementation.Several team exercises were carried out on each of the topics discussed, and the logical framework methodology with a gender perspective was then developed and integrated into all stages of the budgeting process (planning, programming, budgeting, execution, monitoring, evaluation and rendering of accounts).
Topics Covered:
1. PUBLIC POLICIES WITH A GENDER PERSPECTIVE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.1 Gender: principles, social order of gender and its institutions
1.2 Public policies with a gender perspective
1.3 Differentiated policies for women: what they are and some key factors for their design
2. PUBLIC BUDGETS WITH A GENDER PERSPECTIVE: CHANGE OF PARADIGM
2.1 Budget based on results
2.2 Public budgets with a gender perspective- Federal experience: Regulatory framework; Annex 13 Expenditures for Equality between women and men; Advances in the State of Quintana Roo
3. THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN THE VARIOS PHASES OF THE BUDGET PROCESS FOR RESULTS
3.1 Planning: Local regulatory framework; Logical Framework Methodology (MML); Diagnosis; Problem tree and objectives tree
3.2 Programming and Budgeting: Local regulatory framework; Matrix of indicators for results (MIR); Main elements of the program structure
3.3 Execution and Follow-up: Local regulatory framework; Importance of monitoring in PPPG
3.4 Evaluation and Accountability (Public Account): Local regulatory framework; Importance of evaluation in PPPG; Format for the integration of the annex on the exercise of resources for equality in the Public Account 2018 of the State of Quintana Roo
4. CONCLUSIONS
Question 1. Why is the inclusion of the gender perspective in the budget a paradigm shift?
Correct responses increased considerably from 19% to 63%. Correct answers had to develop some of the following ideas: the change of mentality to do and budget differently; budgeting to reduce inequality gaps; and budgeting in favour of gender equality. The evaluation of participant responses indicated that a positive result was obtained, identifying a significant advance toward what implies a paradigm change for including the gender perspective in the expenditures budget.
Question 2. What is a result of the public budget with a gender perspective?
Correct responses increased from 23% to 63%. Correct answerers had to develop some of the following ideas: gender equality; decrease in inequality gaps; impact on society; programs and budgets that distinguish differences between women and men. According to the results, people who participated in the training were able to identify the positive impacts that the public budget with a gender perspective can have.
Question 3. What is the difference between a conventional budget and a public budget with a gender perspective?
Correct responses rose from 21% to 69%. Correct answers: distinguish the inequality gaps; have an equitable distribution of the budget; and distinguish the differences between the needs of women and men. The participants were able to differentiate - after the training - between a gender neutral budget and one that is not.
Question 4. What is the difference between disaggregation by sex and the gender perspective?
Correct responses increased from 13% to 60%. Correct answers needed to differentiate disaggregation by sex as a tool to separately quantify women from men, while identifying the gender perspective as the analysis of differences between women and men expressed in inequality gaps. This topic was of special importance because it was identified in the diagnosis and during the workshops that confusion between terms was evident, however, the fact that 60 percent of participants managed to distinguish one from the other is a particularly positive result obtained by the training.
Question 5. What are the characteristics of a public account with a gender perspective?
Correct responses rose from 12% to 58%. Correct answers had to develop one of the following elements: an annex on the budget for the reduction of inequality gaps; a report on government actions in favour of equality between women and men; and gender indicators. Given that this is a fundamental issue, it is advisable to continue strengthening training in this regard in order to achieve a better understanding of the relevance and positive aspects generated by the public account report with a gender perspective.
In conclusion, the trained public servants acquired the necessary knowledge and information both to include the gender perspective in their institutional budgets and to adequately integrate a cross-sectional Annex on gender in the state public account.
The Quintana Roo state legal framework highlights the following:
In 2017, the Planning Law was reformed to incorporate the gender perspective and equality as principles of the state and municipal plans.
The State Development Plan 2016-2022, has 6 axes; Axis 4 for Social Development and Combating Inequality, includes gender equality.
The Law for Equality between Women and Men of the State of Quintana Roo establishes that, in compliance with the state policy of equality, it must be contemplated both in the planning and in the allocation of resources.
The Law on Women's Access to a Life Free of Violence of the State of Quintana Roo states that the Executive must include in the budget of expenditures the resources to ensure compliance with the objectives of the state system and the state program on the subject.
The Budget and Public Expenditure Law of the State of Quintana Roo also establishes that the budget proposal will include expenditure forecasts for actions that promote equality between women and men, the eradication of gender violence and any form of gender discrimination.
For the first time, the Expenditure Budget of the Government of the State of Quintana Roo 2018 integrated a chapter titled “From the Perspective of Gender”, it establishes that the State Executive will promote the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in the budget process to achieve equality of opportunities between women and men. It also includes a table called: Budget allocated for the attention of the gender perspective by institution, for fiscal year 2018.
To comply with the national regulatory framework and the international instruments signed by Mexico, the National Institute for Women has promoted, among other aspects, public budgets with a gender perspective in the states.<br />
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Quintana Roo already has an important normative advance on the specific budget issue where finally, for the first time it includes a chapter in the State Budget of Expenditures 2018, called "From the perspective of gender" accompanied by an allocated resource in 44 state government institutions.<br />
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At the very beginning of project operations large gaps were detected, which was a determining factor in the design of the training. The gap refers to the fact that, among the advances in the State's regulatory framework and the obligation to include an annex referring to expenditures with a gender perspective in the public account, there is absolute lack of training for women and men to effectively implement it.<br />
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For public servants to include the gender perspective in the public account (the last phase of this process), it must be included in all phases of the budgeting process without which it is practically impossible to report progress in this regard.<br />
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For this reason, the workshop designed for this practice necessarily included an introduction to how to include the gender perspective in the entire budgeting process, so that the results of the expenditure can be expressed with this focus in the corresponding public account.<br />
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Quintana Roo is currently implementing the Results Based Budget and this particular situation is ideal for the inclusion of the equality approach in the methodology. It is worth noting that the personnel of the Sefiplan Budget Policy Directorate show commitment to facilitate, within the framework of compliance with the law, the inclusion of the gender perspective in the budget. Therefore, accompanying this unit is extremely important and strategic since these are medium-term processes.<br />
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More specifically, the following was recommended:<br />
• Change the name by which resources are distinguished to promote equality because the current designation denotes the incorrect use of the concepts. In the current budget it is called: "Budget allocated for the attention of the gender perspective".<br />
• The resources that appear in the budget divide resources by budgetary program and not by institution, making it difficult for the agencies themselves to locate those resources making it even more difficult for citizens.<br />
• Comply with the line of action of the State Development Plan regarding the publication of the State Equality Program, since without it the adequate programmatic classification of resources is hindered.<br />
• It is essential to incorporate into the State Programming and Budgeting Manual not a section or annex on how to include the gender perspective, but the manual should include it transversally in its development.<br />
• Establish a quarterly monitoring mechanism for the exercise of these resources.<br />
• Guarantee indicators with a gender perspective for due control and for adequate evaluation at the end of the budget year.
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- Latin America and the Caribbean
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Jaclyn Fierro, Project Manager