Budgeting for Women’s Rights
Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW
Diane Elson
People’s access to services and resources are largely determined by
government budget policies. Gender budget initiatives around the world
have attempted to systematically examine how government budgets address
discrimination with regard to women’s access to housing, employment,
health, education, and other services. Often these exercises have been
eye-openers: a budget analysis of domestic violence policies and laws in
seven countries in Latin America, for example, revealed that
appropriations for domestic violence programmes and interventions were
non-existent in all cases. Similar evidence of gender discrimination is
found when examining taxation policies.
This publication adds a landmark to the discourse on the link between
human rights standards and government budgets. It elaborates on how
budgets and budget policy-making processes can be monitored for
compliance with human rights standards, in particular with the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW). Combining substantive analysis with country examples, the
publication explores how a rights-based budget analysis can be applied
to public expenditure, public revenue, macroeconomics of the budget, and
budget decision-making. In the context of discussions on aid
effectiveness, direct budget support, and accountability Budgeting for
Women’s Rights is of particular relevance.
2006. ISBN 1-932827-47-1. 171 pages. WE751. $15.00
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