SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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Gender-responsive budgeting 101 for mom
Mom emailed me earlier and asked what I am doing here, my position and where I am based. No this isn't a usual "how are you" which is too often abused by some (some don't even care what your response is). Anyway, I was taken aback when mommy asked me that, not because I haven't been emailing her but because she asked me specifically what I am doing here. My work is quite technical and I work with planning and budget officers with different ministries here, some people from NGOs and international donor agencies. However, it has always been a challenge to get people outside the usual circle to appreciate gender-responsive budgeting (even in Manila). So this is how my reply (on that portion only) looked like:
Member ako ng project team implementing the "Gender-sensitive monitoring, planning and budgeting for the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy". World Bank ang nag pondo ng project pero WB tapped United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) for one component, kaya yung contract ko is under UNIFEM. Ako ang International Gender Budgeting Consultant ng project team. Yung isang member ay Canadian married to a Cambodian and she's the team leader. The rest (3 people) are locals working for the ministry. Tuturuan ko sila (budget and planning people in different ministries, with some NGOs) mag analyze ng mga programs ng gobyerno at kung pano malaman kung ano effect ng mga programa to the women of Cambodia. After that, tuturuan ko sila mag plano para ma-address mga problema ng kababaihan na lumabas sa analysis. Yung budget para ma implement ang mga programa sa plano nila will either come from the government budget or from international donors. Tapos tuturuan ko rin sila i-monitor kung nai-implement nga ba ng tama ang mga programa... pag hindi, aalamin namin mga problema at ipapasok naman sa susunod na analysis next year para mapasama sa susunod na budget year. 'Di pa nagsisimula mga training na i-ko conduct ko for them, ginagwa ko pa ang module (like syllabus for teachers). Baka sa July and August ang first 2 training programs. May study tour din sila (5 of them, plus the project team) to either Vietnam or Manila next year. Gagawan ko rin ng module yun kung pano i-conduct at paano ma-i apply ang matutuhan nila sa study tour in their work.
It dawned on me that I need to prepare a similar version because gender-responsive budgeting is new here. In fact, I will have to start with the basics (defining "sex" and "gender" and move to gender analysis, logical framework analysis, planning, budgeting, monitoring and advocacy) even with the budget and planning people in ministries. It's even more critical to make it non-technical as the modules may have to be converted to Khmer! I may be looking into the possibility of using simulataneous translation facilities soon. The language barrier is really serious, and it's partly because the Cambodian members of the project team do not speak English other than the commonly spoken phrases. Oh my.
posted by Allan at 5:44 PM (GMT+8)
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