Bagmati Province MPs Pledge to Promote Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Budgeting

March 6, 2024

Parliamentarians of the Bagmati Provincial Assembly have expressed their commitment to advance gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) and inclusive budgeting in the upcoming budget of the Bagmati provincial government as per the principle of GRB in this fiscal year (2024/025).

They expressed such commitments during an interaction on GESI mainstreaming of Bagmati Provincial Assembly and gender-responsive and inclusive budgeting organized as part of marking the International Women’s Day in Lalitpur.

International Women's Day, being celebrated globally on March 8 this year with the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress,” highlights the urgent need to prioritize investments in the economic empowerment of women and girls, driving momentum towards more inclusive and just societies.

The day is the occasion to honor the achievements of women, recognize their contributions to society, and advocate for gender equality and social inclusion. The day provides an opportunity for all to come together and reflect on the progress made toward gender parity while acknowledging the work that remains to be done.

Addressing the interaction, Speaker of Bagmati Provincial Assembly Bhuban Kumar Pathak expressed commitment to make a call to the public early through media outlets to provide their feedback on how to make the budget of Bagmati Province more inclusive and GESI responsive. “The suggestions that will be received from the people will help us make the upcoming budget of the Bagmati Provincial government for the fiscal year 2024/025 more inclusive and gender-responsive,” he said, adding that the event is rightly timed since the preparations are underway to make the annual budget of the provincial government.

He also expressed commitment to make a checklist to scrutinize the laws through the GESI perspective and initiate to carry out impact study of the GRB budget of the provincial government. He also emphasized carrying out the GESI audit of government initiatives in the province. He also expressed commitment to alert the government for the nonfreezing of the GESI budget and ensuring that GESI allocated budget nontransferable to other themes.

Addressing the program, Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal H.E. Torun Dramdal stressed the need to invest on women for their empowerment and promote their rights to self-determination. “All women and girls must have access to digital technologies, and the skills required to use them,” she added.

On Norway’s achievement of women’s empowerment, she mentioned that Norway has invested a lot in women in different sectors. More specifically the investment in parental leaves and rights to childcare made in the past decades have provided women greater opportunities to work on an equal footing. “Currently of the total adult women in Norway, 70% are in the workforce,” she added.

Speaking on the occasion, UNDP Nepal Resident Representative Ms. Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe urged the parliaments to focus on advocacy, inclusive laws, and stakeholder engagement for specific allocations for women in different sectors. She expressed hope that the upcoming of Bagmati Provincial Assembly will be more gender-responsive and inclusive. Stating that only 32% of women are employed in Bagmati Province, she stressed on the need for more investment in women for their further empowerment.

Shedding light on the programme, Apsara Chapgain, Deputy Speaker of Bagmati Provincial Assembly, said the event was organized to sensitive the issue of GRB among the MPs so that they can contribute to ensuring the provision of GESI responsive and inclusive budget of the provincial government.

Earlier in the interaction, Babita Basnet, senior journalist and GESI expert presented a brief overview of GESI mainstreaming in the Bagmati Provincial Assembly and ways forward to promote GESI in the provincial parliament. Krishna Hari Baskota former Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Chief Commissioner of the National Information Commission presented the principles, importance, and criteria of GRB and inclusive budgeting. He also provided an overview and analysis of the annual budget 2023/024 of Bagmati Provincial government highlighting the proactive role of MPs to ensure gender responsive and inclusive budgeting.

A total of 70 participants including some 45 MPs, secretaries, and staff of of Bagmati Provincial Assembly have their active participation in the interaction.

The interaction was organized by the Bagmati Provincial Assembly Secretariat in collaboration with UNDP's Parliament Support Project (PSP) funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu.