Report

The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) that attended the seminar on including a gender perspective in the preparation of national budgets: putting it into practice, which was held in Bitola, Macedonia, on November 4 and 5, 2010, has the honour to present its report.

The delegation was made up of the Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Senator and Chair of the APF Network of Women Parliamentarians. The Macedonian Branch was also in attendance.

The Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool was invited to this seminar, which was co-hosted by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the Council of Europe, in her capacity as Chair of the APF Network of Women Parliamentarians, which had recently hosted a very successful seminar on the same topic.

The Bitola information seminar launched a three-year pilot project on integrating a gender perspective into budget preparations that was undertaken jointly by the OIF and the Council of Europe.

It was noted that the cost of inequality between men and women is higher than the cost of equality. Budgeting that takes gender into account addresses these inequalities, ensuring that public funds are well-spent, thereby also working toward true equality between men and women. Budgets that take gender into account have objectives of equality between men and women, respecting human rights and democracy, and also efficiency, performance, accountability, transparency and social justice.

During the seminar, participants talked about their experiences and good practices to improve their knowledge of the practical application of integrating a women’s perspective into the budget process.

As the 60 or so people who attended the seminar came from very different backgrounds—parliaments, government agencies, local authorities, international organizations (Council of Europe, OIF and APF, UNIFEM), NGOs and researchers/experts in the field—the discussion was very interesting and fruitful.

The following people, among others, attended the seminar:

-      Xhelal Bajrami, Macedonian Minister of Work and Social Affairs;

-      Liljana Popovska, Macedonian parliamentarian, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee;

-      Andrej Zernovski, Macedonian parliamentarian, Council of Europe Parliamentary Association

-      Vladimir Taleski, Mayor of Bitola;

-      Socé Sene, international expert consultant, Senegal;

-      Hary Andriamboabonjy, Director,  Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie;

-      Elfriede Fritz, Austrian Department of Finance;

-      Mohamed Chafiki, Moroccan Department of Finance and the Economy;

-      Hannah Onwen-Humah, Finnish Department of Health and Social Affairs.

The Canadian Branch of the APF would like to recognize the financial support of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie for this important mission.

Respectfully submitted,