Advancing Gender Responsive Budgeting

During an official ceremony in Pristina, 15 Municipalities of Kosovo signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with UN Women for the advancement of gender responsive budgeting and gender equality at the local level.

The MoUs foresee the support of UN Women Kosovo for the signatory municipalities on the integration of a gender perspective in all programs at the local level, the strengthening of the administration's capacities to fulfill the requirements arising from the Law on Gender Equality and the advancement of the gender responsive budgeting (GRB) processes.

The cooperation agreement will facilitate UN Women’s work in supporting local institutions with capacity building and technical assistance on the implementation of GRB and ‘engendering’ municipal programmes. The signatory municipalities are Gjakova/Đakovica, Peja/Peć, Prizren, Podujeva/o, Ferizaj/Uroševac, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovica, Lipjan/Lipljan, Hani i Elezit, Vitia, Klina, Kamenica, Dragash/š, Grac/čanica, and Suhareka/Suva Reka.

Present at the ceremony, the Ministry of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, stated that the achievement of full equality among women and men can be done through the equal allocation of the budget and that every budgetary organization must implement gender responsive budgeting. “How public spending is allocated can contribute to reducing gender inequalities in society. Thus, the successful implementation of the GRB approach within the governmental and municipal budget can increase the effectiveness of public spending,” he said.

“For years, we have provided assistance and support to local governments in establishing mechanisms and in realizing gender analysis to address the needs of citizens, women, and men. We have accepted unconditional support from municipal officials in all processes and this ceremony caps off our work,” said Vlora Tuzi Nushi, Head of Office at UN Women Kosovo.

Speaking at the event, the Ambassador of Sweden to Kosovo, Jonas Westerlund, said: “Sida -– the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency – has been supporting UN Women for a while now in the advancement of gender equality through the promotion of GRB in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. Kosovo is undertaking great efforts for reforms, and we are here to support you."

Emphasizing the effectiveness of GRB, the United Nations Coordinator for Development in Kosovo, Arnhild Spence, said: “The budget is gender-responsive in that it invests in areas traditionally underrepresented by women, namely education, health, safety, and security. It centers around both men and women, boys and girls in planning and executing policies and decisions for services, facilities, and representation.”

“Budget is the most important policy tool of Local Governments and is how Governments allocate resources to implement their policies. The budget is also an important indicator of the extent to which a government is gender-sensitive and the value it places to the principle of gender equality,” said Ermira Lubani, Regional Programme Manager for Gender-Responsive Budgeting at UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office.

This activity was organized under the programme “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans”, funded by SIDA and implemented in Kosovo since 2020.