A survey of national budgets around the world has revealed a gap between commitment and change when it comes to gender.

Governments around the world are making budgets more gender-responsive. But are they becoming more accountable? This year, the International Budget Partnership began exploring that question through the Open Budget Survey 2025, which, for the first time, included a question collecting evidence on governments’ use of gender-responsive budgeting tools.

Roughly half of the 82 countries surveyed report using at least one gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) tool. Governments are tagging gender-related expenditures, publishing gender-budget statements, conducting gender-impact assessments, and integrating gender considerations into performance frameworks. These findings suggest that gender-responsive budgeting has moved from the margins of public finance into the mainstream.

This is an important achievement. For decades, feminist economists, activists, and civil society organisations have challenged the notion that budgets are neutral technical instruments. They have argued that decisions about taxation, spending, public services, infrastructure, debt, and social protection shape opportunities, risks, and life chances differently for diverse groups, including women.

Their advocacy has been critical to the mainstreaming of gender-responsive budgeting. However, although many governments are tracking gender-responsive expenses, far fewer are asking whether fiscal policy is changing the lived realities of women and girls.

These findings also carry important implications for philanthropy. While donors have long advanced gender equality through advocacy and innovation, public budgets remain the largest and most sustainable source of financing for gender equality. Strengthening how governments allocate and spend public resources can achieve a scale of impact that philanthropy cannot.

The next phase of gender-responsive budgeting therefore depends less on adopting new tools and more on strengthening the institutions, incentives and accountability mechanisms that turn fiscal commitments into tangible outcomes.

From Spending Visibility to Accountability

Among the 82 countries assessed, the most common GRB tools are front-end instruments such as Gender Budget Tagging, Gender-Responsive Budget Statements, and integrating gender analysis into performance frameworks, which help governments identify and track gender priorities in the budget.

Read the full article about gender-responsive budgeting by Lilianna Ziedins and Priyanka Samy at Alliance Magazine.