WUNRN
http://devinit.org/policy-briefings/trends-donor-spending-gender-development/
Trends
in Donor Spending on Gender in Development
22 September 2014 - At the 2014 UN General Assembly (UNGA),
governments, donors and civil society discussed the way forward for addressing
gender inequality and promoting the empowerment of women and girls, including
through the post-2015 development agenda.
The importance of better data on gender through the Data
Revolution was at the centre of discussions around this – in terms of data both
on the problem (i.e. gender disaggregated data to determine the different needs
of women, girls, men and boys) and on all available resources to tackle gender
inequality. Better information is critical to ensure resources are targeted in
the most effective way and have the greatest impact.
To inform these discussions at UNGA, this briefing provides an
analysis of trends in donor spending on gender in development between 2006 and
2012, including overall trends, top donors, recipients and sectors, and draws
upon the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Gender Equality
Marker (GEM) categories for reporting expenditure. Data in this briefing was
taken from the OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System (CRS).
Top findings
·
There is a widening gap in reporting on gender, which has
resulted in a clouded picture of whether donor commitments on gender equality
are being met. The proportion of official development assistance (ODA) coded
with a gender marker has declined from its peak in 2009 (62%) to only 50% in
2012.
·
Spending on gender as a proportion of ODA is low. Combined
gender-related spending only comprised a fifth (21%) of ODA in 2012, of which
only 3% was allocated to projects with a principal contribution to gender. At the
other end of the spectrum, the proportion of ODA allocated to projects that do
not target gender is higher (30%).
·
Germany was the largest donor in terms of volume of combined
gender-focused spending (US$4.1 billion) in 2012, followed by the UK (US$4.0 billion)
and US (US$3.6 billion).
·
In 2012, just over 70% of combined gender-related ODA went to
projects in Africa and Asia. Afghanistan was the top recipient of combined
gender-related ODA (US$1.5 billion), followed by Ethiopia (US$955 million) and
Tanzania (US$862 million).
·
Since 2006, the highest volumes of combined gender-related ODA
went to the education, health and governance and security sectors. In 2012, the
health sector received the highest volume of combined gender-related ODA
(US$6.3 million), followed by governance and security (US$5.8 million) and
‘education (US$4.6 million).