Implementation and practice of gender budgeting

The City has been working on gender budgeting since 2011.

Explore a brochure about gender budgeting at Reykjavík City

Implementation of GB

In 2011, the City of Reykjavík made the important decision to formally begin implementing gender budgeting (or “Kynjuð fjárhags- og starfsáætlun” in Icelandic, KFS for short, here after abbreviated GB). The goal of the implementation is to integrate Reykjavík City's Human Rights Policy and Financial Policy. The City of Reykjavík follows its Human Rights Policy when it comes to equality matters, and GB therefore takes into account all aspects of the Policy, not just gender equality.

The practice of GB

Two principal tasks in implementing gender budgeting for Reykjavík City involve, on the one hand, analyzing services, and on the other, conducting equality impact screenings and assessments of all new projects, changes to the financial plan, and proposed investment projects in the investment plan.

 

GB Analysis of City services

Gender based analysis of City services have been carried out since 2012. In order to make informed decisions about the City's allocation of funds and revenue generation from a human rights perspective, it is necessary to analyze the current situation. The analysis of current services considers whether the City's services take into account the different needs of Reykjavík residents and how the service can be improved.

View the results of the City's GB analysis of services

Equality impact screenings

The implementation of equality impact screening is useful in promoting equality perspectives in the preparation and organization of work.

 

All new projects in the budget for the coming year and changes to the approved budget must be screened for equality impact.

 

Equality impact screenings summarize the impact of proposals on equality in a simple way and are intended to support the decision making of managers and elected representatives when prioritizing and allocating funds.

 

Effective use of equality impact screenings can increase transparency, improve efficiency, and ensure better work processes and governance.

View the equality impact screening form

Equality impact assessment

Equality impact assessment is a more in-depth version of equality impact screening. A gender equality assessment must be carried out on proposals that are considered to have a gender equality impact after they have gone through a gender equality screening.

 

Equality impact assessments can vary widely in scope, depending on the nature of the proposal and the activities they cover.

 

The employees responsible for the proposal are expected to carry out an equality impact assessment in consultation with the GB project manager or other experts who have knowledge of gender and equality impacts.

View an example of a detailed equality impact assessment (pages 76-138)

Equality Recognition Award from the Equality Council 2016

In 2016, the City of Reykjavík and its staff received the Equality Recognition from the Equality Council for their pioneering work in implementing gender budgeting and r developing the methodology while the City was undergoing financial recovery. The work was seen as teaching important lessons and providing encouragement for other municipalities and government agencies.

Contact us

For more information, contact the project manager of Gender Budgeting.