KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

Analysis and Evaluation of Gender Budgeting in Korea(Ⅲ)

 

Taek-Meon Lee

Young-Sook Kim

Dool-Soon Kim

Hyo-Joo Kim

Hee-Young Moon

Hae-Ram Kim

Ju-Hee An

EunJi Kim

 

This study is significant in that it presents possibilities of considerably

dispelling concerns and criticisms about gender budgeting that have piled up.

These concerns and criticisms can be summed up as arbitrary and invalid

selection of programs for gender budgets, system operations concentrated on

programs in particular areas of particular departments of the government, the

absence of an effective performance management system, the excessive burden

of administrative duties, and doubts about the practical effects of gender

budgeting on the promotion of gender equality. The study proposes ways to

overcome issues over the selection of programs by developing gender objectives

for departments to pursue by area and by sector based on the classification of

government functions, then by selecting programs for gender budgets that can

directly and indirectly contribute to achieving the objectives. The study not only

resolves the issue of the concentration of system operations on particular

programs, but also paves the way for gender budgeting to perform the function

of a practical gender mainstreaming device by identifying a considerable

number of programs for gender budgets through the above-mentioned

procedures in three areas, that is, ‘public order & security’, ‘national land &

regional development’, and ‘science & technology’. These three areas have been

considered to have a weak agenda on gender inequality. On top of this, it opens

possibilities for overcoming the problem of the absence of a performance

management system by identifying programs for gender budgets at unit program

levels and by making gender budget and closing statements compatible with

performance plans and performance reports, which are basic documents for

performance management of budgetary programs. This will eventually enable

performance evaluation in the performance management system of budgetary

programs led by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Government

Performance Evaluation Committee. At the same time, using the performance

data from the gender accounts settlement statements, the study will enable

quantitative verification of the practical effects of gender budgeting on the

enhancement of gender equality and relieve the burden of administrative duties

of first-line government officials by reducing the burden of preparing documents

related to performance evaluation.