Title: Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in Mongolia: Experience and ways forward

Abstract

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a strategic approach to integrating gender equality into all stages and aspects of the budgeting process and public finance management. It has gained significant traction internationally, and Mongolia is no exception. Despite Mongolia's relatively strong legal framework for gender equality, persistent gender gaps remain. Over the past 18 years, several GRB pilot initiatives have been implemented across various levels of government. However, institutional memory of GRB knowledge and experiences is limited, and awareness of Mongolia’s GRB efforts is lacking both nationally and internationally.

This research aims to consolidate the work done on GRB in Mongolia, assessing context-specific insights from pilot initiatives to guide the future nationwide scaling-up and full implementation of GRB. Using a questionnaire, key informants were surveyed on their experiences with GRB, including early results, opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned.

The findings reveal a combination of encouraging progress and ongoing challenges. While pilot projects have demonstrated early successes and identified opportunities, there remains significant scope for strengthening GRB implementation. Key areas for improvement include leveraging existing advancements, addressing evident shortcomings, creating conducive conditions, and aligning with international GRB standards.

To advance GRB in Mongolia, stakeholders must focus on establishing a robust legal foundation, developing a comprehensive action plan with a clear implementation roadmap, creating cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms, defining roles and responsibilities, and investing in targeted capacity-building efforts. These steps are essential to firmly embed GRB within Mongolia’s public finance management system.