Methodology for Tracking Financing for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in UN Programming

The UN system and development actors acknowledge the importance of developing specific approaches, tools and mechanisms on tracking financing for gender equality, in order to increase financial resources for gender equality and women empowerment (GEWE) and assess accountability for GEWE commitments. Research has shown that clear financial benchmarks and tracking mechanisms can contribute to strengthening GEWE investment and accountability.

The UN Secretary-General made a commitment in 2010 to ensure that at least 15 percent of UN-managed funds is dedicated to projects addressing women’s specific needs and advancing GEWE. This working paper proposes a methodology using step-by-step guidelines to track planned and actual expenditure on GEWE in UN programming. It attempts to integrate United Nations Country Team (UNCT) Gender Equality Marker (GEM) processes within the UN INFO reporting system into this new methodology and is divided into three sections.

There are several gender-responsive budgeting tools available as part of Public Finance Management, but the focus of this methodology is on UN programming. The methodology allows the UN Agencies and development actors to demonstrate greater accountability for gender equality commitments and to track financing for GEWE more effective in programming.

The first section briefly reviews existing tracking systems and processes for gender equality. The second section proposes a detailed methodology for tracking UN system financing for GEWE, applied across the major phases of programming: from planning to implementation and closure. The third section attempts to apply the methodology to the example of PBF programming. The paper concludes with recommendations in response to gaps and challenges in tracking financing for GEWE.