Giovanna Vingelli

Università della Calabria

Centro di Women’s Studies “Milly Villa”

ATHENA MEETING IN MADRID : WORKING GROUP 3A “STRENGHTENING THE SOCIETAL IMPACT OF WOMEN’S STUDIES”

3 JULY 2008

A critical review on Gender Budgeting in Italy

Catanzaro

Marche

Emilia Romag

na

Liguria

ITALY: “how to” at the local level

DATA AND INDICATORSTO CARRY OUT A GENDER AUDIT OF THE BUDGET

CYCLE: POLICY DECISIONS, BUDGET DECISION AND THEIR IMPACT REFLECTED IN THE SERVICES PROVIDED

THE PROJECT THUS INVOLVED NEGOTIATION WITH EACH DEPARTMENT COUNCILOR (POLITICAL LEVEL); INTRODUCING GB INTO THE BALANCE SHEET GUIDELINES FOR THE DEPARTMENTS CHOSEN AND INTO THE YEARLY SOCIAL BALANCE SHEET (ADMINISTRATIVE LEVEL)

MAKING APPROPRIATE CHANGES AWARENESS RAISING NETWORKING

Basic data should includenumber of people who take advantage of social welfare

according to gender, education, age, previous income, number of people in the household, marital status,

statistics of programs – number of people participating in trainings and workshops and data on the efficiency of trainings,

data on people who benefit from services like kindergartens and nurseries, including age and number of children, income and profession of parents,

Situation of seniors according to gender,Statistics on people who are permanently unemployed

according to gender, education, age, experience, number of people in the household.

The city/province/region is obliged to own such statistics, but there are failures in creating data banks and accessing those data.

Sectorial analysis

Emilia Romagna

Marche GenderAlp Massa Carrara

Genova – Sestri Levante

Catanzaro

PUBLIC EDUCATION

PUBLIC EDUCATION

PUBLIC EDUCATION

PUBLIC EDUCATION

PUBLIC EDUCATION

HEALTH CARE

SOCIAL WELFARE

SOCIAL WELFARE

SOCIAL WELFARE

SOCIAL WELFARE

SOCIAL WELFARE

FAMILY POLICY FAMILY POLICY FAMILY POLICY FAMILY POLICY

FAMILY POLICY

HELP FOR DISABLED

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

FIGHTING UNEMPLOYMENT

FIGHTING UNEMPLOYMENT

FIGHTING UNEMPLOYMENT

FIGHTING UNEMPLOYMENT

SPORT AND TOURSIM

Experiences of Italian local government implementing gender budget projects. Main features

Engaging of an “inside institutions” approachResults of the analyses are presented in a separate

document with a title, e.g. gender budgetResult of a “think-thank” of (mostly academic)

experts, but there are also examples of a direct involvement of the local bureaucracy (MARCHE)

Analyses present situation and expenditure with reference to women and men (only EMILIA ROMAGNA analysis presents an analysis of the revenue side of the budget.)

EMILIA ROMAGNA Region and Province of MODENA (Budget cycle 2000/2001)

THE RESEARCHERS PROPOSED A METHODOLOGY BASED ON THE USE OF INDICATORS THAT DETERMINED WHICH SPECIFIC ISSUES NEEDED TO BE LOOKED AT IN BUDGET TERMS DEPENDING ON WHETHER THEIR VALUE WAS ABOVE OR BELOW ITALIAN OR EU AVERAGES

A NUMBER OF ANALYSES ON THE INFLUENCE OF FINANCIAL POLICY ON THE SITUATION OF WOMEN IS CONDUCTED.

REPORTS SUGGEST TO MODIFY TAXATIONRECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR

ALLOCATING AND INCREASING PUBLIC CHILD CARE PLACES (BASED ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS RATHER THAN SOLELY ON RENT CRITERIA) AS TO INCREASE WOMEN’S CHANCES TO EITHER FIND WORK OR ATTEND TRAINING, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH LOWER EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, AS WELL AS RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADAPT TRANSPORT POLICY TO THE DIFFERENT NEEDS AND USES BY WOMEN AND MEN

Province of GENOVA and Municipality of SESTRI LEVANTE (Budget cycle: 2001)

Context analysisDisaggregation and re-aggregation of expenditures in 4 areas:1. Women-specific targeted expenditures, eg. resources

allocated for programs that specifically target women; Equal employment opportunity expenditures, eg. resources allocated to affirmative action in order to promote employment of women and men in equal numbers, equal representation within management posts, and equal pay.

2. Gender – targeted expenditures (child and elderly care; social policy; labor market; training…)

3. Environmental expenditures (transports, culture, environment, sport….)

4. Mainstream expenditures: the bulk of the remaining expenditures not covered by the first two categories (mostly administrative costs)

MARCHE Region (Budget cycle: 2003/2004)

INCREASED PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN THE GOVERNMENT PROCESSES THROUGH GENDER ANALYSES AND INFLUENCING BUDGETING PROCESSES.

THE TRAINING AND AWARENESS RAISING AT THE LEVEL OF THE OFFICIALS POINTS TO THE POSSIBILITY OF CONTINUING THE WORK. IN PARTICULAR, THE CONTINUITY OF THE INTER-DEPARTMENTAL GROUP IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGET CAN IMPROVE THE IDENTIFICATION OF ENTRIES THAT ARE RELEVANT TO GENDER EQUALITY.

PILOTED AND IMPROVED METHODOLOGY OF GENDER EXPERTISE OF BUDGETS IN THE BUREAUCRACY, SUMMARIZED IN AN INFORMATION PACKAGE ON GENDER BUDGETING IN THE REGION;

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS NOW HAVE ENOUGH PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND GENDER SENSITIVITY TO FURTHER DEVELOP AND APPLY THE METHODOLOGY OF GENDER ANALYSES TO BUDGETS AT PROVINCIAL LEVEL

Province of CATANZARO (Budget cycle: 2005-2006)

SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE CONTEXT INVOLVEMENT OF STAKEHOLDER (POLITICIANS, ADMINISTRATORS AND

EMPLOYEES) THROUGH SPECIFIC INTERVIEWS ON GENERAL AND GENDER POLICY OBJECTIVES; IDENTIFICATION OF THE MAIN AREAS OF INTERVENTION OF THE PROVINCE (EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES)

ANALYSIS OF 2005 FINAL BUDGET AND PRELIMINARY DRAFT, INCLUDING AN OVERALL FORECAST OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR A GIVEN YEAR (2006), PLUS DIFFERENT PLANNING DOCUMENTS AND SURVEYS (EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION).

DISAGGREGATION OF THE BUDGET AND A RECLASSIFICATION IN 4 AREAS 1. DIRECTLY RELATED TO GENDER/EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES; 2. INDIRECTLY RELATED TO GENDER – EDUCATION, PROFESSIONAL TRAINING,

EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL SERVICES; 3. “ENVIRONMENTAL AREA” – CULTURE, SPORT, ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES,

TRANSPORTS, VIABILITY; 4. “NEUTRAL” AREA (ADMINISTRATION COSTS); DETAILED IDENTIFICATION

AND CATALOGUE BY EACH DEPARTMENT AND THE ACTIONS THEY HAVE TAKEN TO FOSTER GENDER EQUALITY OR TO HEIGHTEN AWARENESS IN ADDITION TO PROGRAMS SPECIFICALLY TARGETING VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF WOMEN

ConclusionsMEASURES ADOPTED OR ENVISIONED TO REDUCE

INEQUALITIES DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE UNDERGONE A STABLE AND SELF-SUSTAINABLE INTRODUCTION IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS

LACK OF APPROPRIATE DATA

IN 2006 TWO PROPOSALS HAVE BEEN ISSUED AT THE SENATE (BY SEN. DATO AND SEN. BOATO). THE PROPOSALS AIMED AT IMPLEMENTING GENDER BUDGETING INTO THE REGULAR TASKS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.

Good practices show that gender budgeting should follow a few rules

Engaging authorities and political good will - no project can be successfully done without cooperation of the authorities if this project requires reforming public finances. It may happen that authorities are not interested in hearing such analyses. If this situation occurs next rule must be employed.

Promoting gender equality – it is important especially when authorities are not interested in implementing of gender budget recommendations. It becomes necessary to stress benefits from implementing equality.

Conferences and trainings are helpful. NGOs and academics should be of assistance as the experience of other countries proves.

Transparency and cooperation – are crucial for success. Experts from multiple areas should be engaged, like finances, sociology, economy and politics. There should be both women and men involved in planning. Consulting is also recommended as well as reaching out to local associations and groups to gain their support

Long-term strategy

Main challenges in Italy

WEAK UNDERSTANDING OF GENDER ISSUES IN GENERAL (AND THUS THE NEED TO CONTINUE AWARENESS RAISING).

WEAK PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY

INADEQUATE OR INSUFFICIENT PARTICIPATION AND BUY-IN BY ALL STAKEHOLDERS (THE FISCAL AUTHORITIES IN PARTICULAR), WHICH, IN TURN, IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF THE FOURTH CHALLENGE.

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE INITIATIVE/ DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTS, METHODS AND PROCEDURES TO IMPLEMENT GENDER BUDGETING AS A STANDARD TASK OF GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS.

Muchas Gracias!vingelli@unical.it