18 January 2023 – Pearl-Continental Hotel, Bhurban – Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Pakistan, organized one-day workshop on gender budgeting in Pakistan. the workshop was led by WPC Secretary Dr. Shahida Rehmani and German Experts Dr. Elisabeth Klatzer and Marion Boker. The objective of this workshop was to improve the budgeting process and make it more gender-sensitive. Women Parliamentarians participated in it and depicted keen interest in practicing it.
Establishing the federal budget is always a crucial moment in the parliamentary process of any democracy. Looking at budget from a gendered lens is crucial to make a democracy inclusive. The WPC aims to increase the role of women in parliamentary process and this workshop was a successful step towards it.
During the workshop, Women Parliamentarians and WPC team were briefed by German Experts and FES Pakistan team about identified areas where Pakistan needs to take a more gender-inclusive approach to budgeting. Women Parliamentarians gave their recommendations to incorporate gender responsive budgeting practice in the country. They regarded it as one of the most effective ways to ensure women’s needs and rights are met.
The workshop was one day prior to the launch of Strategy Paper on Gender Responsive Budgeting in Pakistan which proposes ways to lessen the existing gender disparities via policy interventions and sufficient budgetary allocations to women.
In the end of the workshop, Secretary WPC Dr. Shahida Rehmani assured the participants of providence of full technical assistance from WPC for this cause to Women Parliamentarians regardless of their party affiliations. All the participants of the workshop depicted dedication to work towards strengthening inter-provincial coordination and to explore avenues of coordination between federal and provincial institutions for budgetary analysis from gendered lens.
