Overview of the work of the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Gender Mainstreaming in the Programme Budget Process

The Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality (comprised of representatives of all United Nations entities) has been charged with ensuring greater coordination, collaboration and exchange on gender equality throughout the United Nations system. An important part of this work is the development of common approaches, methodologies and instruments for gender mainstreaming. Much of the work of the Interagency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality is carried out by taskforces, which have specific, time- 1 Organized by the Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality and ILO {PAGE } limited mandates. These taskforces report to, and have their mandated endorsed by, the Inter-agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality on an annual basis.

The Taskforce on Gender Mainstreaming in Programme Budget Processes2 was established in February 1998, as a direct response to both the ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2 and the increased recognition that gender perspectives are relevant and important in budgetary processes. It aims to assess the implementation of gender mainstreaming in programme budget processes throughout the United Nations system and to support the development of concrete methodologies for incorporating gender perspectives in programme budgets, including through identifying good practice examples.

Long-term anticipated outcomes include the more adequate reflection of gender perspectives in planning and budgeting processes throughout the United Nations; greater attention and resources allocated to gender perspectives in the substantive work programmes; and increased potential for assessing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the work of the United Nations.