Ilda Hoxha
Planning funds with a gender perspective is not just about determining how much money will be spent on women and girls. The challenge lies in measuring where these funds go, who benefits from them, and whether they actually bring about a change in gender inequalities. In Albania, gender responsive budgeting (GRB) has been part of the public finance planning process for years, but experts and organizations in the field estimate that the lack of measurable indicators makes it difficult to assess its impact.
For gender equality expert Monika Kocaqi, attention must go beyond the funds provided and focus on the results they produce.
“The GPJ helps us move from the traditional question of 'how much money was spent?' to the questions 'who benefited from this money, who may have been left out, and what difference did this funding make?'” says Kocaqi.
According to the expert, gender budgeting is not a separate fund for women, nor does it necessarily mean more spending for them.
"It means integrating a gender perspective into the entire budget process: analyzing existing needs and inequalities, defining objectives and resources to address them, and then assessing who has benefited and what results have been achieved," Kocaqi underlines.
Precisely identifying the different needs of women and men is one of the reasons why the budget should also be viewed from a gender perspective, argues Blerina Xhani, an expert in public finance management and gender equality.
"Because in this way, not only are the different needs of women and men understood, but the response to them is more efficient," says Xhani.
Although gender-responsive budgeting claims to promote equality, the experience of the Center for Gender Justice shows that it is often reduced to a formal obligation, leading to a situation where, as Adena Vangjeli, executive director of the center, notes: “There are no measurable indicators that can realistically assess the percentage of the state budget that goes to gender issues at both the national and local levels.”
Where does Albania stand today in implementing the GPJ?
For Adena Vangjeli, executive director of the Center for Gender Justice in Albania, an expenditure cannot be considered gender-responsive just because its beneficiaries are women.
"It is not enough to just measure how much money was spent or how many women benefited from a program. It must be measured whether the spending brought about the intended change and whether it helped reduce a gender inequality," says Vangjeli.
This need for a more results-oriented approach is also underlined by expert Monika Kocaqi.
“However, the next phase must be more qualitative than purely quantitative. The challenge is to ensure that gender targets are based on clear analyses of inequalities, that indicators measure results and not just activities, that gender-disaggregated data are available and used systematically and, above all, that monitoring results influence decisions in the next budget cycle,” argues Kocaqi.
Gender Responsive Budgeting and transparency
Gender Responsive Budgeting is not only about the funds earmarked for gender equality, but also about how these funds are used and the results they produce. According to expert Kocaqi, GRBG “creates a clearer link between policy, funding and results.”
She emphasizes that: “The real test is whether these commitments are accompanied by resources and whether the resources used produce the promised results.” According to her, this makes the GPJ a mechanism that can increase transparency and accountability, as citizens, Parliament, audit institutions and civil society can assess not only how much has been spent, but also what has been achieved.
For expert Adena Vangjeli, accountability should start in the budget drafting process. Vangjeli argues that: “Women and civil society organizations should be active in public consultations on draft budgets, so that the needs of communities are reflected in public priorities and funds.”
But Vangjeli notes that institutional transparency remains a problem. According to her, information on how consultation recommendations have been taken into account and what results have been achieved “is often not sufficient or easily accessible.” For her, the GPJ should be accompanied by stronger transparency and accountability mechanisms.
From successful models in Albania
The world’s most advanced financial systems demonstrate that Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is not a standard formula. OECD data for 2022 shows that 23 of 38 member countries practiced this model, with examples such as Canada, Austria, Iceland and Sweden leading the way with consolidated practices. Canada ranks at the top of the global index thanks to the Gender Budgeting Act (2018), while Austria has integrated gender equality into performance budgeting.
For Blerina Xhani, Austria is the most successful and most promoted model in Europe, while Sweden, Iceland, Spain and Belgium are also important examples.
"The most successful and most promoted model in Europe today is Austria, which has included the GPJ in its Constitution. Also, Sweden, Iceland, Spain or even Belgium are very good examples of how the GPJ can be implemented in practice. I am very proud to say that Albania is also considered one of the successful countries implementing the GPJ in the Western Balkans and beyond," says Xhani.
However, she emphasizes that there cannot be a single model that applies equally to every country.
“To date, there is no single model of implementing GPG that can be replicated word-for-word in all countries, but each of the countries that has decided to address gender inequalities through GPG has chosen to implement the most appropriate way. Demographic composition, culture, lifestyle, society, etc. are just some of the factors that influence the way GPG is viewed, so we cannot say that there is only one successful model of implementing GPG.”
Even according to Kocaqi, "there is no single model that can be mechanically copied from one country to another," but advanced countries have integrated this approach into the very architecture of public finances.
"What these models have in common is not an identical procedure, but several principles: a strong institutional basis, integration of the GPJ into the regular budget process, analysis before making decisions, and measurable indicators," explains expert Kocaqi.
For Xhani, what Albania can adapt from these countries is not only the technical way of drafting the budget, but also the way society and institutions view gender equality.
“One of the essential social elements that we can adapt from these countries is 'sensitivity' to issues of gender inequalities and how they directly affect the development of society and the country in general,” she says.
According to Xhani, this must also be accompanied by political accountability and the provision of public Services that truly respond to the needs of women and men.
"In terms of politics and good governance, political accountability must be adapted to the commitments made to women and men who contribute to the development of Albanian society and economy. Accountability for providing public Services that are truly necessary for women and men, in the right way and with the necessary efficiency," argues Blerina Xhani.
For Albania, the challenge is not to start from scratch, as the country has already established a legal and methodological basis. According to gender equality expert Monika Kocaqi, the Ministry of Finance’s official documentation for the first phase of the 2026–2028 MTBP identifies 81 budget programs that include gender budgeting in their MTBP requirements.
"It is not enough for a budget program to be identified as gender-responsive. We need to know which inequality it aims to address, what resources have been made available, and whether the intervention has actually reduced inequality," Kocaqi underlines.
Municipalities, the link where the GPG must be translated into Services
At the local level, this need becomes even more critical, because municipalities fund Services that directly impact daily life. For Blerina Xhani, it is at this level that the difference between planning a budget with a gender perspective and implementing it in practice becomes most apparent.
"The GPG is well implemented in the area of policy and budget planning at the central level of government, but leaves much to be desired in its implementation at the local level. This is because the human resources of the Local Government Units themselves are few in number and in technical capacity," says Xhani.
The Local Barometer data for 2025 show that only 27 out of 61 municipalities report the inclusion of gender budgeting in the financial planning process. This constitutes about 44%, while the lack of this instrument in more than half of the municipalities indicates the need for greater technical capacities and a greater focus on gender budgeting.
According to Xhani, gender analysis at the local level must go deeper beyond the inequalities that are easily visible.
"More work needs to be done, and continues to be done, in the way gender analyses of policies and budgets are conducted, so that the good work done so far in addressing visible gender inequalities can be deepened to address even those inequalities or needs that are not very visible, but have a very large impact on the lives of women and men in the country."
Local Action Plans should be linked to the annual budget to finance concrete measures, from care Services to public transport or Services for victims of violence.
“When the local plan, indicators, costing and budget are linked in this way,” says Kocaqi, “gender equality moves from a political commitment to a measurable and funded commitment.”
In practice, citizens can see the impact of the GPJ precisely through the Services they receive from municipalities. For Xhani, the goal is not simply for a service to exist, but for it to respond to the real needs of women and men.
"Women and men see this impact in the way public Services, especially those provided directly by LGUs, have an impact on their lives. The main goal of the GPJ is that women and men can benefit equally from the public Services provided by the state," the expert underlines.
The Local Barometer 2025 recommends that the GPJ be concretely involved in the financial planning and decision-making of municipalities.
"Gender-responsive budgeting should be consolidated as an integral part of local financial planning and management and not just as a formal process. Municipalities and municipal councils should analyze the gender impact of programs and investments and provide financial resources for interventions that address identified inequalities," the report highlights.
Money and women in politics
Funding is one of the barriers that limits women's participation and empowerment in politics. According to the " Gender Equality Barometer ", 58% of women interviewed consider women's representation in political party structures to be insufficient.
The study, based on interviews with women aged 20–60, also highlights unbalanced access to political finance. Women's forums do not have access to the funding that parties receive from the state budget, while 60% of the women interviewed declare that they entered politics through these forums.
Another study by the “Equality in Decision-Making” Network, “ Gender Equality, Money and Politics ”, highlights the inequality in women candidates' access to political financing.
According to the study, political parties mainly provide support for their general activities, while candidates remain responsible for organizing and financing individual meetings and activities with citizens. 68.24% of women candidates declared that they had self-financed their campaign activities.
In this context, the Equality in Decision-Making Network has proposed “Integrating the Gender Perspective in Political Parties”, aiming for more direct support for women and girls within parties. One of the main proposals is that at least 10% of the public funding that political parties receive should be transferred directly to women's structures, for their empowerment, capacity building and support in election campaigns. The proposal foresees that the expenditures for this fund should be reported separately to the CEC./ acqj.al
