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.

This study "Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations" by Debbie Budlender and Julia de Bruyn, based on the South African case, discusses the allocation of responsibility for expenditure and powers to raise revenue to different spheres of government. A system of intergovernmental fiscal relations includes the construction of a system of transfers to overcome the problem of "mismatch" between such responsibilities and powers.

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.

This report presents research on the costs of implementing South Africa's Domestic Violence Act (DVA), with a focus on quantifying missing personnel costs. It describes the methodology used in the research, the process required to obtain a protection order and the time taken at each step. The authors discuss factors impeding the execution of the DVA, such as the role of criminal justice employees. They also offer recommendations to secure an adequate budget to implement the DVA.