Abuja: The Federal Government, in collaboration with UN Women and development partners, has intensified efforts to institutionalize gender-responsive planning and budgeting across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to promote inclusive national development.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the renewed commitment was reiterated at a capacity-building programme on Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning on Monday in Abuja for senior officials. Mrs. Esuabana Nko-Asanye, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, stated that the training would strengthen government officials’ capacity to implement equitable planning, budgeting, and development nationwide more effectively.
Nko-Asanye, represented by Director of Gender Affairs, Mr. Samaila Adamu, explained that gender-responsive planning and budgeting involved mainstreaming gender considerations into decision-making throughout the annual budget cycle and key economic processes. She emphasized that the approach promotes awareness of gender inequalities, analyzes their causes, and supports programs addressing the different needs of women, children, and other vulnerable groups across society and communities.
She stated, “Gender Planning and Budgeting simply means mainstreaming gender considerations into decision-making within the annual budget cycle and other key economic decision processes,” highlighting its relevance to government planning and budgeting. “By this, we promote awareness of gender inequalities, its causes, run policy analysis, review and appraise policies, and design gender-responsive programs to deal with existing inequalities, especially for women, children, and other persons with special needs,” she added.
Nko-Asanye urged Gender Focal Persons across MDAs to apply knowledge gained during the training to advance the government’s Roadmap to Equality by 2030 and strengthen implementation nationwide. She emphasized that strong families were foundations of prosperous societies, noting that investing in family wellbeing is a high-return economic policy essential to tackling poverty, insecurity, inequality, and unemployment.
Dr. Deborah Odoh, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, noted that gender-responsive budgeting was being integrated into national planning and budgeting, with the 2027 budget expected to reflect reforms. She asserted that gender-responsive budgeting should not be treated as a standalone initiative but embedded across policy formulation, resource allocation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting within government operations and programs.
According to Dr. Odoh, the ministry, supported by UN Women and partners, developed a gender-responsive planning and budgeting framework to guide MDAs in identifying gaps, integrating interventions into plans, and tracking results. She mentioned that although the Budget Office of the Federation had incorporated gender-responsive planning and budgeting into budget circulars, responses from MDAs remained low despite ongoing sensitization and technical support initiatives.
Dr. Abdul Kamara, Acting Vice-President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, and Director-General, African Development Bank Nigeria Country Department, described gender-responsive budgeting as a strategic tool for promoting inclusive growth. Kamara, represented by Dr. Patience Ekechukwu, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Specialist, AfDB, emphasized that governments must ensure public expenditure addressed barriers limiting women’s and girls’ access to opportunities and decision-making.
On her part, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, stated that the organization had moved beyond advocacy to a structured process of institutionalizing gender-responsive planning and budgeting within Nigeria’s public service. Eyong noted that UN Women had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Civil Service of Nigeria to support the initiative and promote inclusive workplaces across public institutions nationwide and sustainably.