Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Budget Support Through a Gender Lens: The Case of EU Development Cooperation with Botswana

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The European Journal of Development Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

How does the European Union (EU) include gender equality within its budget support? This article examines budget support as an aid instrument through a gender lens by taking on the case of EU development cooperation with Botswana. The aim is to demonstrate how budget support plays out in practice and to analyse its consequences for the EU’s global commitments on gender equality. I assess budget support with a feminist institutionalist approach combining an analysis of process and content. The article concludes that the EU cannot achieve a genuine accountability to women in the practice of its budget support resulting in a limited female ownership. While the EU aims to be a forerunner in the promotion of gender equality, this is not matched by the EU’s external services on the ground which tend to be gender-blind. In the context of a masculine state apparatus, the use of budget support becomes problematic as the voices of women and their movements are being structurally marginalised.

Résumé

Cet article étudie l’aide budgétaire comme instrument d’aide au développement sous l’angle du genre en prenant pour exemple la coopération au développement de l’UE avec le Botswana. L’objectif est de montrer comment l’aide budgétaire se concrétise dans la pratique et d’analyser ses conséquences sur les engagements internationaux de l’UE en matière d’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes. J’évalue l’aide budgétaire en adoptant une approche institutionnaliste féministe, en alliant étude des processus et analyse de contenu. L’article conclut que l’UE n’a pas été en mesure d’atteindre une véritable redevabilité vis-à-vis des femmes dans le cadre de l’aide budgétaire, ce qui s’est traduit par une appropriation limitée par les femmes. Bien que l’UE cherche à être un précurseur dans la promotion de l’égalité des sexes, les services externes de l’UE sur le terrain ne suivent pas le mouvement et ont tendance à ne pas prendre en compte le genre. Dans le contexte d’un appareil d’État essentiellement masculin, l’utilisation de l’appui budgétaire devient problématique car les voix des femmes et leurs initiatives sont structurellement marginalisées.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In a first-past-the-post system, voters have one single vote for one single candidate. The candidate with the largest number of votes wins.

  2. The remaining 15% was distributed through programme support.

  3. Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with women's reproductive tracts and their children during the prenatal period, childbirth, and the postnatal period.

References

  • Barnes, T., and S. Burchard. 2012. “Engendering” Politics: The Impact of Descriptive Representation on Women’s Political Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa. Comparative Political Studies 46 (7): 767–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, G. 2011. Update on the Women’s Movement in Botswana: Have Women Stopped Talking? African Studies Review 54 (2): 23–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, G., and J. Burnet. 2013. Gender Quotas, Democracy, and Women’s Representation in Africa: Some Insights from Democratic Botswana and Autocratic Rwanda. Women’s Studies International Forum 41 (P2): 103–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botlhale, E. 2011. Gender-Responsive Budgeting: The Case for Botswana. Development Southern Africa 28 (1): 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, M., and K. Teghtsoonian. 2010. Aid Effectiveness and Women’s Empowerment: Practices of Governance in the Funding of International Development. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 36 (1): 177–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaban, S., et al. 2017. Regional Organizations, Gender Equality and the Political Empowerment of Women. Stockholm, Warsaw and New York: International IDEA, CoD, and UNDP.

  • Chappell, L., and G. Waylen. 2013. Gender and the Hidden Life of Institutions. Public Administration 91 (3): 599–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Childs, S., and J. Lovenduski. 2013. Political Representation. In The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics, ed. G. Waylen, K. Celis, J. Kantola, and L. Weldon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collinson, H., H. Derbyshire, B. Fernández Schmidt, and T. Wallace. 2008. Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, the New Aid Environment and Civil Society Organisations. London: UK Gender and Development Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council of the EU. 2015. Council Conclusions on the Gender Action Plan 2016–2020. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/24467/st13201-en15.pdf. Accessed 30 Sep 2019.

  • Debusscher, P. 2014. Gender Mainstreaming on the Ground? The Case of EU Development Aid Towards Rwanda. European Integration Online Papers 18(Special Issue 1), Article 4.

  • Debusscher, P. 2016. Analysing European Gender Equality Policies Abroad: A Reflection on Methodology. European Journal of Women’s Studies 23 (3): 265–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Debusscher, P., and A. Van der Vleuten. 2017. Equality Policies in the EU through a Feminist Historical Institutionalist Lens. In Towards Gendering Institutionalism, Equality in Europe, eds. H. Macrae and E. Weiner, 3–24. London: Rowman and Littlefield International.

  • European Commission. 2007. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Development Cooperation COM(2007) 100, 8 March.

  • European Commission. 2009. EU Approves € 65 Million for Human Resource Development in Botswana. http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/documents/aap/2009/pr_aap_2009_bwa.pdf. Accessed 10 Nov 2015.

  • European Commission. 2010. EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development 2010–2015’ SEC(2010) 265, 8 March.

  • European Commission. 2011. The Future Approach to EU Budget Support to Third Countries. COM(2011) 638 final, Brussels, 13 Oct 2011.

  • European Commission. 2015. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women Through EU External Relations 2016–2020. https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/staff-working-document-gender-2016-2020-20150922_en.pdf. Accessed 30 Dec 2018.

  • European Commission. 2018. Budget Support. Trends and Results 2018. https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/budget_support_-_trends_results_2018_final_1.pdf. Accessed 30 Dec 2018.

  • European External Action Service. 2015. Botswana and the EU Development Cooperation. http://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/botswana/eu_botswana/development_cooperation/index_en.htm. Accessed 10 Nov 2015.

  • Faust, J., and S. Koch. 2014. Foreign Aid and the Domestic Politics of European Budget Support. Discussion Paper 21/2014. Bonn: German Development Institute.

  • Faust, J., S. Koch, N. Molenaers, H. Tavakoli, and J. Vanheukelom. 2012. The Future of EU Budget Support: Political Conditions, Differentiation and Coordination. European ThinkTanks Group, in collaboration with the Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp.

  • Freedom House. 2017. Freedom in the World 2017, Botswana Profile. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2017/Botswana. Accessed 27 April 2018.

  • Holvoet, N. 2010. Gender Equality and New Aid Modalities: Is Love Really in the Air? European Journal of Development Research 22 (1): 97–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holvoet, N., and L. Inberg. 2014. Gender Mainstreaming in the Context of Changing Aid Modalities: Insights from Two Paris Declaration Champions. Journal of International Development 26 (3): 317–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holvoet, N., and L. Inberg. 2015. Gender Mainstreaming in Sector Budget Support: The Case of the European Commission’s Sector Support to Rwanda’s Agriculture Sector. Journal of International Women’s Studies 16 (2): 155–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Htun, M., and L. Weldon. 2012. The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change: Combating Violence Against Women in Global Perspective, 1975–2005. American Political Science Review 106 (3): 548–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jahan, R. 1995. The Elusive Agenda: Mainstreaming Women in Development. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. 1999. Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of women’s Empowerment. Development and Change 30 (3): 435–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karadenizli, M. 2007. Who Decides? Gender Mapping the EU’s Policy and Decision-Making in the Areas of Development, External Relations and Trade. Brussels: WIDE Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, M., and F. Mackay. 2009. Already Doin’ it for Ourselves? Skeptical Notes on Feminism and Institutionalism. Politics and Gender 5 (2): 271–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koeberle, S., Z. Stavreski, and J. Walliser. 2006. Budget Support as More Effective Aid? Recent Experiences and Emerging Lessons. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Krizsan, A., and E. Lombardo. 2013. The Quality of Gender Equality Policies: A Discursive Approach. European Journal of Women’s Studies 20 (1): 77–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovenduski, J. (ed.). 2005. State Feminism and Political Representation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machisa, M., and R. van Dorp. 2012. Gender Based Violence Indicators Study. Gaborone: Gender Links and Botswana Women’s Affairs Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackay, F., S. Monro, and G. Waylen. 2009. The Feminist Potential of Sociological Institutionalism. Politics and Gender 5 (2): 253–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Outshoorn, J., and J. Kantola (eds.). 2007. Changing State Feminism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez Piñán, A. 2015. Gender-Responsive Approaches to Measuring Aid Effectiveness: Options and Issues. Social Politics 22 (3): 432–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Botswana–European Community. 2008. Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative Paper for the Period 2008–2013. https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/csp-nip-botswana-2008-2013_en.pdf. Accessed 10 Nov 2015.

  • Republic of Botswana–EU. 2010. Human Resource Development Sector Policy Support. http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/botswana/documents/speeches/hrd_sector_policy_support_-_botswana_eu_cooperation.pdf. Accessed 15 Nov 2015.

  • SADC Gender Protocol Alliance. 2013. SADC Gender Protocol 2013 Barometer—Botswana. http://www.genderlinks.org.za/article/sadc-gender-protocol-2013-barometer-botswana-2014-04-08. Accessed 30 Sept 2019.

  • Saunders, B., J. Kitzinger, and C. Kitzinger. 2015. Anonymising Interview Data: Challenges and Compromise in Practice. Qualitative Research 15 (5): 616–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Vleuten, A., A. van Eerdewijk, and C. Roggeband. 2014. Gender Equality Norms in Regional Governance: Transnational Dynamics in Europe, South America and Southern Africa. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Van Reisen, M. 2005. Accountability Upside Down: Gender Equality in a Partnership for Poverty Eradication. Brussels: Eurostep and Social Watch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verloo, M. 2005. Displacement and Empowerment: Reflections on the Concept and Practice of the Council of Europe Approach to Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Equality. Social Politics 12 (3): 344–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walby, S. 2005. Gender Mainstreaming: Productive Tensions in Theory and Practice. Social Politics 12 (3): 321–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waylen, G. 2014. Informal Institutions, Institutional Change, and Gender Equality. Political Research Quarterly 67 (1): 212–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, E., and H. MacRae. 2014. The Persistent Invisibility of Gender in EU Policy: Introduction. European Integration Online Papers 18(Special issue 1), Article 3.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent researcher and consultant, Ghent, Belgium

    Petra Debusscher

Authors
  1. Petra Debusscher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petra Debusscher.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Debusscher, P. Budget Support Through a Gender Lens: The Case of EU Development Cooperation with Botswana. Eur J Dev Res 32, 718–737 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-019-00236-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-019-00236-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation