The General Budget Department held a workshop on June 14-16, 2015, entitled “Gender Responsive Budgeting in Jordan” in cooperation with the USAID-funded Jordan Fiscal Reform Project.

In his opening remarks, the Director General of the Budget Department, Dr. Mohammad Al Hazaimeh, said that this workshop translates into action the directives of His Majesty the King as well as the National Strategy for Women, and emphasizes women’s rights and the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into policy-making and budgeting practices to ensure transparency and that the needs of men and women are adequately addressed, thereby empowering women and enhancing their social, political and economic participation.

Dr. Hazaimeh also noted that the GBD has been implementing and reinforcing the gender responsive budgeting approach as many budget preparation forms, such as those related to key performance indicators, HR planning and program descriptions, take gender into account. He added that the budget law also lists estimated allocations as well as salaries and wages and occupations by gender across all chapters and programs of government agencies.

His Excellency thanked the USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Project for its efforts in developing the gender responsive budgeting manual and also thanked attendees for participating in the event.

On the other hand, USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Project Chief of Party noted that GBD has joined forces with the Jordanian National Commission for Women to conduct an unprecedented study on gender responsive budgeting in Jordan. He also thanked GBD’s director and staff for their continued support in developing the GRB manual, which will help Jordan make a qualitative leap in gender mainstreaming into budgeting processes.

Representatives from GBD and other ministries and government departments participated in this two-day workshop, which covered basic concepts and legislative frameworks of GRB, and the methodologies for developing the gender responsive budgeting manual and related KPIs.