Since the introduction of gender-responsive budgeting in the budget process in Montenegro in 2022, the initial steps have been taken, but the prerequisites for gender-responsive budgeting to be successfully implemented in practice have not yet been sufficiently met.
This, among other things, was assessed by the State Audit Institution (DRI) after the audit of the success of the "Successful Implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting in Montenegro", which was published today.
"Gender responsible budgeting is a special measure because it aims to achieve gender equality. The term special measures refers to a series of legislative, executive, administrative and other regulatory instruments, policies and practices. If significant changes in budget distribution are to be achieved, there must be political pressure outside the government structure, in order to encourage the activities that take place within it", it is stated in the audit, which was managed by the collegium consisting of Dr. Branislav Radulović (head) and Nikola N. Kovačević (member).
As it is added, "for the implementation of policies, it is necessary to allocate appropriate resources".
"Since the funds allocated for the implementation of gender-responsive policies are not sufficient to eliminate inequality in all spheres in which it exists, it is necessary to reallocate funds within the available funds. Thus, the budget becomes an instrument for improving the lives of men and women and creating a fairer society," the document reads.
The audit covered the activities of the audit subjects - the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Ministry of Public Administration (MJU), the Ministry of Education and the Railways Administration related to the planning, implementation and reporting of the gender-responsive budget for 2022 and 2023. year.
"The introduction of the ROB into the budget process in Montenegro began in 2022. Progress has been made in establishing a normative framework for gender-responsive budgeting and tools for budget preparation. The Ministry of Finance undertook activities to strengthen the capacity of spending units through the organization of trainings for gender-responsive budgeting. However, the key prerequisites for the successful implementation of gender-responsive budgeting have not yet been met, because, in general, it is not ensured that the implementation of programmatic (gender) budgeting is carried out by sufficiently educated and motivated employees who have the necessary data classified by gender and age. ., which are necessary to identify existing gender inequalities," the supreme audit states.
Also, as they added, a clear organizational structure for the development and management of budget (gender) programs, with precisely defined work methods, roles and responsibilities, has not been established in spending units.
"The reports on the execution of the gender-responsive budget show the amounts of funds used to finance budget programs that are marked as gender-sensitive, although only part of the funds refer to the financing of activities that can be confirmed to affect gender inequality. Therefore, continuous investment is required in the capacities of employees responsible for the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting, as well as the education of decision-makers on the importance of this process for the sustainable development of the community", state the SAI.
Significant attention, they added, should be devoted to the development of data collection and management classified by gender and other categories.
"In order to successfully implement gender-responsible budgeting, it is necessary to ensure that the process of monitoring and evaluation is carried out on a regular basis with feedback", state the SAI.
In order to improve the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting, the SAI gave the audit subjects nine recommendations, which are required to submit an Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations by January 29 and a Report on the actions taken based on the prepared and submitted recommendations by June 29. The final report of the SAI was submitted to the Committee for Gender Equality of the Parliament of Montenegro.
The audit was carried out through the Agreement for the implementation of a parallel audit of success in the area of Sustainable Development Goal number 5 of the UN Agenda 2030 - "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls", in which, in addition to the SAI of Montenegro and the State Audit Institution of the Republic of Serbia, the Office for auditing the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office for Auditing Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Main Service for Auditing the Public Sector of the Republic of Srpska. Support in the implementation of the agreement was provided by the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
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