Gdansk_Gender_Budget_Initiative.pdf

Katarzyna Bałandynowicz – Panfil

Urszula Opacka

Gdańsk Gender

Budget Initiative

Gdańsk Gender Budget Initiative

authors:

Katarzyna Bałandynowicz - Panfil, Urszula Opacka,

Gdańsk University, Foreign Trade Department

coordination and editing

Zofia Łapniewska

The Network of East-West Women

NEWW-Polska

translation:

Adam Jagusiak

graphic design and DTP:

print:

Astra

ISBN 83-916469-6-3

acknowledgements to UNIFEM and Heinrich Bőll Foundation

for financing the preparation and printing of the report

The Network of East-West Women NEWW Polska

ul. Miszewskiego 17 p. 100

80 - 239 Gdańsk, Poland

tel: +4858 344 97 50

tel/fax: +4858 344 38 53

e-mail: neww@neww.org.pl

web: http://www.neww.org.pl

Introduction

Why a city budget needs

to take gender into account

Poland in the times of transition had to go through a period of deteriorating living conditions. Women were

affected the most. They have been more dependent on the services provided by the state and those services

collapsed. Looking back at the early 90ties we wish we would avoid the same mistakes. It was a time when the

whole society, not just women, lost control over the course of social development. Public life lacked transpar-

ency and people had no economic knowledge. It is important for the whole society to be able to monitor how

public funds are spent. Economic processes have a different impact on the situation of women and men, how-

ever, and that’s why it is important to do a budget analysis from the gender perspective. It can help women to

get more control over authorities of every level.

Budget is a political and social declaration. It reflects economic and social priorities of the authorities and

through the budget authorities implement their electional pledge. Budget analysis is a form of holding the

government responsible for what it promised and is obliged to carry out. Supporting of the equality of oppor-

tunities for women and men is one of the promises that need constant monitoring. How the government dis-

tributes public funds is a very important statement as far as real actions and intentions are concerned.

Gender budget is a tool to achieve more transparency as it points out to the way the money is spent, includ-

ing women’s needs. Authorities frequently take up verbal obligation, but fail to implement them and put aside

money for projects supporting women’s needs (e.g. fighting domestic violence). Budget analysis proves the

actual priorities of the government and gives women an instrument to hold the government accountable for

failures to work towards achieving the promised objectives.

Gender budget is more than just demanding more money for women’s projects. Those rarely go beyond 1%

of the whole budget. Gender budget is another look at the state from women’s point of view. It involves rede-

fining priorities and distribution of public funds. The impact of public spending on women and men needs to

be analyzed. This may result in increasing of sums meant for improving the opportunities of women through

education programs, health care or supporting companies managed by women. Public services can get more

funds as women are the ones who benefit from them more.

Gdańsk Gender Budget Initiative aiming at creating permanent instruments of controlling local authorities

and their expenditure from the gender perspective. Its ambition is to help create equal opportunities for all.

We want to monitor the local government on regular basis to know how public money is spent and to encour-

age them to include gender budget into their own repertory of research tools.

Małgorzata Tarasiewicz,

Director of the Network of East West Women

Gdańsk Gender Budget Initiative

Gdańsk Gender

Budget Initiative

Gender budgeting is a relatively new concept for women’s NGOs in CEE/NIS. In April 2003 Network of East-

West Women (NEWW) and NEWW-Polska held its second Gender Policy Conference, “Women and Economy”

and conducted intense two-day training on gender budgeting for leaders of women’s NGOs from over ten

countries in CEE/NIS. This Conference provided the first regional forum to encourage discussion and coopera-

tion aimed at developing strategic ways to use gender budgeting as a tool for long-term social change.

As a direct outcome of this conference the CEE/NIS Regional Network on Budget Initiatives and Gender (BIG)

was launched. As its first task, the BIG Working Group established a set of core criteria that participants viewed

were the necessary elements of any Gender Budget Initiative, whether on the local, country, regional or inter-

national level. BIG participants came to consensus that in order to ensure the successful implementation of

GBI in CEE/NIS, it is important to share resources, expertise, and knowledge and to collaborate with each other

on a continuous basis.

In April 2004 NEWW and NEWW-Polska organized a conference “Gender Budgeting in East-Central Europe and

countries of ex-Soviet Union” since as the Coordinators of BIG, they wanted to continue to support the collabo-

rative process begun in Gdańsk, as an innovative strategy to promote gender equality throughout CEE/NIS.

Although gender budget projects are underway in Kosovo, Bulgaria and Russia, there has been no regional

budget initiative undertaken in CEE/NIS to promote cooperation. NEWW and NEWW-Polska hope that the

project Gender Budget for Gdańsk could serve as a model in the region and will help in building of a net-

work aiming at identifying appropriate needs and solutions and sharing strategies and resources. NEWW and

NEWW-Polska want to provide opportunities for women and men ’s NGOs to develop analytical skills, budget-

ary expertise and advocacy initiatives to influence and participate in public policy decision-making processes.

The Gdańsk Gender Budget Initiative’s aim is to serve as an example for women NGOs and for authorities in

the region.

Results of the Gender Budget analysis in Gdańsk are presented in the report below. It could be done thanks

to the invaluable work of the experts from Gdańsk University. They collected data and got acquainted with a

plethora of foreign publications. NEWW-Polska helped them to get the necessary data applying to particular

institutions and the experts reviewed them, drew conclusions and suggested recommendations.

Thanks to the input of the staff of NEWW-Polska many new ideas were conceived. Their future implementation

will sure boost the position of women on the labor market and help fight unemployment. Still it depends on

the local authorities how much progress will be achieved as well as on the engagement of other segments of

the local community. Gender Budget for Gdańsk is a step to improve the situation of women in the city. NEWW

Polska will continue its efforts to encourage local authorities to use and benefit from gender budgeting on a

broader scale.

Zofia Łapniewska, Project Coordinator

CONTENTS:

Introduction

PART I: SITUATION OF WOMEN AND MEN IN GDAŃSK

1 Factors shaping the quality of life in Gdańsk – basic conclusions

PART II: GENDER BUDGET

2 The meaning of gender budget

2.1 Definition and brief history

2.2 Premises for creating gender budgets

2.3 Stages of gender budget – procedure of implementation

2.4 Tools of evaluation of gender budget

3 Experiences of countries implementing gender budget projects

3.1 Solutions and postulates of the European Union

PART III: BUDGETS OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERMENTS

4 Characteristics of local budgets

4.1 The role of public finances in fulfilling social needs

4.2 Tasks delegated to cities acting as local administration units

4.3 Budget system in Poland

4.4 Budget procedure

4.5 Income of local units as a derivative of their dependence on the central budget

4.6 Expenditure of local budgets

4.7 Significance of control and supervision of local administration units

4.8 Task based budgeting as an element of optimizing local budget policy

5 General characteristics of some elements of the budget of Gdańsk

5.1 Basic areas of the budget

5.2 Income of Gdańsk

PART IV: GENDER BUDGET IN SELECTED AREAS

6 Recommendations

6.1 Actions to improve statistics

6.2 Activating seniors

6.2.1 Activating through leisure time and hobbies

6.2.2 Ways to activate seniors professionally

6.2.3 Educational opportunities for seniors and middle age people

6.2.4 How to plan for aging society

6.3 Fighting long term unemployment

6.3.1 New form of cooperation and more programs for women

6.4 Equal treatment of women and men and activation of women professionally

6.4.1 More programs directed at the needs of women

6.4.2 Activating women professionally

6.4.3 Promotion and information for employers

6.4.4 School as a place teaching equality

6.4.5 Modern institutionalized care

Summary

Bibliography

Endnotes

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: