Purpose: Gender-responsive budgeting allows for better consideration of the impact of public policies on gender equality. In the long run, it will allow for a sustainable and transversal mainstreaming of the gender dimension in all public policies from the moment of their design and will contribute to the achievement of the city's gender equality objectives.
Stimulus: The city of Strasbourg is committed to the promotion of women's rights and gender equality. Its third Action Plan for Women's Rights and Gender Equality 2022-2024 [fr] calls for the development and mainstreaming of innovative tools to achieve its policy goals in this area. Among these, gender-responsive budgeting is envisaged as a lever for social justice, making it possible to become aware of the impact of the city's policies on gender equality and to make the necessary adjustments. In this approach, the city of Strasbourg is supported by the European Commission through a project it is funding – Gender mainstreaming in public policy and budget processes (June 2022 - December 2024) – and in which the city is participating alongside eight other beneficiary authorities.
Process: Gender-responsive budgeting was first piloted in the Sports Department for the 2022 preliminary budget. Expenditures were classified according to three criteria (0 - not gender-sensitive; 1 - likely to be gender-sensitive; 2 - policy promoting gender equality). This process was extended to the entire 2023 budget [fr] in order to have a complete mapping of expenditures likely to be gender sensitive. On the basis of this mapping, various actions will be implemented with the support of the above-mentioned project, in order to move public policies towards greater gender equality. This includes internal and external training, a proactive equality policy towards the city's partners through the evolution of subsidy criteria, as well as the integration of gender data in the scheme for the promotion of socially and environmentally responsible public procurement (SPASER).
Impact: The identification of inequalities through the analysis of the city's budget from a gender perspective will make it possible to define relevant actions to remedy them. In the field of sports, several measures have already been implemented, including staff training on the issue of gender equality and the improvement of the aid scheme for sports licences.
