Haydon-Allen Building, Room HA 2175.  RSVP for light lunch to alden.klovdahl@anu.edu.au
Presented by: Monica Costa, PhD candidate

In 2008 the Gusmão-led government of Timor-Leste committed itself to making its budget more gender sensitive as a strategy for ensuring its expenditure and revenue raising policies contributed to the implementation of the government's gender equality commitments.  This commitment resulted from recognition of the need for institutional and policy changes to address the significant economic, political and social inequalities between men and women and between different groups of men and women in this newly independent nation.  However Timor-Leste's capacity to adopt gender-responsive budgeting is significantly constrained by its status as a fragile state marked by weak institutional capacity, poor service delivery and periodic crisis and instability.  Gender-responsive budgeting initiatives are expanding across the world, supported by international agencies, governments, civil society groups, donors and research.  However there is a lack of knowledge of the conditions that underpin their success as a strategy for promoting gender equality in the context of fragile states.  As a result some critics argue that gender responsive budgeting initiatives should not be pursued in these countries.

With over 10 years experience as a development professional, Monica has worked in research, civil society, donor and multi-lateral agencies.  She is a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia and a visiting student with the School of Sociology, CASS, ANU.