Independent watchdog on state and local budget, Pattiro, says the implementation of gender responsive budgeting (ARG) will accelerate progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

ARG is a budgeting mechanism which involves men and women simultaneously to actively participate in each stage of the budget process to ensure interests of the two genders are equally fulfilled.

“ARG will give the government a chance to understand the focus of financing activities for financially-marginalized and disadvantaged groups of people,” said Pattiro in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

It further said the implementation of ARG in the budgeting process would clearly disclose focus areas that would be intervened by the government using its MDGs work programs. With such a budgeting process, all programs would hopefully meet the identified needs and specified targets.

With less than two years left until the 2015 deadline, it is likely that the government will miss several of the MDGs targets, including on reducing maternal mortality rate.

The 2012 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI), jointly commissioned by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the Health Ministry, and the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), shows the maternal death rate (AKI) in Indonesia stood at 359 per 100,000 live births, up from 228 per 100,000 live births in 2007. The government targets to reduce AKI to 102 per 100,000 live births to meet targets of the MDGs in 2015.

Pattiro said a gender responsive budgeting mechanism would force the government to be able to clearly determine, for example, the extent of coverage in infant and maternal health programs so that it could run effectively.

“It’s crucial for the government to ensure the availability of valid data,” it said. (ebf) (http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/19/gender-responsive-budgeting-accelerates-progress-toward-achieving-mdgs-watchdog.html)