WHY GENDER MATTERS

"Gender" refers to the learned social differences between women and men that change over time and vary widely within and between cultures. Gendered roles shape women and men's lives.

Women are frequently disadvantaged by policies that do not recognise their different realities and experiences, including unequal pay, roles at work and home, and gender-based violence.

Gender impact analysis considers how different policies, programmes or services affect women and men, or boys and girls. Without assessing the gender impact of proposed policies and their related spending, the different realities and experiences of women and men will not be reflected or accounted for. This means that public policies will not be effectively targeted.

SWBG believes that gender matters in public policy decisions and that gender budget analysis makes for better and more effective programmes and services for women and men.