Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is an important tool for women’s empowerment that aims to advance gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in Nepal. It exemplifies the concerted efforts of three tiers of government in the country. With its extensive reach across diverse communities, local governance is tasked with effectively implementing GRB by addressing the specific needs of women, children and marginalised groups.

The introduction of GRB has spurred numerous women-centric initiatives across various local governments. These initiatives, aimed at enhancing women's skills and promoting entrepreneurial ventures, have motivated their engagement in income-generating activities such as selling bangles and beads, offering beauty services, tailoring, producing pickles, agricultural products and bamboo items.

Approximately 75 percent of the 753 local levels in Nepal are led by female deputy mayors and deputy chairpersons. They are mandated to oversee budgeting tasks as coordinators of the budget formulation committee in their respective municipalities. This authority empowers them to prioritise GRB and implement initiatives to uplift marginalised women and other vulnerable segments of society.

In the 2022 local elections, 25 women were elected as mayors and chairpersons, and 564 women served as deputy mayors and vice chairpersons in metropolises, sub-metropolises, municipalities and rural municipalities. However, translating the essence of GRB into action poses several challenges that necessitate focused implementation efforts.

Robust policy guidance

The endorsement of the “Local Gender Responsive Budget Localization Strategy 2015” and “Gender Responsive Budget Model Guidelines for Provincial and Local Levels (2020)” by the Government of Nepal has led to a noticeable surge in women-focused programmes, particularly at the local level.

As per the Local Gender Responsive Budget Localization Strategy 2015, every local government is mandated to develop a GRB. This strategy underscores the significance of women’s meaningful participation in various sectors of the state mechanism, encompassing institutional structure development, human resource development, policy formulation, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It has adopted ten strategies, including promoting gender equality through education, disseminating gender equality messages through the media and enhancing women’s capacity. The Gender Responsive Budget Sample Guidelines for Provincial and Local Levels (2020) ensures the effectiveness and specificity of the budgets. The budget formulation process guarantees integrating provisions from policy documents into the budget. Nevertheless, challenges persist.

Despite the mandate for Dalit women to be represented in 6,743 wards across the nation, dozens of wards still lack them. This absence is likely to impact programmes aimed at Dalit women, impoverished individuals and marginalised people in those areas. The federal government must initiate policy-level reforms to address these gaps.

There are seven key steps to budget planning at the local level. Genuine participation of targeted groups in this process renders the programmes outlined in the budget realistic and facilitates their implementation, bringing about positive outcomes. However, elected representatives themselves acknowledge that the outcomes of GRB have not met public expectations due to perfunctory discussions and participation.

Some of the women vice-chairpersons and deputy mayors share their experiences that it is essential to sensitise local governments, political party representatives and local communities about the necessity and significance of GRB. Recognising that gender issues concern both men and women, it is crucial to emphasise that prioritising GRB should not solely be the concern of women but also male representatives.

Collaboration and participatory engagement of all local governments can yield significant results through proper planning, budgeting and execution. Hence, it is vital to convey the importance of this accountable budget formulation to all 753 local levels, involving over 36,000 representatives, which is accepted by the local representatives as well.

Despite challenges, several local governments have demonstrated commendable efforts in implementing GRB initiatives. For instance, a few remarkable result-oriented efforts can be seen at some local levels, which have effectively provided essential support to marginalised women, including pregnancy assistance, clothing, hygiene kits, healthcare supplies and nutritious food. This success highlights the transformative potential of GRB in improving access to vital services and opportunities. Access to these facilities was contingent upon fulfilling requirements such as acquiring citizenship, registering marriages and obtaining certificates of childbirth in hospitals. Such achievements underscore the importance of localised, context-specific approaches in GRB implementation, significantly encouraging women to obtain vital registration and citizenship certificates and access nutritious meals daily.

Need to intensify efforts

The Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017-18, conducted by the National Planning Commission, reveals that approximately 90.5 percent of female workers in Nepal are engaged in informal work. Women, particularly those living in rural areas, face numerous challenges, such as high school dropout, early marriage, premature motherhood, health issues, family concerns and limited socio-economic access. GRB emerges as a potent tool for empowering these women. However, implementing this policy often falls short of reaching these vulnerable groups as intended.

A closer examination in Madhesh province reveals persistent challenges impeding the effectiveness of GRB. These include a lack of awareness among elected and government officials regarding the importance of addressing gender equality and social inclusion issues through GRB and their roles, duties and rights. This results in a failure to grasp the importance, necessity and rationale of the GRB tool, leading to misallocations of resources and suboptimal outcomes.

To address these challenges, concerted efforts are needed to enhance awareness, capacity-building and accountability mechanisms within local governments. Tailored training programmes, coupled with community sensitisation campaigns and orientation programmes, are required for female representatives in their municipalities to advocate for the essence of GRB. These initiatives will foster a deeper understanding of GRB principles, enabling iterative improvements and informed decision-making and ensuring meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the budgetary process.

While budgets allocated under the GRB are being used for physical infrastructure development projects like road construction and drainage systems, experts and stakeholders argue that interpreting them in such a manner contravenes government policy and overlooks women’s rights. Therefore, there is a critical need for awareness campaigns and capacity-building programmes tailored for local women to ensure the effective implementation of GRB principles.