Gender Budgeting From a Capability Approach Perspective: Evidences From Senegal

The capability approach has been extensively used to measure well-being recognizing its complexity and the interaction of different dimensions of well-being. Its setting with a focus on the individual and his/her agency in the construction of well-being without being subsumed within the family, makes it suitable to measure well-being in a gender perspective and it is at the basis of well-being gender budgeting (GBwb). The objective of this paper is to show how the application of the capability approach to gender budgeting can lead to policies that are more effective in improving wellbeing and gender equity. The case study is the analysis of the forecast 2017 budget of the Municipality of Kaolack and its impact on education and health. Context analysis is carried out by using qualitative and quantitative data. Context analysis shows a high degree of deprivation in health and education achievements especially for girls and women. Budget analysis detects programmes that are directly or indirectly related to the development of the two dimensions and policies suggestions are provided. The paper shows that GBwb can help policymakers to better finetune policies in order to reduce gender inequalities and lead to better achievements in well-being.