MKD/BiH/MD/SRB/ALB/KS/MNE: 18/03/2020
Conducted study tour in London, UK in the framework of the Gender Budget Network in the Western Balkans and Republic of Moldova” project
In the period 10-13th March, 2020, representatives from each partner country in the framework of the project “Gender Budget Network in the Western Balkans and Republic of Moldova” (GBWN) funded by the Austrian Development Agency, conducted a study tour in London, UK in order to absorb experience and knowledge from the local CSOs on the modalities and techniques in monitoring national gender and budget setup.
During the three days study tour, the GBWN delegation visited numerous organizations such as Runnymede Trust and Fawcett Society. Officially, our host were Women’s Budget Group (WBG) who invited the delegation to attend the screening of the UK Budget Day at the London School of Economics when we had a chance to see their ways of scrutinizing the measures and investments in the national bill related to gender equality. This was a chance to have a lunch break and informal meeting with Diane Elson, one of the most prominent gender and human rights advocates in UK and wider. The GBWN delegation also attended several individual meetings and events such as the“Spring Budget 2020 analysis” organized by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and “How to build cross-party support for controversial policies” organized by the Institute for Government. As a wrap up activity, Memorandum of Understanding was signed on behalf of the GBWN and WBG, signed by Marija Risteska, regional project director and Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of WBG that paved the way for future collaboration and absorbing know how.
MKD/BiH/MD/SRB/ALB/KS/MNE: 29/11/2019
Request for Applications for Capacity Building in Gender Responsive Budgeting by the Gender Budget Watchdog Network
Issued: 30 November 2019 Application Deadline: 15 January 2019
Program overview
The Gender Budget Watchdog Network (GBWN) is pleased to announce its call for applications for civil society representatives interested in participating in free of charge beginner or advanced training in Gender Responsive Budgeting tools. Civil society organisations (CSOs) participating in the interactive trainings will then be eligible to apply for grants in order to research and write Gender Budget Watchdog Reports and Gender Budget Policy Appraisals in practice, with tailored assistance from gender budgeting experts. The concept note for application for grants is attached in Annex 2 for your information. Only trained organizations will be invited to apply.
Eligibility
More specifically, the GBWN invites the following CSOs to apply:
- Women’s rights organizations – organizations that work on women’s rights realization and advocacy as well as those that work with women as beneficiaries from vulnerable groups, such as rural women, people with disabilities, the poor, sexual minorities, etc.; and
- Think tanks – especially those working on relevant to EU accession reforms in education, aging, youth, public administration and etc.;
- CSOs working on public finance (budget or procurement issues) – deal with public finance, budget monitoring, public procurement monitoring.
Process
GBWN will work in five phases with the interested CSOs:
Phase 1 – Apply to participate in the program (complete and submit Annex 1)
Phase 2 – Capacity building through practical, interactive training
Phase 3 – Tailored mentoring support for all training participants towards preparation of gender budgeting initiatives
Phase 4 – Grants for selected initiatives, coupled with further tailored mentoring, as needed
Phase 5 – Support in advocating for changes based on the gender budget initiative
The participants in capacity building will be invited to produce gender budget initiatives for which a small grant will be provided, coupled with mentoring support (see Annex 2).
Eligibility of applicants
- Be a CSO registered in one of the seven targeted countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia;
- Preferably be, but not necessarily be limited to, women’s rights organizations, think tanks and public finance CSOs;
The overall application form can be downloaded here in all local languages:
Application submission procedure
GBWN will accept application forms (Annex 1) in English or local languages. They can be e-mailed to gbwn@crpm.org.mk
Upon delivery of their application, applicants will receive a Confirmation Email with an application number.
Anticipated timeline:
Request for Applications issued: 30 November 2019
Deadline for submission of applications: 15 January 2020, 5:00 PM
Selected organizations informed by 31 January 2020
Schedule for capacity building:
Advanced training in GRB: 3-5 February in Serbia,2020
Gender budgeting for public procurement/budget watchdog organizations: 27-30 April, 2020 in B&H
Introductory GRB training:18-21 May, 2020 in Albania
Contact information:
Applicants can request clarifications via email to simonovski@crpm.org.mk
MKD: 22/11/2019
Trained trainers after the first project activity in the framework of the “Gender Responsive Budgeting Network in the Western Balkans and the Republic of Moldova”
In the period 18-21.11.2019 in Skopje, the train of trainers event in the framework of the “Gender Responsive Budgeting Network in the Western Balkans and the Republic of Moldova” project, supported by the Austrian Development Agency, was held.
During the three days event, the project staff of each participating partners, Center for research and Policy Making (lead partner), Ženska Akcija (Montenegro), Gender Knowledge Hub (Serbia), Keystone Moldova (Moldova), Gender Alliance for Development Centre (Albania), Center for civil society promotion (BiH) and Kosovo Women’s Network increased their capacities for application of Gender responsive budgeting tools and ensure that all project partners have the same understanding knowledge that can be transferred upon return t their countries.
More precisely, we were familiarized with several topics such as entry points for GRB in the budgeting process, basics of budget literacy and revenue analysis, gender policy appraisal approaches, methods for conducting gender aware policy analysis and other issues.
During the team meeting, it was decided that the next step should be opening the a first call for applications for capacity building of other national CSOs interested in the topic in the middle of next month.
