On the 14th of January, a motion on gender budgeting was passed in the Assembly, a significant step in Northern Ireland’s gender budgeting journey. Put forward by the SDLP alongside a number of other motions relating to gender equality, the motion read:
That this Assembly recognises the role of gender-responsive budgeting in addressing systemic gender inequalities, enhancing the effectiveness of public expenditure, and improving public scrutiny; notes with concern that previous budgets and programmes for government have not adequately supported the advancement of gender equality, resulting in missed opportunities to address and reduce gender disparities; and calls on the Minister of Finance to work with Executive colleagues to introduce comprehensive gender-responsive budgeting measures for the 2025-2026 Budget, including the introduction of thorough gender impact assessments, the allocation of resources to proactively address and reduce gender inequalities, and the use of transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess measures aimed at improving gender equality.
It is the first time that the concept has been debated by MLAs on the Assembly floor, and most of the responses to the motion were supportive with key support from the Minister of Finance. There was some opposition to the motion, but this was not due to the concept itself. Rather, it was about the feasibility of achieving an introduction to gender budgeting measures in the 2025-2026 Budget and how it relates to existing equality obligations on Departments. It is likely that any introduction of gender budgeting measures into the 2025-2026 Budget will be small, but building capacity within the Department of Finance to take these small steps will hopefully yield wider implementation in subsequent budgets. Additionally, pre-existing equality obligations under Section 75 are the foundations for gender budgeting and will therefore function as a legislative basis for equality analysis through a gender lens.
Following on from this progress, the Northern Ireland Women’s Budget Group (NIWBG) will engage with each party to further explain what gender budgeting is and how it can bring positive change to Northern Ireland.
