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Yolanda Ndlovu: Correspondent

At the centre of human development is the realisation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in Zimbabwe’s Constitution (2013), regional and international human rights and development commitments.Communities can only realise their rights when systems and resources are put in place for them to effectively carry out their roles and enjoy the benefits. It is thus incumbent on state institutions to deliver on these rights, and quality public services are a good indicator in meeting this commitment.

For communities that do not have good roads and transport systems, challenges abound such as the difficulties for people living with disability to move around and for market systems to be effective since access is difficult.

Likewise, if there are no proper education and health institutions nearby for communities, they cannot exercise their rights to access basic health and education needs.

These are concerns that Local Government is tasked to address.

Local Government is an entry point advancing the public service delivery agenda since it serves as the front-line for managing the delivery of a range of quality services to its communities.

The ability to deliver on those services is however, determined by the structure of the budget; how revenue and expenditure will be used in delivering the service to citizens. This has a direct correlation with Local Government’s success or not in promoting local development that meets the needs of women, men, boys and girls, as well as vulnerable or marginalised groups.

In 2015, the Local Government, Public Service and National Housing ministry prescribed a salary-service ratio of 30:70. This provides scope for good investments in people centred and gender responsive investments in local development.

A budget that is planned, approved, executed, monitored and audited in a gender-sensitive way can be can aid local government to provide quality service for communities.

Harare North Member of Parliament, Honourable Tongesayi Mudambo, whose constituency covers Hatcliffe, Borrowdale West, Vainona and Warren Park North among others, alluded to the importance of Local Government having a budget that caters for the needs of both women and men equally; indicating that without proper service delivery both men and women cannot perform their roles in a productive manner.

“If there is no water service delivery for the community, women become tasked to fetch water from alternative sources, which are usually far, leaving other responsibilities unattended.

“This sets them back in terms of production, since they will have to go and fetch water elsewhere,” he said.

“This affects the whole process of development, particularly if roads and access to water are issues that are not prioritised in the budget.”

A gender responsive budget focuses on the position of public policy priorities and their alignment with normative commitments to human development and human rights.

The right to an adequate standard of living in Article (ii) of the International Convention on Economic, Social and cultural rights, for example, could be in the form of targeted subsidies for poor people to address such issues as the right to food and reallocation of social funds.

It is important to analyse how national and Local Government aim to carry out their plans and policies and which concerns need to be prioritised.

The budget is the initial point of analysis, from which ministries and local authorities are able to set plans and policies in motion.

It becomes crucial to understand how revenue is prioritised and allocated across budgets for the provision of quality, affordable and gender responsive services.

Equally important is the need to ensure that citizens, more so women whose voices remain peripheral in key decision-making processes, are consulted at every stage of the budgeting process.

Section 13 of the Zimbabwe Constitution enjoins State institutions, in their endeavour to promote national development to “ . . . involve the people in the formulation and implementation of development plans and programmes that affect them”, including ensuring that all measures taken “ . . . protect and enhance the right of the people, particularly women, to equal opportunities in development”.

Building capacities of local authorities for gender responsive planning and budgeting increases citizens’ voice and contributes to the needs of the poor getting the attention of policymakers at local level.

The Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network has been supporting local authorities in Bulawayo, Mutoko, Kwekwe and Murehwa to mainstream gender in their budget process.

Whilst these local authorities face resource constraints, an analysis of their 2015-2016 budgets showed some positive trends in addressing resource poor needs of communities and targeting resources in a way that would benefit men, women, boys, girls and vulnerable groups equally.

Allocations were directed towards increasing water and health access, sewerage, housing, roads, education, public lighting, and ensuring that development levies were ploughed back into social services.

However, much still needs to be done, particularly to create an enabling environment for communities, especially women, to participate in economic activities, and for citizens to play a lead role in influencing budget priorities.