KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

Abstract

 

Way of Linking the In-Depth Evaluation System to the Gender Budgeting System (Ⅱ)

 

Hyo-Joo Kim

Sun-Joo Cho

Young-Sook Kim

Soo-Bum Park

Do-Yeon Kwon

Byeong-kwon Kim

Hae-Ram Kim

Jae-ho Lee

Se-Hyun Cho

Jun Houng Kim

 

This study is the second-year study on the linkage between the in-depth evaluation system and gender budgeting. In the first-year study, we focused on examining the necessity of linking the two systems, then suggested a step-by-step linkage plan. The linkage plan proposed in the first year study is largely divided into three stages. The first stage is to integrate a gender perspective into the evaluation criteria of the in-depth evaluation system, followed by the second stage, which aims for strengthening of a gendersensitive approach in the management of the in-depth evaluation system, with a focus on target programs that are considered under both the in-depth evaluation system and gender budgeting. The last stage is to integrate a gender perspective in the selection of target programs for the in-depth evaluation system. However, the government’s fiscal condition has changed significantly over the past year, and this study suggests a revision of the step-by-step linkage plan. In the revised linkage plan, different methods are applied depending on the type of program.

 

Currently, target programs of gender budgeting can be classified into two types. The first type is direct-purpose programs. Direct -purpose programs refer to those that directly contribute towards the achievement of gender equality goals (e.g., career support services for women with career interruptions). The second type is indirect purpose programs. An indirect program may seem unrelated to gender (in)equality issues on the surface, but consequently has an indirect impact on the achievement of gender equality goals (e.g., career support for middle-aged and elderly people). Although these two types of programs have the common goal of gender-sensitive allocation of budgetary resources, there are differences in the means and channels through which each type of program contributes to gender equality goals. In the case of direct-purpose programs, each program can contribute to the enhancement of gender equality only when the efficiency and effectiveness of the program itself is improved, and the budget size is directly linked to the national gender equality budget. On the other hand, for indirect purpose programs, it is vital to assess which parts of such a program that seems irrelevant to gender (in)equality on the surface is related to gender (in)equality issues, what the causes are, how improvements can be made, and how changes in the budget are created in the process.

 

Since there are clear differences according to program type, the effect of linking with the in-depth evaluation system may also appear differently depending on program type. Therefore, this study proposes a linkage plan for each program type, taking into consideration the differing characteristics. Details are as follows.

 

Direct-purpose programs improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the program itself through integration with the government's performance management system, and ensure their sustainability as fiscal programs. Furthermore, they encourage improvements in the format of the gender budget statement outline so that performance information derived from the process (performance plan preparation, performance report preparation, fiscal program evaluation, etc.) can be strategically utilized. In contrast, indirect-purpose programs generate appropriate analyses from a gender perspective and a quick execution of those analyses results through linkage with the in-depth evaluation system. In addition, we propose the utilization of the professional evaluation results of gender budgeting and settlement, which are scheduled to be implemented beginning in '21, in the linkage with the in-depth evaluation system.

 

This study anticipates that direct-purpose programs can contribute to gender equality issues being considered meaningfully as a matter of national policy, that is, not merely a matter of women’s policy.

 

Furthermore, indirect-purpose programs can contribute to a substantial improvement in gender equality at the program level.

 

Research areas : Gender Budgeting

Keywords : Gender Budgeting System, In-depth Evaluation System