Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been charged to formulate gender responsive budgeting with effect from this year and set aside funds to address gender inequality in the country.
They are also to obtain gender certificates to enable them access their sectoral budgets.
This was announced by Mrs Juliana Azuma-Mensah, Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), when she opened a three-day training workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting for selected MMDAs in Ho last Monday.
The workshop, which attracted 30 participants, was aimed at deepening the knowledge of policy makers and budget and accounting staff of MMDAs in gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive budgeting.
The participants in the United Nation Population Fund-sponsored workshop, were drawn from the ministries of Justice, Employment and Social Welfare, Water Resources, Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development, MOWAC, Foreign Affairs, Roads and Highways, Transport and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
She announced that the Cabinet had given approval for MMDAs to formulate the gender policies, implement gender responsive budgeting and set aside funds to address gender inequality in their sectors.
The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Ho-East Constituency, underscored the role of women in national development and said gender mainstreaming had been recognised as a global development strategy which was very relevant to facilitate economic growth and development.
She explained gender as the role, responsibilities and relationships that were socially assigned to men, women, boys and girls in a given culture, adding that mainstreaming was the incorporation of gender perspectives at all levels of policy making, as well as restructuring the political, economic and social systems to promote gender equality at national and local levels.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said due to its importance, the government was committed to its advancement by finding efficient ways in which public resources were disbursed to ensure equity for accelerated development.
“MOWAC is committed to gender mainstreaming to ensure the integration of gender perspectives into all programmes and policies of ministries, departments and agencies and even in the private sector,” she said.
In his welcome address, the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, urged the participants to take the training seriously by putting in maximum efforts towards deriving maximum benefits from the programme.
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