The Gender Responsive Budgets (GRB) project delivered a series of training workshops, mentoring, and technical assistance to government agencies, civil society organisations, and academia in Kurdistan, Iraq. The goal was to facilitate the inclusion of gender equality issues across governments, and integrate gender equality issues in budget reform processes.

The scope of activities

The GRB project supported the Government of Iraq and the regional Government of Kurdistan to develop an effective, efficient, and responsive public sector through an administration-wide reform strategy. It was part of the Iraq Public Sector Modernization programme (I-PSM), a multi-agency UN joint programme.

Pilot projects in three key service sectors –  Health, Education, and Water & Sanitation – focued on gender budget analysis. A joint task force of government and civil society was created to facilitate the exchange of best practices and experiences on mainstreaming gender equality issues in government budgets. In addition, information sessions with Parliamentary committees and the Council of Ministers helped them to understand their respective roles in budget reform.

The project worked in close cooperation with the UN agencies mandated to implement the Kurdistan Public Sector Modernization programme.