Imperatives and Politics of Financing Gender Equality Developing Countri...

My Epilogue to the Book, Gender Responsive Budgeting in Practice: Lessons from Nigeria & Selected Developing Countries, edited by Bola Akanji and Funmi Soetan, Published by Lexington Books, 2022. The epilogue begins: "The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have gender equality as Goal Number Five: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” But gender parity still remains an aspiration in much of the globe especially in developing countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the challenge even more formidable (World Economic Forum, 2021; UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2021). According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), “As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years.” Both the WEF and SDGs exemplify how the global concern for gender equality and women’s empowerment have become recognized as key elements of sustainable development. The benchmarks established, statistics collected, analyses and recommendations by both, indicate that gender responsive budgeting can be useful in evaluating where we are on the journey to gender equality, and how the progress made as well as challenges experienced contribute to realizing our global aspirations. Nowhere are the challenges more pressing than in the Global South. Gender budgeting, if done well, gives an insight into what is being done and what remains to be done by all relevant stakeholders."