Gender Budgeting and Governance Challenges: A Case Study of Bangladesh

Abstract

During the last decade or so, gender issues have gained a place in mainstream development discourses. Empirical evidence suggests that the estimated value of gender equality has significant potential to contribute to global growth. In order to address the inequality, disparity, and needs and concerns of women—particularly those who are disadvantaged and marginalized—the practice of gender budgeting was introduced in the early 1980s. In the case of Bangladesh, gender budgeting was introduced in 2009. This type of budgeting, however, has been obstructed in a practical sense by a number of social, political, and institutional factors such as inadequate conceptual clarity and a lack of professional competence and skills; most importantly, an effective demand also appears to be weak if not entirely missing. Furthermore, there are noticeable institutional weaknesses to undertake in-depth gender analyses and gather gender-disaggregated data, and there is no credible monitoring system.