The present report of the UN Secretary-General on Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women, January 2008 has been prepared in accordance with the programme of work of the Commission on the Status of Women for 2007-2009, which identified Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women as the priority theme for the fifty-second session. The report analyses the current situation of financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women and proposes recommendations for consideration by the Commission including the adoption of Gender Responsive Budgeting.

Since 2004, 13 research projects supported in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America by the Women's Rights and Citizenship program of Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) have been exploring exactly how decentralization affects women's access to services, resources, and local power. The findings show that these reforms do not automatically benefit women, and can even put them at a disadvantage.

This paper explains what GRB is, what GRB work has help achieved and how it can further contribute to achieving gender equity and equality. The paper also presents some of the challenges of doing GRB work and concludes with a set of recommendations to institutionalize a gender equality perspective in public finance.

This report reflects country-level experiences shared at the Burundi regional consultation on Aid Effectiveness and Gender Equality in Africa in July 2006 consultation on the gender equality opportunities and challenges arising from aid reform processes. Cases from Zambia, Kenya, Senegal, Ghana and Burundi are explored in the report.

This paper provides a gender analysis of the new aid agenda as outlined in the Paris Declaration. Highlighting key opportunities and concerns that are presented in the new aid context towards the achievement of gender equality, the article also outlines the usefulness of some key tools such as gender budget analysis, gender analysis, gender statistics and indicators-- in order to address the gaps that currently exist within the monitoring frameworks of the new aid agenda.

The main research question of this study To what extent do post-conflict reconstruction initiatives allocate resources to promote gender equality, address women's needs and involve women in decision-making around strategies and related resource allocations? In the Post-Conflict Needs Assessments examined in this paper, less than 5 percent of activities and only 3 percent of budget lines mentioned women's needs. Low and diminishing levels of gender-responsiveness were also evident in PRSPs.

The international Conference on Decentralization, Local Power and Women's Rights: Global Trends in Participation, Representation and Access to Public Services was held from 18-21 November 2008, in Mexico City. The present document emerged from the analysis and experiences shared during the Conference and the work of IDRC-supported researchers. It comprises a set of policy recommendations that, for the first time, define a global agenda on gender and decentralization.

This briefing paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in October 2010 discusses the factors needed for successful budget reforms after conflicts, using the example of Southern Soudan. The study highlights two factors, in particular, that have influenced the success of Southern Soudan in building planning and budgeting systems after 22 years of conflict between the Government of Sudan and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

This reference tool handbook, available in English, French and Arabic, is the sixth in a series produced by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) which seeks to advance parliament's own capacity to make a positive impact on the budget, and to equip parliament, its members and parliamentary staff with necessary tools to examine the budget from a gender perspective.

This is the final report of a joint three-year project (2004-2006) between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The finance ministries and ministries responsible for gender equality affairs in these countries have engaged in development work and, under the coordination of the Nordic Council of Ministers, have exchanged ideas and experience concerning the work of mainstreaming a gender equality perspective into the national budget and budgetary process in each country.