The Division for Gender Affairs of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) participated in the seminar "Closing gender gaps through fiscal management in Chile: Gender-responsive budgeting," where the study "Gender-responsive budgeting: Gender tagging 2025" was presented. The seminar also featured, among others, remarks by the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, and the Minister of Women and Gender Equity, Antonia Orellana. Since 2023, the Ministry of Finance has received technical assistance from ECLAC and UN Women on this matter.

Nicole Bidegain Ponte, Social Affairs Officer of the Division for Gender Affairs of ECLAC, participated as a panelist at the seminar "Closing gender gaps through fiscal management in Chile: Gender-responsive budgeting," organized by the Gender Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Finance of Chile and held on Thursday, 10 April 2025 at the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in Santiago, Chile.

The Social Affairs Officer participated in a panel of experts that analyzed the findings of the study conducted by the Budget Directorate (DIPRES) of the Ministry of Finance of Chile, entitled "Gender-responsive budgeting: Gender tagging 2025."

The seminar also included remarks by the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, and the Minister of Women and Gender Equity, Antonia Orellana, while Javiera Martínez, Director of DIPRES, presented the study. Since 2023, the Ministry of Finance has been receiving technical assistance from ECLAC and UN Women in this area.

During her presentation of the study, the Director of DIPRES began by outlining Chile’s budget cycle. She explained that, during the discussion and approval stages, public bodies and services identify expenditures with a gender perspective. Spending is classified as direct, indirect, or unrelated to gender equality, and, at a second level, according to the type of women's rights concerned (civil and political; economic; sexual and reproductive, and comprehensive health; the right to a life free from violence and discrimination; social and cultural; collective and environmental rights).

She stated that 22.5% of the allocations in the 2025 Budget Law contribute to gender equality, with 1.31% having a direct impact. The majority of the contribution corresponds to policies such as the Universal Guaranteed Pension, classified as having an indirect impact. By type of rights, 64.05% of gender-related spending targets the economic rights of women.

During her intervention, the Social Affairs Officer from ECLAC noted that this initiative aligns with international commitments and the Regional Gender Agenda that the Government of Chile has assumed. She highlighted the contribution of Chile’s gender-responsive fiscal expenditure tagging exercise at three levels: design, process, and outcomes.

Regarding the design, she emphasized that the conceptual approach is sufficiently comprehensive to capture the full range of women's human rights, as well as the potential contributions of various sectoral ministries beyond social areas, including economic, infrastructure, housing, and environmental sectors.

She also noted that the technical assistance contributed to the analysis and definition of the conceptual and methodological frameworks for the gender-responsive expenditure tagging exercise. This process was systematized in the publication Conceptual frameworks and methodologies for identifying public expenditure with a gender perspective, jointly prepared by ECLAC’s Economic Development Division and Division for Gender Affairs, in coordination with UN Women.

Secondly, she underlined the participatory process, which included training for ministries in the use of the tagging tool, supported by ECLAC and UN Women. Regarding outcomes, she emphasized that the identification of 768 budget allocations across 22 ministries demonstrates a strong State commitment to gender equality.

In terms of challenges, the Social Affairs Officer stressed that this type of exercise contributes to "breaking the statistical silence.” What is not measured cannot be changed through gender-responsive public policies. “It is key that these exercises for evaluating and monitoring budget allocations are conducted periodically, and that the information is made available to promote transparency in State actions and accountability to citizens,” she underlined.

She also emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to incorporate a gender perspective throughout the entire budget cycle. In this regard, she highlighted studies conducted in 2022 by the Ministry of Finance itself, which used administrative tax microdata from Chile’s Internal Revenue Service (SII) to assess the potential gender impacts of a proposed tax reform — a pioneering effort in the region.

She also referred to a recent ECLAC study analyzing the effects of countercyclical policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the incomes of women and men in other countries of the region. The Social Affairs Officer continued by stressing that gender-responsive spending should be viewed as an investment, and thus its multiplier effects across different economic sectors must be made visible. In this regard, she pointed to the work carried out by ECLAC alongside the International Labour Organization (ILO) to extend and validate for the region the ILO Care Policy Investment Simulator.

This macroeconomic tool enables analysis of employment impacts — direct (in the care sectors), indirect (in related sectors) and induced (through increased consumption). She also noted that progress could be made in integrating a micro-level perspective to study issues such as impacts on poverty.

The Social Affairs Officer concluded her intervention by calling for the establishment of strategies to increase expenditures with a direct impact on gender equality. Other panelists included Paula Benavides, former advisor to Chile’s Autonomous Fiscal Council, and Teresa Valdés, Coordinator of the Gender Observatory. The former advisor emphasized the importance of also addressing the other side of the budget — tax revenues.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Gender Observatory highlighted the need to move beyond aggregate data towards intersectional analyses, and similarly to link expenditure to impact assessments.

The Minister of Women and Gender Equity noted that women contribute significantly to the economy, and that when the provision of public services diminishes, it is generally women who compensate through increased unpaid work.

She stated that gender-responsive budgeting helps to make public spending on gender equality visible and to identify areas for further progress.

In his remarks, the Minister of Finance indicated that gender-responsive budgets are tools for sound policymaking: beyond contributing to a rights-based approach, they represent good economic policy.

At the end of the event, the Head of the UN Women Office in Chile congratulated the initiative and highlighted it as a valuable addition to similar experiences in the region. As a challenge, she underscored the importance of advancing towards gender-responsive budgeting at the subnational level.