Budget is not just about allocation, but about the impact: Saber Hossain

A multi-stakeholder consultation on “Gender-Responsive Climate Financing in Bangladesh” was held in the capital on Wednesday to mark the International Women’s Day.

Focusing on this year’s theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” the consultation brought together government officials, women’s rights organisations (WROs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), development partners, and academia to provide policy and budgetary recommendations on integrating gender equality considerations, in the lead up to the upcoming national budget (for fiscal year 2024-25).

Bangladesh is the seventh most climate-vulnerable country with a global record of extreme weather such as sea level rise, worsening storms, floods, and droughts. Climate change exacerbates pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities and disproportionately impacts vulnerable groups, particularly women, girls, and people with disabilities.

During the consultation, representatives from civil society and women led organisations stressed on the need for their involvement in budget related discussions. They called for stronger monitoring of the budgetary expenditure, and its impact. They stressed the importance of effective coordination at all levels, to ensure resources reach those most in need including women with disability, gender diverse people and women from marginalised groups.

Referring to UN Women’s global feminist climate justice framework launched in COP 28 last year, UN women programme specialist Dilruba Haider highlighted trends in climate budget allocations and expenditure across key ministries.

Limited availability of gender disaggregated data, lack of alignment between climate and gender responsive budgeting, the absence of women in decision-making processes were identified as major challenges.

Minister for environment, forest and climate change, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, was the chief guest of the programme. He said, "Gender equality is a fundamental prerequisite for building climate resilience and achieving sustainable development. Our policies and strategies, such as the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’, ‘National Adaptation Plan’, and ‘National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan’, reflect our determination to confront the climate crisis head-on.”

“When it comes to budget, we see a lack in statistical and disaggregated data. We have to fill this gap first. This is the first budget of the new government and this year’s budget will set the direction for the forthcoming years. Let us be selective and strategic, in terms of the areas we need to work on. Let us have the building blocks in place, to take this forward in the following financial years.”  He added.

Joining the event as the special guest the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Farhina Ahmed said, “The budget needs to be participatory. We want to start a climate development partnership, to bring together all the development partners, NGOs, INGOs under one platform” for greater coherence.

Participants engaged in group discussions to frame key tasks from the forthcoming budget as well as longer term recommendations to advance gender responsive climate financing.

Key recommendations include higher investments in resilient and sustainable gender responsive infrastructure; access to clean drinking water, renewable energy, climate resilient livelihood and skills development for women; creating a database on women farmers; and promoting participatory bottom-up approaches for budget formulation and monitoring, amongst others. Discussions also focused on the importance of aligning gender responsive budgeting and climate budgeting for greater impact in the LDC graduation context.

Acknowledging the significant efforts by government of Bangladesh as well as the locally led adaptation for climate change driven by women, UN women representative Gitanjali Singh said, “The economic framework of smart Bangladesh must uphold women's rights and ensure the enactment and implementation of policies that are inclusive and responsive to gender disparities, especially in the context of climate financing. Investing in caregiving services will not only lessen the burden of unpaid care duties primarily shouldered by women but also foster opportunities for decent employment, potentially creating a large number of job opportunities for women. Realising women’s rights is not only a moral imperative, but also a smart economic investment for sustainable development and peace.”