Representatives from various government departments are now trained in gender responsive budgeting. The Project aims to address deficiencies highlighted in a Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Country assessment in 2011. Among these deficiencies are gender imbalances, poor education achievement for men, inadequate employment and training and high incidence of single parents.

    Project Coordinator of the Gender Mainstreaming Project, Claudia Louis says this will allow participants to put a gender perspective to their budgets moving forward.  “Gender budgeting is just one aspect the Gender Mainstreaming Project. We look at it from the perspective that if this is a government policy, the budgeting must also follow the policy,” Louis explains.  “When various departments are preparing their budgets come September, October, they would have been trained to have that gender perspective that they look over every project they are submitting and see in what way any gender is being disadvantaged and how they can compensate for that in their budget,” She continues.

    Partnering with the Department of Gender Relations to execute the project is Niagara College. Professor Ana Androsik of the College facilitated the workshop. Androsik unveils the expectations of the project. “We were hoping to start earlier, initially, specifically for the purpose of being able to incorporate some pilot gender budgeting in one to three ministries. If they can assess what happens now with their budgets and where gaps exist, it will help with even this year’s budgeting cycle or next year’s. It will help to incorporate gender budgeting, duly analyzing, repurposing and influence decision makers to have our pilot gender budgeting in, early enough in the process,” The Niagara College Professor says.

    A team of experts were in Saint Lucia for their inception mission in May, where they engage in training exercises for officers of the Department of Gender Relations and public servants in various ministries, departments and agencies on gender analysis and gender inclusion in development planning.