Gender Budgets in a HumanDevelopment approach

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Gender Budgets in a Human-Development approach

• ISTAT, Global Forum on Gender Statistics
• Rome Dec. 10, 2007
• Antonella Picchio
• University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

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Women as subject of vision

• women are not a socia question but a subject of
  vision and knowledge that acts in the public
  sphere, shaping social systems, drawing
  analytical frameworks and developing new tools.
• There are two ways of engendering the budgets
• Looking at women in a given framework
• Looking at the framework from a womens
  perspective
• The second includes the firtst but it goes beyond
  it in order to disclose hidden aspects that are
  crucial for women and also for the sustainability
  of the whole social system.

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Local Governments Budgets A Budget is a
comprehensive account of public expenditures and
revenues. Highly political document that
assesses a distribution of resources, works (paid
and unpaid), responsibilities, powers. Inherent
tensions often hidden by language obscurity It
provides a general framework of public policy and
allows for a higher level of gender
mainstreaming The new mainstreaming challenge is
to engender the analytical framework i.e. the
value system, the micro and macro analysis,
policy and measures.
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Choosing ground and focus the living process of
real people

• What we see?
• Male and female individuals, embedded and
  interactive in a social context (bodies, minds,
  social and personal relations)
• Market and non-market economy
• Institutional network family, state and
  firms
• Distribution of resources, works (paid and
  unpaid) and responsibilities (of caring for ones
  self and others).
• Public and private spheres

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THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Local governments have historically taken
responsibility towards the well-being of men and
women who live and relate in a given
territory The political and social history of
their responsibilities and negotiations on
well-being marks their administrative structure
(i.e. department of health, transport,
education, social security, equal opportunity,
etc) They share responsibility with other
institutions and individuals
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Gender budgets in a human development approach
Well-being as a list of capabilities and
functionings (doings and beings) according to
Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum approach Drawing
the list from the political and administrative
structure of a specific Local Government Building
the matrix of departments and capabilities i.e.
shifting from the usual accounts based on the
mere allocation of means to accounts that reflect
the well-being ends. A form of public accounting
that refers directly to the well-being of
residents
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ITALIAN EXPERIENCES
Emilia-Romagna Region (2003) Lazio Region
(2007-2008) Piemonte Region (2007) Modena
Provincial District (2003-2004) Bologna
Provincial District (2006-2007) Rome Provincial
District (2007) Others to be collected
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EX.LIST OF MODENA Provincial District
DEPARTMENTS

• EDUCATION
• ENVIROMENT
• TRANSPORTS
• AGRICOLTURE
• PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES, HUMAN RESOURCES AND EQUAL
  OPPORTUNITIES
• TURISM, CULTURE AND SPORTS
• TERRITORIAL PLANNING
• LABOUR AND WELFARE
• BUDGET AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

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LIST OF CAPABILITIES chosen (agreed) for the
Modena Provincial District

• KNOWING AND BEING TRAINED
• LIVING IN ADEQUATE AND SECURE HOUSING
• ACCESSING RESOURCES
• MOVING IN THE TERRITORY
• LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE
• ENJOYING BEAUTY
• CARING FOR ONES SELF AND OTHERS
• BEING INFORMED

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MATRIX OF DEPARTMENTS AND CAPABILITIES MODENA
PROVINCIAL DISTRICT
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WELL-BEING Women and men
Accessing monetary resources
Being educated
Adults
Caring for the others
Use of time
Minors
Elderly
Caring for ones self
Being healthy
Having free time
Moving in territory
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• WOMEN AND MEN EQUAL IN WHAT?
• Paid and unpaid work
• Incomes
• Public resources
• Well-being as list of capabilities and
  functionings
• Freedom of composing their lives
• Example living in adequate and secure housing
  (income, housework, accidents, domestic
  violence, ...) highly gendered

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HOW TO DO IT?
Context analysis using data on labour, time use,
life cycle, relational networks, sustainability
of social processes, adequacy of services and
incomes, etc. to get a picture of living
conditions of women men Reading of different
budgets documents searching for objectives and
resourses allocated Interviews and meetings with
member of the political and administrative
apparatus Participatory process (inside and
outside the Administration) on the list of
capabilities, i.e. on individual and collective
well-being as a public issue Matrix of
departments and capabilities filled with
specific policies and monetary resources.
Specific indicators used to evaluate the gender
policy impact Case studies according to
department or to capability to disclose
connections and inter-departments cooperation in
the well-being space
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SIMBOLIC RESULTS

• Public accounts made more consistent with the
  well-being objectives declared in the budgets
  introductory documents
• Social capital as the process that enables women
  and men to live, work and relate
• Well-being of women and men as ground for a
  participatory process of evaluation of public
  policy
• Potential bottom-up evaluation of public policy
  on the basis of individual and collective
  experience of a good life.