TCI integrates green and gender impacts in new budget

BY DELANA ISLES

The appropriations committee is currently reviewing the draft estimates for Fiscal Year 2023 to 2024, laid in the House of Assembly on April 26, by the Minister of Finance, Hon Erwin Jay Saunders.

Contained within the document are several new features, as well as new ways of conducting the budget process with ministries, departments and agencies.

Saunders told members that the territory’s budget now consists of two volumes. Volume one entails: the budget summaries, the programme performance information, human resources details, capex, debt summaries, and the estimates for constitutional and other statutory bodies.

Volume II, he said, provides the supporting details by account codes.

He noted that key performance indicators within the budget are now aligned to the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs); namely: mission, strategic priorities, the UN strategic development goals indicators and targets, and the government’s vision 2040 strategic planning document.

“To support this undertaking, the Ministry of Finance conducted multiple training sessions with the MDAs which took place during the budget planning phases.

“I am happy to say that over 150 participants across government and statutory bodies took part in this training.”

Green And Gender Budgeting

He added that starting this financial year, and going forward, MDAs will report on the gender and green impacts of their programmes as the government continues to adopt Green and Gender budgeting.

In 2022, the government invited the Caribbean Regional Training Assistance Centre (CARTAC) to conduct training sessions with civil servants on integrating green and gender budgeting into the territory’s annual budget process. This fiscal year 2023-2024 sees the introduction of this process.

As reported last year when the initiative was first introduced, green budgeting integrates climate and environmental perspectives into budget planning and decisionmaking, including policies that address climate mitigation and adaptation.

While gender budgeting acknowledges that fiscal policies and budget decisions can help close the gender gap and promote gender equality. It requires designing and delivering policies, services and projects to consider gender-based needs and factors.

The key benefits of green and gender budgeting include: providing better and more relevant information to support budget policy decision-making; stronger collaboration across the whole government on gender and climate issues; targeted policies and programmes that better align with the government’s priorities; having a clearer focus on performance through the provision of sexdisaggregated data on programme output and outcomes and government programme’s climate and gender impacts and policy analysis that addresses fiscal risks from climate change.

Saunders told the House: “Gender budgeting helps to achieve gender equality. Our girls, sisters, mothers, and all women in the Turks and Caicos Islands, now and in the future, will thank us for this.”

He added: “I am proud to inform this Honourable House that the Turks and Caicos Islands, with the support of CARTAC, TCI is the first country to implement this important public financial management reform in the Caribbean region.”

He said it is expected that the government’s approach for reporting Green and Gender key performance indicators will be used as a model by other countries in the region.

“Our government's policies and priorities for FY 2023/24 are designed to allow us to continue delivering on the citizen's contract: achieving social, economic, and environmental progress for all.”

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Attorney General, Honourable Mrs. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE KC was recently sworn in as Acting Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the period of May 2 - 15, 2023.

The Attorney General will take up the mantle as Acting Governor in the absence of Her Excellency the Governor (Acting), Mrs Anya Williams MBE who departed the islands on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, alongside Premier Hon C. Washington Misick to join members of the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment as well as the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force in London for King Chares III’s coronation on Saturday, May 6. Hon Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles was sworn in on 28th April 2023, according to a statement from the Governor’s Office.

The Attorney General’s appointment is in accordance with section 26(1) (b) of the Constitution.