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This blog is maintained by the Growth and Crisis (GC ) Program of the World Bank Institute.

We bring you timely news, resources, tools, ideas and commentaries on issues related to the global economic crisis and growth.

October 2008

Fridays Academy: Gender Budgeting

Submitted by Ignacio on Fri, 10/31/2008 - 12:30

As usual on Fridays, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

 

Gender Budgeting - Why and How (cont.)

 

In terms of analytical tools for the introduction of GRGB, Saraff (2003) suggests a two-fold approach that emphasizes pre-budgeting tools and post-budgeting tools. These are presented in the box below.  The first three points form the pre-budgeting tools. They emphasize the participatory approach to budget preparation and are mindful of the influence of government expenditures on females. In line with the discussion above, they also focus on the training of personnel for the gender dimension by including gender cost-benefit analysis either as an adjunct to the other “prebudget analyses, such as economic, social, and environmental cost-benefit analysis” (p. 10) or as a stand-alone tool (Saraff, 2003).  The final two points represent the post-budgeting tools and focus on the impact of government programs on females and the contribution these are making to improving gender equality. These tools would in turn influence the prebudgeting tools in the research on future budgets.

 

 

Crisis talk

Submitted by Ignacio on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 10:40

The newest addition to the family of World Bank Group blogs, Crisis Talk, "aims to provide the latest information on the unfolding financial crisis, both on specific countries and sectors, as well as on the global crisis response. The blog will also feature opinions on what solutions may be possible, what shape the financial sector may take in the future, and how the crisis affects the real economy."

Welcome to the blogosphere!

Memo to the next president

Submitted by Ignacio on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 13:29

"Aspiring U.S. politicians dream of being FDR, but rarely do the times and the person converge. The next president will have the chance to be a 21st-century FDR."

That's World Bank Group's president, Robert B. Zoellick, in an Op-Ed published yesterday in the Washington Post: A World in Crisis Means A Chance for Greatness.

Fridays Academy: Gender Budgeting

Submitted by Ignacio on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 15:31

From Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

Gender Budgeting - Why and How (cont.)

Stotsky (2006) presents two hypothetical examples of gender analysis in a national budget that explicitly addresses the gender dimension of the policy objective, the means by which it will be executed, the resources needed and the indicators necessary to identify performance. This approach goes beyond the general assumption that expanding primary education, for example, will be distributed equally across the population. It represents a gender mainstreaming approach and is a gender responsive budget, responding to the inequalities that exist in primary education for girls and outlining the potential of reducing these inequalities in improving earning power for girls because of better education and other social benefits. 

Hypothetical examples of gender analysis in a national budget

Source:   Stotsky (2006).

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Submitted by Ignacio on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 13:45

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Duncan Green, Head of Research for Oxfam GB, blogged a couple of days ago (on blog action day, which had poverty as a theme) about a success story, a country really making poverty history.

Fridays Academy: Gender Budgeting

Submitted by Ignacio on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 10:43

As usual on Fridays, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

 

Gender Budgeting – why and how

As noted last week, gender mainstreaming represents the catalyst for gender budgeting going beyond programs designed to specifically target women. Elson (2002) remarked that government budgets are not gender neutral but in fact gender blind, having different effects on women and men. A gender-responsive budget according to Elson  “does not aim to produce a separate budget for women. Instead it aims to analyze any form of public expenditure, identifying implications and impacts for women and girls as compared to men and boys. The key question is: what impact does this fiscal measure have on gender equality? Does it reduce gender inequality; increase it; or leave it unchanged?”.   

Making agriculture a development priority

Submitted by Ignacio on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 09:34

                                                                                                                                                        

The October issue of Development Outreach, the World Bank Institute's magazine, is devoted to agriculture. Fully available on-line.

 Check also the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development site, and the one about the Food Crisis.

 

Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize in Economics

Submitted by Ignacio on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 08:15

"For his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity".

Paul Krugman is a professor at Princeton University and a columnist for the New York Times, where he also writes a blog.

Congratulations!

Fridays Academy: Gender Budgeting

Submitted by Ignacio on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 09:09

As usual on Fridays, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

 

Summary Measures of Gender Inequalities

 

Measures of inequality in key economic, social and political indicators suggest that gender inequality continues, although inequality in education is narrowing (Stotsky, 2006). The table below examines average values of education and health indicators for three country groupings classified by high, medium or low levels of human development based on per capita income.

 

Gender Inequalities in Education and Health Status, 2001/02

 

Source: Stotsky (2006)

 

Expressing gender inequality as a ratio of females to males for the relevant variables, we note that educational inequalities exist, in particular for low human development countries in primary enrollment (0.86) and especially in secondary enrollment (0.73).  Gender parity in education exists for the high and medium human development countries in both primary and secondary. Indeed in the latter, girls outnumber boys at least for the year in question.