Representatives of UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and twelve municipalities and cities in BiH signed Memorandum of Understanding to improve gender-responsive budgeting and management of public finances at the local level.
By signing the two-year MoUs, these 12 cities and municipalities will implement concrete measures to improve creation, implementation and monitoring of budgets that are equally responsive to the needs of women and men. With targeted support from UN Women, they will also strengthen the capacities of public administration officials and local councilors to achieve quality implementation of gender-responsive budgeting principles.
The agreements were signed today by representatives of cities and municipalities of Banja Luka, Bosanska Krupa, Centar Sarajevo, Istočna Ilidža, Lukavac, Mostar, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Srbac, Tešanj, Travnik and Trebinje.
UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ingrid Macdonald, pointed out that the signatories have taken a commitment, a leadership position, to give priority to women and gender issues in their budget planning, thereby improving the entire society, announced the City of Mostar.
David Saunders, UN Women representative in BiH, said that budgeting can meet the diverse needs of women and men properly at the municipal level.
“Gender-responsive budgeting at the municipal level does exactly that – it helps allocate resources where they are needed to advance gender equality and empower women. This ensures that policies, programs, and services respond to the right priorities. We look forward to working closely together in the coming period, and advancing gender equality in towns and municipalities,“ said David Saunders, UN Women representative in BiH.
