KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

Abstract

 

Ways of Linking the In-depth Evaluation System to the Gender Budgeting System (Ⅰ)

 

Hyo-Joo Kim

Sun-Joo Cho

Taek-Meon Lee

Do-Yeon Kwon

Hae-Ram Kim

Young-Min Oh

 

It has been a decade since the introduction of the Gender Budgeting System. The budget system was designed to change the government’s fiscal operation so that it could be run on gender perspective through the application of the gender perspective to its budgeting process. For the past 10 years, the system has continuously evolved, yet failed to bring gender-based change to the government fiscal operation method.

 

This study finds the absence of institutions that could enhance the accountability of the government as the reason of the failure. Only when the government raises the awareness on gender equality and strengthens its will to and responsibility for improving the equality, changes of gender equality in the fiscal operation will take place. The government, however, is not with such institutional measures that can reinforce such intent and accountability at the moment. Bearing this in mind, the study puts focus on the assessment system.

 

The assessment system provides diverse information through its evaluation process in relation to relevant projects, offers feedbacks, and calls for the government’s accountability. If such assessment systems are put in place, different gender equality information will be available, and a greater responsibility for gender inequality will fall on the government. Under this circumstance, the study looks into diversified assessment schemes that can be introduced to the gender budgeting system. Specifically, examination is made to an independent evaluation system, and linkages to the government’s job assessment, autonomous appraisal on fiscal projects, and the evaluation system on core projects. Impacts and problems of each scheme are analyzed, and practically applicable solutions are put on comparison and analysis.

 

The outcome shows that the linkage to the evaluation system on core projects is the most appropriate assessment scheme. The two programs have very high similarities in terms of evaluation purpose, object, and actor. If linked to each other, they are believed to address major problems found with the current gender budgeting system, including the lack of implementation, relevant projects’ information, the feedback system, and so on. Particularly, the linkage of the two plans can make possible different perspective evaluations on not only the Gender Budgeting System but core projects. Given that, there are mutually complementary natures between the two.

 

In light of this, the study suggests the three-phased measure of linking the core project evaluation system to the Gender Budgeting System. Phase 1, 2, and 3 are about content linkage, object linkage, and integration linkage, respectively. The study also lays out institutional grounds and specific time schedules for those associations to be carried out, along with linkage cases. It is highly expected that the linkage to the core project evaluation system will invite changes to the government’s fiscal projects to the direction of gender equality, and linkage cases will bring the change of gender equality to the government’s fiscal operation method.