Dear Minister of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation Arbërie Nagavci,
Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) seeks to ensure that funds are budgeted and spent towards addressing the potentially differing needs of diverse women, men, boys, and girls, as identified through gender analysis. According to Kosovo Law No. 05/L-020 on Gender Equality, GRB is mandatory for all public institutions. The non-implementation of GRB, as stipulated by this Law, constitutes a legal offense and is subject to sanctions. Further, the Government has an interest in implementing gender budgeting in the context of its commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), precisely SDG 5, indicator 5.c.1; the Supplementary Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Framework (PEFA) for the assessment of gender responsive public financial management (GRPFM); and, most importantly, as a best practice in financial management. Implementing GRB can contribute to more effective, efficient, accountable, and transparent spending of government resources, including towards achieving gender equality. Thus, the Ministry of Finance, Labour, and Transfers, through the budget circular, has requested that all central level budget organisations provide an addendum to their budget allocation requests for 2025 explaining how their 2025 budget ensures GRB.
Notably, the Government must involve gender equality officers and civil society organizations in public consultations pertaining to the budget, as mandated by Law 03/L-048 on the Management of Public Finances and Responsibilities. To support the Government of Kosovo in implementing its responsibilities, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), a network of 141 diverse women’s rights organisations, has prepared this letter with recommendations towards improving GRB in the Law on Budget Appropriations for 2025. Recommendations are based on KWN’s research and evidence of needs, towards furthering gender equality in Kosovo.
We strongly recommend that the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) invest directly in and encourage municipalities to budget for establishing more affordable public childcare centres and kindergartens. By setting concrete targets and budget allocations based on comprehensive needs assessments, municipalities can address high unemployment and inactivity rates. KWN has estimated that expanding childcare options can create approximately 9,899 new jobs in childcare. Further, this will enable more women to work and improve educational outcomes in line with the EU Barcelona Objectives. Budgeting for increased availability of affordable care services, particularly in rural areas, is essential for transforming unpaid care work into paid employment, engaging more women in the labour force, and supporting gender transformative education from an early age. The Government has committed to these investments in the National Development Strategy, and now the budget allocations must be made. While the Government historically has relied on international donations for improving childcare availability, including European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) funds, we implore MESTI to allocate more such funds and to strongly encourage municipalities to do similarly. We hope for reduced reliance on external funding to ensure sufficient and sustainable budgetary resources for the future for this important national development priority.
We also strongly encourage you to publish the addendum to your Ministry’s 2025 Budget, requested by the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers and in line with SDG 5.c.1., explaining transparently how your 2025 budget will contribute to furthering gender equality and the related expenditures foreseen.
Sincerely,
Igballe Rogova
Executive Director
Kosovo Women’s Network
