Regional Seminar on the National Budget 22 - 24 May 2000
Parliament and the Budgetary Process, Including from a Gender Perspective
Regional Seminar for English-Speaking African Parliaments
22-24 May 2000, Nairobi (Kenya)
Parliament ant the Budgetary Process, Including from a Gender Perspective
Regional Seminar on the National Budget 22 - 24 May 2000
Parliament ant the Budgetary Process, Including from a Gender Perspective
Regional Seminar on the National Budget 22 - 24 May 2000
Foreword
is much more in a national budget than figures and estimates of expenditure. In all countries around the world, the budget bill is the most important document put before There parliament in the year. The budget expresses the general policies of the Government and states its precise intentions in every field. It conveys a vision of society and of the way in which the Government intends to respond to the needs of all its layers and components. Explicitly or implicitly it is built on a given approach to gender issues and more often than not highlights a lack of sensitivity to the fact that society is composed of men and women, boys and girls, who provide equally valuable input and outcomes, even when they can be different.
In Constitutions, parliament is embodied with a crucial role in the budgetary process. Yet, in practice, for want of means and access to information, parliaments and their members find it difficult to have a real impact on the process in its three crucial phases - preparation, reading in parliament and control.
With the Nairobi regional seminar on "Parliament and the budgetary process, including from a gender perspective", the Inter-Parliamentary Union has broken new ground in attempting to help parliaments and their members to become more effective in accomplishing this crucial part of their constitutional mission. At the kind invitation of the Kenyan National Assembly, during three intensive days, some 120 participants from 17 English-speaking African Parliaments shared their views and experiences on the respective roles and functions of Government and Parliament in the budgetary process and paid special attention to ways in which a gender perspective in the budget may in fact highlight incomes that are usually “invisible” or neglected.
Clearly, this activity falls within IPU's efforts to promote democracy, transparent and accountable governance and, in that context, partnership between men and women in all fields. It is part of a long-term strategy aimed at empowering parliaments and their members with regard to one aspect of their mission which is crucial to society’s well-being. The seminar also planted the seeds for further such events in other parts of the world.
It is hoped that the Key Issues and Guidelines which emerged from the seminar will serve MPs and parliamentary staff in Africa and in the English speaking world as a vital reference tool. But beyond that immediate purpose, and even if they require some fine-tuning on the occasion of similar seminars involving parliaments with different backgrounds and budgetary cultures, the Guidelines will provide the foundation for comprehensive and representative information which the IPU intends to present in a Handbook for Parliamentarians on the National Budget - a practical tool aimed at strengthening the role of parliamentarians and parliamentary staff in the budgetary process. The Nairobi Key Issues and Guidelines will therefore serve as one of the key elements in the Handbook's preparation.
The present publication is a recapitulation of what transpired during the Nairobi seminar: it contains the various speeches made at the inaugural ceremony, the texts of the presentations made by resource persons, the summary report of the proceedings by the President of the seminar, quotes from the debates, the Nairobi Declaration (adopted by consensus) and the Key Issues and Guidelines already mentioned.
The IPU would like to express its appreciation and thanks to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its unfailing support as the seminar was funded under the IPU/UNDP Parliamentary Support Programme. It would also like to thank the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) for their input and guidance in the organisation of this seminar.
Parliament ant the Budgetary Process, Including from a Gender Perspective
Regional Seminar on the National Budget 22 - 24 May 2000
A special tribute should also be paid to the resource persons for their invaluable intellectual contribution to the proceedings and, last but not least, to the Kenyan National Assembly for its kind hospitality.
Anders B. Johnsson Secretary General
Parliament ant the Budgetary Process, Including from a Gender Perspective
Regional Seminar on the National Budget 22 - 24 May 2000
Table of contents