The Center of Excellence for Gender Responsive Budgeting (CE-BSG), under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, organized, Wednesday, February 08th 2016 in Rabat, a seminar on the feedback of the government departments that included Gender sensitivity in their budgets for the year 2017. This seminar meets the goal set out by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to implement the regulatory provisions of the Organic Law n ° 130-13 on the Finance Act. This event is also in line with the new strategic dynamics in the (CE-BSG).
The seminar brought together senior officials from several government departments. It was particularly characterized by the presentation of the experiences in this area of the Ministry of Solidarity, Family and Social Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. These Ministries are considered as pilot departments for integrating gender sensitivity into strategic programming and budget planning.
The opening of this seminar was chaired by Mr. Fouzi LEKJAA, Director of the Budget and Chairman of the steering committee of the (CE-BSG). In his speech, Mr. LEKJAA clarified that gender-responsive budgeting is one of the tools enhancing performance-based logic in public management through a precise analysis and the evaluation of the impact of the budget on the population as a whole, while taking into account the diverse requirements. He also noted that the mainstreaming of a gender perspective is no longer a choice, but rather a necessity that must cope with the fast pace of public finance reform.
On this occasion, Mr. LEKJAA stated that the integration of this approach in the process of the budget preparation and execution is part of a set of Morocco’s achievements and reforms in recent years towards strengthening the principles of equality and equity between both sexes. He made sure to highlight that this seminar is a further step in the process of introducing the gender approach in the preparation and the analysis of sector-based budgets.
Mr. LEKJAA also drew the attention of the audience to the importance of this meeting with the heads of the government departments. A meeting that is likely to raise awareness and communicate around the new strategic vision of the Center of Excellence for the (GRB) and its future actions.
On the other hand, the Representative of the UN Women entity in the Cluster Office for the Maghreb, Mrs. Leila Rhiwi, welcomed the introduction of the bases of matching the budgets attributed to strategies and the sector-based programs in a result-based logic model. She also appreciated the progress made by the Organic Law on the Finance Act in its article 39, which clarifies the need and the importance of mainstreaming gender equality in the overall approach.
Mrs. Rhiwi explained that this is a legal institutionalization of the Moroccan Government‘s efforts and the Minister of Economy and Finance, in particular, to implement the principles of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) since 2002.
In this respect, the UN Women representative believes that the (GRB) is well in line with the principles of the new Organic Law on the Finance Act and is seen as an instrument to guarantee the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending through redefining priorities and making best use of available resources.
In addition, the seminar was an opportunity for Mrs. Nadia BENALI, newly appointed to the National Directorate of the Center of Excellence for Gender Responsive Budgeting, to make a presentation on the new strategy of the (GRB-EC); a multi-faceted strategy grouping together several stakeholders and actors and focusing on four components: institutional support and capacity building of the GRB-EC; supervision, the support and the development of the Engineering regarding the (GRB); The promotion of the (GRB) at the national and international level and the realization of Equity and Equality on the basis of scientific evidence.
Mrs. BENALI believes that the main objective assigned to the new strategic dynamics of the (EC-BSG) is to enhance the center's influence at the national and international level, to launch a new dynamic for the institutionalization of the gender dimension in planning, the budgeting of public policies while targeting all categories of the population and strengthening the application of (GRB) at the territorial level in the implementation of advanced regionalization.