NGO calls for accountability, gender-responsive budgeting — Business

The group disclosed this at a capacity-building workshop on GRB for committee clerks of the National Assembly in partnership with Spotlight Initiative.

An economist, Terfa Abraham, explained that the workshop would help train participants on how to demand and execute best practices about GRB, adding that the training came after President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on October 7 and budget call circular, which made it clear that the 2022 budget would be gender-responsive.

“The training would assist stakeholders to ensure compliance of budget in reflecting the needs of gender-responsive projects.

“Clerks play important roles in the bureaucracy and management of national assembly affairs. When politicians come and go because of the election circle, clerks remain, enhancing their capacity to be able to track and examine the budget to ensure its objectives are achieved,” Abraham said.

He, however, noted that gender budgeting is not about women but the vulnerable in society.

“Gender budgeting is not about gender for women. It is about ensuring that the budget is used as a tool of achieving inclusive development for all that caters for excluded and vulnerable groups especially women/girls, young people and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs),” he said.

According to him, the 2022 budget marks the first in history where MDAs would be advised on GRB, which are parts of critical steps to distribute resources fairly and reach vulnerable groups in society.

He noted that the method for gender-responsive budgeting includes size, which explains how much; share, which focuses on proportion about the total budget; and sensitivity, which shows how it addresses specific needs, advocacy and actions.

Programme Manager, Yiaga Africa, Dr. Ernest Ereke noted the need to engage civil society groups on how best to address issues of discrimination against the vulnerable in the society.