application of gender audit
TRANSCRIPT
Application of Gender Audit Guidelines in India
Dr. Paramita MajumdarSenior Consultant, Gender Budgeting
Ministry of Women and Child DevelopmentGovt. of India, New Delhi
Innovations in Gender Responsive Budgeting: Sharing Experiences from Asia Pacific,
8-9 December, 2016, Jaipur
Gender Budgeting – 10 Years
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2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2009-10
2011-122013-14
2015-16
GB Statement
Charter for GBC
GB Scheme for Cap.Bldg.
Revised Guidelines for Outcome Budget issued
• Guidelines issued to states• Gender Audit Initiated - WG
EFC
Nodal CentresGA pilot as part of Internal Audit
2004 - Expert Group constituted
14th FC Devolution – flexibility & autonomy to the states
Gender Audit – a National Commitment in the Plan Document
11th FYP (2007- 2012) stated that the plan “will ensure that each Ministry/ Department of both Centre and State should put in place a systematic and comprehensive monitoring and auditing mechanism for outcome assessment. In addition, the Ministry of WCD, Ministry of Finance, and Planning Commission will ….undertake gender audits of public expenditure, programmes, and policies…..” (Vol. II Social Sector, pg 200).
The commitment to GA is re emphasized in the 12th FYP - “Gender Audit as an integral part of Gender Budgeting will be promoted in 12th Plan. Ministries/ Departments will undertake gender audits of major programmes, schemes and policies. At the State level, mandatory gender audit of all Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Schemes would be undertaken. Building up the technical expertise to undertake gender audit would be integrated as part of the GB training programmes.” (Vol. III, Chapter 23, Para 23.81, pg 179)
Commitment of MWCD
Five Year Strategic Plan (2011-2016) document of the Ministry – to strengthen existing efforts at mainstreaming gender concerns, initiate the exercise of gender auditing of existing programmes, which would then feed into addressing gaps and strengthening service delivery mechanisms.”
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Gender Audit - Processes So far• Working Group for Developing Guidelines for Gender Audit formed • Draft Gender Audit Guidelines framed to introduce GA and guide
the Auditors through each step of the audit process.• Draft Guidelines pilot tested in Rajasthan. (Dairy Entrepreneurship
Development Scheme , D/o Animal Husbandry)• Draft Guidelines circulated to Comptroller and Auditor General of
India (CAG), erstwhile Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance • Number of Meetings held with the Controller General of Accounts
(CGA), Internal Audit Division, Ministry of Finance to examine the draft gender audit guidelines and recommend framework for conduct of gender audit of schemes of Government of India.
• Efforts on to build capacity in gender mainstreaming within the Internal Audit Division
• Special emphasis is on Part A schemes of the Gender Budget Statement
• Pre-pilot in select states by Auditors - candid in assessment identification of major challenges facing the programme
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Gender Audit Guidelines of MWCD• The Need for GA• Mandate for GA • What to Audit• Who conducts a Gender Audit• Methodology for Gender Audit• Tools and Techniques of Gender Audit
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Gender Audit GuidelinesThe Need
• No. of Policy and Programmatic commitments supporting gender equality by various Ministries and Departments
• Not known as to how these are achieving their commitments to gender equality
• Gender Audit provides the tools to audit the processes which have been undertaken by a Ministry/Dept under the various PPS.
• It examines whether & at what level GB initiatives have been adopted in the planning, implementation and review of the policies and budgetary allocations
• Results of GA can assess the integration of gender concerns and provide learning and guidelines for GB to revisit PPS as well as implementing mechanism
Objectives of the Guidelines• Introduce and guide the Auditors through each
step of the audit process.• Provide with the tools, resources, and information
required to conduct each step of the gender audit.
• Intended to be a resource for individuals and audit teams who will lead a gender audit process in their Ministries/ Departments.
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Gender Audit Guidelines Mandate for GA
• Mandate for GA is inclusive both as a part of Compliance Audit & Performance Audit
• Compliance Audit – Objective is to conduct audit to ensure constitutional provisions and Govt regulations & procedures
• Gender Audit means implementation of Article 21 – guaranteeing Gender Equality, NPEW (2001), international conventions and ratifications like CEDAW and much more & also commitments reflected in RFD, OB, GBS
• Performance Audit are a tool for assessment of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of any project/programme. Most PAs do not focus on gender equality results.
Gender Audit Guidelines What to Audit
5 Programmatic Dimensions- Situational Analysis including participatory and conventional planning processes and Annual Plan Development- Policy Analysis including programme design & scheme guidelines and framework of implementation- Budgetary Allocations and Expenditure- Monitoring of Implementation progress- Evaluation Procedures
5 Organisational Dimensions - Gender Policy & Staffing - Nature, quality, and intensity of support for the Ministry’s gender policy, gender balance in Ministry’s staffing pattern- Capacity Building - Monitoring Systems (OB & RFD) – gender sensitivity- Resource allocation - to what extent Ministry’s budget had been instrumental in supporting gender equity efforts
GA will cover the following
Gender Audit Guidelines Who conducts a Gender Audit
• Gender Audits being knowledge-based exercise, in which conclusions emerge from interpretations, call for special skills, knowledge and competence of the audit personnel
• Conducted preferably through CAG• GB Cells of respective Mins/Depts.• External Audit agencies outsourced by Ministries• Internal Audit Division of respective Ministries guided
by CGA
Gender Audit Guidelines Methodology for Gender Audit
• Setting up the Gender Audit team• Convene a Brainstorming meeting – freeze the audit
objectives and identify audit criteria• Developing Audit Criteria into a Checklist• Developing Audit Matrix
• Entry Meeting of the Gender Auditors• Gathering Audit Data• Analysis of the Data• Feedback to Management and Staff• Audit Report
S. No.
Audit Criteria/Objectives
Questions/Sub-Questions
Objectively Verifiable Indicator
Means of Verification (Source of Evidence/ Data Collection method
Gender Audit Guidelines Tools and Techniques
• Use of Existing Data, Schematic Guidelines• Documentation Review• Field Visits• Field Surveys• FGD/Interviews• Key Informant Interview• Staff Questionnaire• Gender Audit Score Card (suggestive)
Gender Audit – Implementation Plan Refining Gender Audit Tool -
Suggestions with regard to gender sensitive audits being incorporated in the Generic Internal Audit Manual (Version 2.0) of the CGA
Gender sensitization is in the process of being included in the scope of work of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), India
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Linking GBCs of select Ministries/ Departments with the Internal Audit Wing is in process
Gender Audit Guidelines Implementation Plan
To deepen the comprehensive situation analysis of selected schemes, and recommend corrective actions, scheme specific Questionnaires developed for 6 pilot Ministries with inputs from MWCD
Data sampling criteria defined by CGA to collate the voluminous quantitative and qualitative data post audit
Visits to states/districts/villages for conduct of pilot gender based studies in process, to be completed by March 2017. Women Staff to be included in Internal Audit Parties (IAP) wherever possible.
Feasibility of co-opting experts from Women Study Centres in Universities being explored.
Build capacity of Internal Audit Division and counterpart offices. Three Resource Persons selected from each pilot Ministry for building expertise
To share findings and utilize findings for purposes of appraisal by other agencies, e.g. NITI Aayog
To promote evidence based information for strengthening scheme guidelines and implementation processes
Expected Outputs • A reflection of the status of gender mainstreaming in
the scheme/programme implemented by the Ministry • A pool of information for discussion and analysis• A participatory process that builds organizational
ownership for the Ministry’s gender equality objective and ongoing plans on engendering the programmes
