TRAINING: UN Women Conducts Training on Gender Responsive Budgeting for Government Officials and Civil Society

Source: 
UN Liberia
Duration: 
Monday, January 17, 2011 - 19:00
Countries: 
Africa
Western Africa
Liberia
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
General Women, Peace and Security
Reconstruction and Peacebuilding
Initiative Type: 
Training & Workshops

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment UN WOMEN (formerly UNIFEM) is helping build the capacity of Liberian civil society by training local non-profit organizations to advocate for the integration of gender initiatives into the budget of local and national government through gender responsive budgeting (GRB). It is also raising awareness with national and government on incorporating gender sensitive planning and implementation in development efforts.

UN Women conducted two workshops in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, and Monrovia in Montserrado County.

The three day GRB workshop in Monrovia brought together 14 representatives of local civil society organizations (CSOs) that focus on advancing good governance. The training was held to sensitize CSOs to the significance of tracking the national budget and its focus on gender sensitivity in development projects.

Members from CSOs such as the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia and the West African Network for Building Peace – Liberia participated in the three-day training, where they learned about key gender issues in Liberia, the principles of gender budgeting, and gender mainstreaming strategies.

A separate workshop was held in Buchanan in Grand Bassa County for local government administration officials. This workshop bought together high-level government officials from the Liberian Institute of Statistics and GEO-Information Services (LISIGS), the Ministries of Gender and Development and Planning and Economics Affairs. Following the training, UN WOMEN will work with municipal authorities in Grand Bassa County to conduct a comprehensive gender analysis of the County Development Plan and County Social Development funds.

Both workshops were conducted in December 2010.

UN WOMEN also plans to hold GRB sensitization training for legislators from Select Committees of the Liberian Senate and House of Representatives in early 2011.