EALA WOMEN WANT GENDER RESPONSIVE BUDGET

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

Female members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have called for a gender-responsive budget.

In doing so, all obstacles that hinder effective participation of women should be removed so as to tap their full potential.

They made the call last week during a workshop which took stock of the East African Community (EAC) budget tabled on June 13th, 2023.

It was specifically organized to see whether the 2023/24 budget of the Community was geared to realize gender equality commitments.

The $ 103million estimates of the EAC for the coming fiscal year were tabled before EALA which is currently holding a session in Arusha. 

The parliamentarians insisted that the budget should be more gender- responsive in order to address challenges facing women, in particular.

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a strategy that seeks to achieve gender equality between men and women by focusing on equitable distribution of public resources.

The workshop was organized by the regional Assembly in partnership with Akina Mama Wa Afrika, a Pan-African feminist leadership development organisation.

Women, who constitute nearly one third of 63 elected Eala members, were given the skills and tools to analyse budgets to see if they were gender responsive.

EALA Speaker Joseph Ntakarutimana said gender responsiveness was an important factor "in ensuring that all genders in our community are treated fairly and catered to.”

He said since the EAC budget was tabled only days ago, it was now upon them "to scrutinise and see how gender-responsive it is".

He added that gender equality and women empowerment were fundamental human rights and an integral part of EAC integration agenda.

“For EAC to attain a people-centred and a market-driven community, there is a need to remove all obstacles that hinder effective participation of women in all socio-economic undertakings", he said.

The secretary general of EALA Women Caucus Fatuma Ndangiza, underscored the need for capacity building to women parliamentarians on budget matters.

“During budget planning, you should ensure that the funding allocations to different sectors respond to the needs of women and men based on their different issues and benefits,” she said.

Ms Ndangiza, a lawmaker from Rwanda, cited cross-border women traders " who have very limited financial means and should be supported."

She proposed that financing for the machinery such as tractors needed for agriculture mechanization and fertilisers required to increase farm yields should be carefully considered in the budget.

This would avoid a situation where some women might not be able  to access financial resources in question,while others easily get them.

Mama Wa Afrika official, Ms Olabukunola Williams, said this was the second workshop to be organized for EALA members within the framework of gender-responsive governance.