June is the month when the Federal Government and all the Provincial Governments express their vision for the future and priorities, not only through the loud and calmourous mouthpieces in the Ministry of Information but more importantly through the dull and drab digits and numbersof their respective budgets put together in the Ministry of Finance. The PTI government has tabled, strictly technically speaking, it’s first budget. A clamour and commotion in the assemblies had always been characteristic of the budget debates but the pandemonium this time around is unique as this cacophony is from the treasury benches.In all this noise made for the political purposes we hope, though against hope, that some saner voices may be heard for the voiceless. During these profuse debates on the proposed budget inside and outside the parliament including media, one yet has to come across questions raised on the gender responsiveness of the budget. Our parliamentarians and especially the women parliamentarians nominated on the women’s quota are obligated to scrutinize budget for gender sensitivity and insist on prioritization of those projects and expenditures which lead to reducing gender disparities.
How can we forget that austerity is the buzzword for the present regime and that is how it has chosen to introduce the budgettoo.Though the government does not need to be reminded of its responsibility under the Article 25 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which makes fair and non-discriminatory treatment as a fundamental right but it is usually at the cost of the voiceless that the budget cuts come and the austerity in spending is ensured.This Article 25 clearly mentions that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex but at a time when everyone in the government who counts is busy telling that no matter how hard it had been for the Pakistani public in the past ten months but they should gear up for the harder times ahead, makes many of us fear that many an area which shall be prioritized may get neglected including those related to the health, education and empowerment of women
The gender responsive budgeting does not mean at all to divide the fiscal resources between the two groups but to remove those fiscal imbalances which lead to inequitable distribution of resources between the members of the two groups e.g. lesser spending on maternal health (which coincidentally was part of the election manifesto of PTI); unequal spending on girls’ school education; fewer development projects to enable and empower women economically. In order to study the impact of the spending, the budget figures need to be disaggregated for genders, for example, this years’ federal budget has proposed lesser spending on Health Affairs and Services and similarly on Education Affairs and Services than the preceding years. Our parliamentarians must vigilantly scrutinize that these cuts are not made at the expense of female’s health and education and the burden of lesser resources for these two key areas of Human Development Index should be equally borne by both genders if these cuts are inevitable.
Pakistan ranks at number 148 out of 149 countries on gender parity index report as prepared by the World Economic Forum. The indicators to determine gender gap are economic opportunity and participation; educational attainment; health and survival and political empowerment
Pakistan is bounded by its commitment to Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, too and the 4th UN Conference on Women which was held in Beijing in 1995 called on governments to make gender equality an integral part of the budget processes for equitable resource allocation. Almost quarter of a century down the road, this still appears an elusive goal. Various budget statements are presented by the federal and the provincial governments and similar information is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance for the federal budget but all these statements are common in lacking in the gender-responsive budget statements which can show the gender disaggregated public expenditure. Sometimes it is not greater resource allocation required for an affirmative action but only the awareness and the political will. For example in this year’s budget tax credit for employing fresh graduates has been proposed and our parliamentarians may either propose a larger ratio of tax credit for employing female fresh graduates as an affirmative action or prescribing to employ a minimum number of female fresh graduates to become eligible for these tax credits. Gender sensitive budgeting shall be the concern of our parliamentarians during the budget debates.
Pakistan ranks at number 148 out of 149 countries on gender parity index report as prepared by the World Economic Forum.The indicators to determine gender gap are economic opportunity and participation; educational attainment; health and survival and political empowerment. Except for the last indicator, all other indicators are the functions of public spending in these areas and thus by improving public spending progress may be made in these areas. Though, PTI’s manifesto did speak of promoting gender parity under the chapter of “Strengthening the Federation” and has indeed got a vast female voter base but the budget is not very optimistic for the constituents as it has missed on the promises made in the manisfesto.Pakistan is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the fifth goal is gender equality and women empowerment but little progress is evident on the quantifiable targets towards those goals too. In this year’s federal budget, an allocation of 24 Billion is proposed for SDGs and again it is up to our parliamentarians to ensure equitable spending on all goals including the fifth goal. At this juncture, the women rights’ advocacy groups shall raise their voices to ensure that the budget is visibly fairer and more equitable than those of the preceding years. Money makes the mare go and without financial allocation for the sectors that lead to the well being of women, change cannot be brought about and Pakistan’s international commitments would be hollow promises only.
It is hoped that when the parliament debates the budget, the veiled discrimination in distribution of fiscal resources would be addressed by discussing it on the parameters of gender sensitivity too.
The writer is a gender and human rights specialist