The document examines the maintenance of gender budgeting in Andalusia during austerity, emphasizing the role of strong left-wing governance and female leadership in sustaining gender redistributive policies. It highlights how gender equality policies positively impact women's health and identifies critical factors for the resilience of pro-equity measures amid austerity. Utilizing a realist methodology, the study analyzes the mechanisms that support or hinder gender budgeting implementation, recommending strategies for overcoming barriers to gender equity.

1. • Results*
• Conclusions
• In a context of austerity, the existence & maintenance of a strong left-wing government together with a strong female
leadership allow that gender redistributive low cost policies resist.
• In this context, the maintenance of the Gender Budgeting has to do with the capacity to institutionalise a complex
mainstreaming strategy & to overcome related barriers.
THE GENDER BUDGETING IN ANDALUSIA:
understanding pro-equity policies in the age of austerity
Vanessa Puig-Barrachina1, Marisol Ruiz2, Davide Malmusi1, Esther Sánchez1, Lluís Camprubí1, Imma Cortès1,
Lucía Artazcoz1, M. Mar García-Calvente3, Pat O'Campo4, Carles Muntaner5, Carme Borrell1
Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona1 ; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona2; Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública3;
Center for Research in Inner City Health, Toronto4; University of Toronto5 - e-mail: vpuig@aspb.cat
• Austerity measures have a negative impact on health equity. Identifying
different European pro-equity policies that resist austerity measures and
understanding how and why have resisted is key to promote them.
• Gender equality policies contribute to improve women’s health. Spain
has taken important backward steps in Gender Equality policies with few
exceptions: Gender Budgeting in the Regional Community of Andalusia
implemented in 2003.
• What is Gender Budgeting in Andalusia (GBA)? Output-oriented budget.
Incorporation of gender mainstreaming in public budgeting. Systematic
evaluation of budget programmes regarding their potential impact on
gender equality to further concentrate credit on those with greater gender
equality impact.
• Objective
• Explanatory case study part of a multi-site study on European
pro-equity policies that resist austerity, belonging to the European
Sophie project.
• Theory driven evaluation applying Realist Methodology:
to understand how & why policies work (causal relationship), i.e.
how setting specific conditions or CONTEXTS can facilitate or
hinder the effect of MECHANISMS that trigger the OUTCOME
(C-M-O).
• Data sources: 15 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders &
systematic literature review to triangulate results
• Data analysis:
• Scoping review to write a case description & initial propositions
• Strategies to analyse & organise data: pattern matching,
explanation building & creation of logic models
• Analysis by pairs & group consensus to verify & modify initial
propositions
• Introduction • Methodology
• To evaluate how and why the Gender Budgeting in Andalusia has been
maintained in an austerity context (2010-2014).
Initial Propositions
1. Historically strong left- wing governments (C)
– ideology (M)- maintenance of redistributive
policies (O)
2. Critical mass of women in power & feminist
women in leadership positions (C) – capacity
of influence & alliance (M)- prioritisation of
gender equality policies
3. Left-left coalition (C) – process of
convergence (M) – maintenance of
redistributive & gender policies (O)
4. Policy cycle (already designed, implemented
& few economic costs) (C) - decrease of
reluctance & increase of gender lenses
among managers (M) - maintenance of
Gender Budgeting (O).
5. Women do not accept backward steps in
gender policies (C) - Fear of female’s protest
vote - (M) maintenance of gender equality
policies (O).
6. Coalition of actors (C) – synergies (M)
strengthen political will in maintaining GB
(O).
Most relevant according to interviews
Critical mass of
women in power
Strong left-wing
government
More likely to
recruit women
Support female
leaders
Political will Social & pro-
equity policies
Empower women
in leadership
position
Barrier/ threat to GB continuity
(context 1)
Strategy to overcome barriers
(context 2)
Mechanism
High ranking government official: high
rotation + reluctance to introduce
gender equity
1. Training courses on gender equity
2. Invitation from the regional Vice-Minister to the training
(successful depends on willingness of superiority)
1. Gender Inequality awareness
2. “The call of superiority” (Stick): courses
become compulsory
Reluctance among officials to
introduce gender equity in regular
procedures
1. Training courses on gender equity
2. Implementation of Gender Units in each Department
providing technical support to incorporate gender equity in
budget programmes
1. Gender Inequality awareness
2. Building practical capacity
Change of political leaders (2013)
puts in danger political willingness to
maintain GB
1. Technician leadership, supported by law, protocols...
2. High ranking officials who are already convinced of the
goodness of GB
1. Willingness to defend its maintenance (as
GB strategy became ingrained in some
technicians and high ranking officials)
Barriers to the maintenance of GBA – related to the institutionalisation of a mainstreaming strategy (proposition 4)
Gender
inequality
awareness
Prioritise gender
equality in political
agenda, specifically
Gender Budgeting ,
Capacity of
influence &
alliance
Gender equality
political will
Context Mechanism Outcome/context Mechanism Outcome
Incapacity to
implement social
class policies
Need to be
identified as left-
wing party
Proposition 2
Proposition 1
Logic model for propositions 1 & 2
* Preliminary results
Project funded by the European Community's FP7, Sophie Project (grant agreement n° 278173)
www.sophie-project.eu