This paper was commissioned by UNRISD as a contribution to its ongoing research project on Gender and Social Policy. The paper compares the practice of gender-responsive budget initiatives with the claims and expectations about what they can achieve.

The article discusses the potential for gender budget exercises to address gender issues and more specifically, the capacity for such exercises to address the complexities and dilemmas associated with mainstreaming gender into governance processes. The author draws largely upon the South African initiative and highlights how gender budget exercises must be modulated within a social, economic and political context.