Engendering the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and MTEF Processes: participatory policy making approach: the case of Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development

Research shows that the more resources reach the family through women, the greater the impact on poverty reduction. Therefore, if the main objective is to reduce poverty, CCGD (Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development) of Kenya, argues that there is a need to mainstream gender equity in the budget to ensure that more resources reach the households through women. This paper examines the task of CCGD to ensure that gender is taken on board in the National Economic Policies, e.g. PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) and the subsequent national budgets. The CCGD project of engendering budgetary policies is built on recommendations made at a workshop organised by the CCGD in 1997 where a dialogue between the government and other stakeholders in order to influence budgetary policies and processes to mainstream gender was launched. Since then and after a recommendation from the at the time Director of Planning in the Ministry of Planning and Development to focus where the distribution of resources takes place, women NGOs in Kenya have been concentrating their efforts on the activities of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. For the last three years the project has been implementing the programme on engendering the national budget and economic policies. The paper analyses the project and its implementation and lessons learned, and gives recommendations for the future.