One of the most important instruments in the hands of a welfare state is budget, which enables a unique opportunity for addressing gender issues and bring in parity between the capabilities of the two genders to operate in the economy not withstanding inherent biological differences.
Taking this into account first gender budget’s initiative was taken by Australia at the federal level in 1984 and fully executed in 1985. Gender budgeting doesn’t mean separate budget for men and women but a mere dissection of budget to improve the incidence of budgets and attain more effective targeting of public expenditure and offsetting undesirable consequences of budget. Gender Budgeting is a powerful tool for achieving gender mainstreaming so as to ensure that benefits of development reach women as much as men.
It is not an accounting exercise but an ongoing process of keeping a gender perspective in policy/ programme....
