Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) was introduced as a budget reform in Afghanistan in 1390. However, there was no official guidance for the ministries on how to prepare their budgets to be gender responsive, and there was very little guidance on GRB that was specific to the Afghan context or available in local languages. In consultation with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women’s Affairs, as well as the sectoral GRB pilot ministries, this GRB Handbook was developed to address these gaps and enable the government to provide support to the ministries on GRB through materials that are clear, context-specific, and available in Afghanistan’s national languages. 

Resulting from these consultations, this GRB Handbook is a consultative guide to practicing GRB in Afghanistan. This handbook is designed for use by those responsible for implementing GRB, particularly government officials involved in the budget planning, implementation and evaluation process, but also by actors such as civil society, the Parliament, international donors and development practitioners to understand how effective GRB can be supported and implemented in Afghanistan. 

This Handbook is designed to be comprehensive and accessible to individuals at all levels of understanding and experience regarding GRB. It includes basic concepts and definition for those who are new to GRB, as well as more in-depth and advanced tools for those with experience and knowledge regarding gender and GRB. The Handbook can be read all the way through as a comprehensive introduction and implementation guide for GRB in Afghanistan, or consulted section by section on specific topics for those who already have a basic understanding of concepts and context. Most importantly, this book is context-specific and focuses on institutions and practices in Afghanistan, with examples from the Afghan context, so it is specially designed to suit the needs of GRB actors in Afghanistan. 

This Handbook includes information and is suited for officials from the Ministry of Finance, sectoral ministries, Parliament, and all other budget-related bodies and institutions. Whether you are a budget expert or a budget beginner, a gender expert or a gender beginner, this Handbook is for you. Whether you are making policy, conducting monitoring and evaluation, designing a program, or formulating budgets, this book is for you. Whether you are planning a development project in a village with 200 households or planning the annual budget for an entire ministry, this Handbook is for you. This Handbook is a go-to guide for addressing gender in budget policies and practices of practitioners at all levels of the government.