Adopt gender responsive budget: BCC urged

Mabel Khumalo

 BULAWAYO – Bulawayo residents have appealed to the Bulawayo City Council to adopt a gender responsive budget so as to accommodate various needs of different community groups. 

Speaking at the Annual Bulawayo City Council Budget meeting jointly organised by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association and (WILD) Women’s Institute for Leadership Development, WILD Programs Manager, Permanent Ngoma implored the Council to be gender sensitive in future when drafting a budget plan. She proposed that more funds  be channelled into health and the water delivery system so as to cater for women who are among the vulnerable groups in society.

 “As an organisation, we have been working with women and we wish the council could come up with a budget that is gender sensitive…women are primary caregivers in our society and as a result poor service delivery robs women of their productive time as they are forced to spend a lot of hours queuing for water or  at the clinic,” she said.

According to Ngoma, there is an area in Pumula suburb that went for six months without water last year. She said the WILD team witnessed women struggling to carry out their day to day activities. She emphasised that there was a need for the council to understand gender roles before budget allocation in order to avoid such unfortunate incidents. Ngoma added that it is important for women to comprehend the budget proposal so that they can make contributions at the consultancy stage.

Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics expert America Ndlovu said it is important for the Council to look at the 2022 budget proposal from a gender perspective and gauge how it will have an impact on different society members. “A gender responsive budget looks at the different societal roles and from these roles it is easy to understand if people’s needs have been met in the budget proposal,” he said.

Ndlovu further explained that a gender responsive budget does not only cater for women but the community as a whole because it should be used as a barometer to gauge the effectiveness of the budget allocation.

 “There are different roles and responsibilities for each community member, women have the reproductive and caregiving roles, males mostly engage in productive roles, voluntary community work, and community management …If the Council understands these different roles and responsibilities it would be easier to point out the needs of different community members.”  

 Responding to the suggestion of a gender responsive budget, Deputy Mayor Mlandu Ncube urged residents to take advantage of the budget consultancy meetings in their local areas as they were a good platform for people to make contributions pertaining to the budget allocation.

Furthermore,financial expert Stevenson Dlamini encouraged people to take budget analysis seriously. He said, “If we understand it at Council level, it will be easier for us to comprehend it at national level and this will help in making positive contributions.” 

Economic analyst Ntokozo Tshuma, urged local residents to pay their bills on time as non-payment significantly reduces  the Council’s revenue income thereby leading to delayed service delivery and limited resources for new development initiatives.