Public policies have the power to transform the vulnerability to which women are exposed. The fragility that is visible in the growing feminization of poverty can be combated with actions that take into account its causes. The tendency of women to enter informal jobs and lower paid feminized branches is one of the many fronts that employment policy has the ability to alter. In that sense, It is essential to review the state’s social investment and measure the impacts it has on gender when executing a public policy.
But in all policies, not only those that deal with “women’s issues”, such as care policies, domestic workers or gender violence. We insist: on all policies and on all issues. If women tend to move around the city more during off-peak hours, it must be reflected in the frequency of public transport. If their participation is excessively low in typically masculinized branches (such as construction or the software industry), this must be taken into account when designing productive policies. If they are usually inserted in informal jobs and do not get enough years of contributions to retire, the pension policy must contemplate it. And so with all spheres of spending: that is mainstreaming the gender perspective.
To prevent resources from being allocated in public budgets as if they did not have a distinctive impact on gender, it is convenient to ask ourselves the right questions. What percentage of the budget is allocated to policies that help close gender gaps? Which areas are the furthest behind in terms of resources? Are they the ones that deal with gender issues?
The budget formulation process is arduous and extensive. It is first coordinated by the Executive and then approved —or rejected, as happened this year— by Congress. It resists sudden changes. Despite this, thanks to strong demands from civil society and the will of different areas of government, in 2019 Argentina incorporated the gender perspective into the national budget cycle. In the heat of citizen insistence, the tool chosen to start was the “PPG” label, something that is usually used for the first steps of recognition of the expenses that are made. It works like a stamp or a seal: the entire budget is reviewed and the acronym “PPG” is assigned to programs or budget activities of different agencies that pursue the objective of closing gender gaps.
Can we say that there was progress? Yes: from 28 activities identified in the first year, it went to 55 in 2021. In addition, more programs from more ministries are about to be added for 2022, which were not labeled. It will seek to incorporate policies that may have an impact on inequality, but that were not specifically designed with the aim of reducing it. Without a doubt, the incorporation of the PPG label is a triumph for those who campaign for more feminist budget allocations. But the march does not end there.
Although it is useful to label programs, it is not an end in itself, but rather a slow process that is framed in an even more challenging project: to make budgeting with a gender perspective become something normal, natural, current when making policies. That is institutionalizing it, installing it and separating it from the political authority of the day or from the resources available to promote it. It will not be an easy task: data disaggregated by gender is lacking, coordination between agencies is not ideal, and we still do not have a legal regulation of the PPG. The good news is that pushing for this to improve would also make public policies more effective in general, because they are all “good practices” of the state.
So how do we continue? Forward, without forgetting everything learned. Despite the obstacles and rigidities, there are a variety of simple methods to try: you can look through purple lenses and identify in advance who benefits from the designed program, or you can establish gender commitments in each agency. For this, it must be understood that the budget is not unrelated to policy planning and that civil society has a lot to say about it. This is a process that started from the bottom up and the advances are visible: the best thing is to follow that path.
*Analyst of the Fundar Gender Area
Source: Ambito
