π Tender Overview
Project Name
Advancing gender responsive budgeting in India
Project Number
59059-001
Country / Economy
India
Project Status
Proposed
Project Type / Modality of Assistance
Technical Assistance
Source of Funding / Amount
Sector / Subsector
Public sector management / Public expenditure and fiscal management
Gender
Description
The proposed Technical Assistance (TA) aims to strengthen institutions and processes to advance gender- responsive budgeting (GRB) at sub-national level in India particularly focusing on sectors with low representation of women including roads, energy, skills, urban development and other infrastructure sectors. The TA will also play a crucial role in strengthening program design, monitoring mechanisms and knowledge management for GRB systems. It will support comprehensive gender assessments to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in state sector departments, along with tailored guidance and capacity-building initiatives to equip government officials and stakeholders with the necessary skills to effectively integrate gender gap assessments into gender mainstreaming programs at sector level, and then into GRB systems. A key feature of the TA will be the development of a dynamic dashboard at the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of India (GOI) to monitor and track the progress of gender mainstreaming within GRB systems at the state level. The TA will also support the dissemination of best practices and lessons learned, promoting a more systematic and informed approach to advancing gender equality across sectors select states.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
Gender inequality persists in India despite considerable achievements. The GOI has taken significant strides to narrow the gender equality gap. Affirmative actions, targeted policies, and dedicated investments in gender equality have led to substantial progress in closing the gender gap, as evidenced by the findings of the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2024. The country has improved its ranking, moving from 135 place in 2022 to 129 place in 2024. This progress reflects the country's efforts in closing 64.1 percent of the overall gender gap (an improvement of 0.3% points), particularly in achieving gender parity in education. The report lauds India's achievement in achieving 44.4 percent women's representation in local government. However, on the 'Health and Survival subindex', the country continues to score below the 95 percent mark, primarily due to skewed sex ratios at birth. India also lags in achieving parity in economic opportunities, with a score of 36.7 percent and a global ranking of 142. Other persistent gender issues highlighted in the Asia Development Bank (ADB) country partnership strategy are related to declining women's labor force participation due to lack of childcare facilities, social biases, safety and security issues, a gender pay gap, gender-based violence, i