On Jan. 30, KWN Executive Director Igballe Rogova, Program Manager/Lead Researcher Nicole Farnsworth and Coordinator Donjeta Morina met Prof. Dr. Arsim Bajrami, Minister of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) to discuss collaborating towards institutionalizing gender responsive budgeting (GRB) in MEST. During the meeting, Minister Bajrami expressed his interest in this cooperation and emphasized his willingness to make the work of MEST as transparent and efficient as possible. 
     “I am very happy that we will cooperate in integrating gender responsive budgeting in MEST. You will have my full support throughout this process,” stated Minister Bajrami, highlighting his long-term commitment towards issues concerning gender equality.
     Minister Bajrami agreed that MEST, as a very important Ministry, can help increase or decrease gender inequalities through budget allocations and distributions. Minister Bajrami also mentioned his strong commitment towards increasing the quality of education related services, stating that this will be his top priority.
     In 2014, KWN cooperated with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), in assisting the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW) in integrating gender responsive budgeting in budget processes. After this successful experience, KWN will continue offering assistance to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2015. This will be supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
     GRB introduces an approach through which a gender perspective can be integrated into budgetary processes. GRB involves a process through which strategic objectives towards enhancing gender equality can be introduced into the budget. It can help increase transparency, increase effectiveness of public expenditures, and facilitate monitoring of implementation. The process of GRB analysis can help identify whether public spending reaches different groups of women and men; how effective resource allocations are in meeting the potentially diverse needs of women and men; how effective the implementation of policies and budgets is in achieving overall gender goals; and how gender (in)equalities may impact the achievement of overall goals. Further, budget officers, budget departments, and institutions at municipal and national levels can use GRB to better communicate and substantiate the needs of their departments to other institutions and actors, including the Ministry of Finance.