The project entitled Gender Responsive Financing of Climate Change Resilience in Municipalities in Northern Montenegro, currently implemented by the Center for Economic and European Studies (CEES), aims to improve the quality of life of women in the region.
CEES told the Mina-business agency that the idea is to use budget money in these municipalities more wisely and fairly, so that women can be better protected from the consequences of climate change.
"To achieve this, we are working to ensure that local authorities better understand the needs of women and plan the development of municipalities in a way that takes into account gender equality and in combination with activities to reduce the negative effects of climate change," said CEES.
The project covers 13 municipalities in the north. It is implemented by CEES, in cooperation with the NGO Women's Action, with financial support from the Austrian Development Agency, the GBWN network and the Swedish Development Agency (Sida).
CEES explained that they selected the municipalities taking into account the lower development of the northern region, as well as the smaller population compared to the other two regions.
"Due to their lower level of development, northern municipalities also have less administrative capacity to improve the budget cycle, especially the allocation of budget funds for climate change using gender-responsive budgeting," CEES said.
Within the project, CEES will propose the necessary amendments to the Manual on Program Budget at the Local Level, or its amendments with criteria for allocating budget funds for climate change using gender-responsive budgeting.
"We are also working on a proposal to amend the Rulebook on the methodology for developing a strategic plan for the development of a local government unit with a gender-responsive dimension and climate financing from a gender-responsive perspective," said CEES.
Some proposals for amendments to the relevant regulations have already been submitted, and some will soon be submitted to the relevant ministries and local government units for consideration.
"We have also prepared the first draft of a publication on gender-responsive budgeting for climate change resilience. We have also prepared the first workshop on this topic, which will be held at the end of April in the Municipality of Plav," said CEES.
Future plans, as they explained, include further awareness-raising activities in less developed municipalities on this topic, as well as increasing the scope of CEES activities in supporting the full implementation of program classification with a gender-responsive dimension in the entire budget cycle - from planning to reporting and evaluation, both at the central and local levels.
When asked what the key challenges are in implementing gender-responsive budgeting in local communities, CEES responded that one of the challenges is that there is currently no precise legal obligation to plan budgets in a way that takes into account the needs of women and men.
"Although there is a rule at the state level that the budget is created through so-called program budgeting, which is the first step towards gender-responsive budgeting, the same does not apply to municipalities. Therefore, the first task is to raise awareness of how important it is for local communities to plan their spending in a fairer and more effective way," CEES said.
CEES also believes that it is necessary to adjust the laws and manuals that regulate budget planning in municipalities.
In addition, the knowledge and skills of municipal employees need to be strengthened and information systems improved to enable easier and more efficient planning and monitoring of costs from a gender perspective.
CEES added that at the global level there are various funds that specifically take into account gender equality, such as the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund and other funds intended to combat climate change.
They recognize that women are often the first to feel the effects of climate change and that they need additional support.
"In our region, projects linking environmental protection and gender equality are financed through European funds, such as the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and banks, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)," CEES said.
According to CEES representatives, when it comes to Montenegro, there is still not enough clear budgeting for measures that would specifically help women to more easily address the challenges of climate change, whether through support in agriculture, entrepreneurship, or everyday life.
"Although there is a manual for gender-responsive budgeting at the state level, it needs to be applied more consistently and budgets, both at the local and central levels, need to be planned in a way that clearly shows how much and how money is allocated for women's needs in the context of climate challenges. There are some support mechanisms, such as programs for women in business or agriculture, but these programs need to be more precisely defined, with clear objectives and measurable results, in order to truly respond to women's needs," CEES argues.
Gender-responsive budgeting means that when planning and spending public money, care is taken to ensure that women and men benefit equally from these investments.
For example, when allocating funds for health, education, agriculture, or environmental protection, it is important to consider whether these investments equally respond to the needs of each.
CEES believes that this topic is particularly important when talking about climate change.
In northern Montenegro, women often work in sectors directly affected by the consequences of climate change, such as agriculture, tourism, or household care. Yet, they often do not have equal access to public funds, support, and programs to help them adapt to these changes.
"That's why our project aims to help municipalities in the north recognize this imbalance and allocate budget funds more fairly, so that women receive support where they need it most. Through gender-responsive budgeting, local communities can become more resilient to climate change, and public money can be used more efficiently and fairly, for the benefit of all citizens," CEES said.
The legislative framework for gender-responsive budgeting consists of the Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility and the Law on Gender Equality, as well as annual budget laws.
There are also manuals on program and gender-responsive budgeting, which are applied in state budget planning.
"It is notable that a step forward has been made in the drafting of the Law on the Final Budget Account for 2023, which includes the allocation of funds by program classification. Since the introduction of program classification into the budget process is a prerequisite for the success of gender-responsive budgeting, further steps are expected in improving planning and reporting by program classification with the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting at the central level," CEES stated.
In parallel, they believe, it is necessary to amend the legislative framework to create a basis for programmatic and gender-responsive budgeting at the level of local self-government units.
CEES plans to actively involve the wider community through various activities aimed at raising awareness, especially at the local level, about how important it is for budgets to be planned in a way that takes into account the needs of women, especially when it comes to combating climate change.
"Specifically, within the framework of this project, at least three workshops will be organized in municipalities in northern Montenegro. At these workshops, we will gather representatives of municipal administrations dealing with budget planning and reporting, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as women working in sectors such as agriculture, tourism, transport and environmental protection - activities that are particularly vulnerable when it comes to climate change," said CEES.
In addition, they plan to spread messages about the importance of gender-responsive and climate budgeting through the media, and are finalizing a short publication that will explain in a simple way why this approach is important, both for local governments and their citizens.
This project, as they explained, is one of several projects being implemented in Montenegro with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of the allocation of budget funds according to the needs of all members of society.
"We consider it complementary activities of the Government, local governments, civil society and international organizations towards strategic planning and results-based budgeting, i.e. achieving a better quality of life for citizens, especially in less developed municipalities," concluded CEES.
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