Day: March 27, 2026

Digepres and the Ministry of Women promote institutional strengthening of the gender approach in the General State Budget

The event, which included a panel discussion coordinated by the Ministry of Women and DIGEPRES, was linked to the activities planned for March in commemoration of International Women's Day and was supported by the French Development Agency and Expertise France. The General Directorate of Budget (DIGEPRES), in coordination with the Ministry of Women and the French Development Agency (AFD) in the Dominican Republic, held the panel discussion "Gender-Responsive Budgeting in the Dominican Republic" as part of a Citizen Forum. This event was part of the Sustainable and Inclusive Public Finance project, which aims to integrate gender, climate change, and disaster risk management perspectives into public administration in the country. The panel sought to strengthen the conceptual and practical understanding of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and its technical integration into the budget cycle in the Dominican Republic. This activity is the first of the year with civil society organizations following the publication of the 2027 budget formulation calendar. The event was led by the Director General of the Budget, José Rijo Presbot; the Minister of Women, Gloria Reyes; Sandra Lara, representing Olaya Dotel, Vice Minister of International Cooperation of the Ministry of the Presidency; Rosa Matos, Director of Mainstreaming Equality at the Ministry of Women; Virginie Díaz, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in the Dominican Republic; María Victoria Ortiz, Head of the Standards and Methodologies Department at DIGEPRES; Ana Miguelina Terrero, Head of Budget Performance Evaluation; and María Dolores Almeida, consultant for the agency Expertise France. The welcoming remarks were delivered by the Director of the Budget Office, who, after greeting those present, highlighted the importance of the project and the training on Gender Equality and Sustainability (GES), stating that the budget should be an instrument that brings public policies closer to the people and a transformative force in practice. He added that the General Directorate of Budget (DIGEPRES) has been working on gender labeling to strengthen best practices in public institutions on this issue. “Institutions must prepare their budgets with gender equality and equity in mind to eliminate gender gaps in the Dominican Republic,” Rijo Presbot pointed out. He also emphasized that President Luis Abinader's administration is committed to achieving equality between men and women through the implementation of government programs, projects, and strategies. For her part, Gloria Reyes, Minister of Women, indicated that the project directly impacts justice and democracy and constitutes a fundamental tool for transforming lives. She also emphasized that the budget is the tool that defines the direction the country is taking. “A gender-responsive budget is not a special budget for women, but rather one that incorporates the gender dimension into all its aspects, promoting an active and participatory commitment from all sectors of the country,” the minister emphasized. Virginie Díaz, director of the AFD (Development Finance Agency), positively assessed the level of coordination and alignment demonstrated between DIGEPRES (General Directorate of Budget and Expenditure) and the Ministry of Women, as well as the efforts and progress achieved within the framework of the Sustainable and Inclusive Public Finance project. She also highlighted the importance of continuing to fight to eradicate the types of violence perpetrated against women and girls in the country, adding that these actions help reduce challenges and gaps related to this issue. The panel, composed of Rosa Matos, María Victoria Ortiz, Ana Miguelina Terrero, and María Dolores Almeida, addressed topics related to fiscal policy and gender, gender policies in the Dominican Republic, progress in the implementation of the Gender-Responsive Budget in the country, and the monitoring and evaluation of public spending on gender. The presentations highlighted the distinct needs of men and women, national and international statistics and regulatory frameworks for achieving gender equality, and initiatives developed by the Dominican government to mitigate the problem and guarantee women's human rights. They also addressed the methodology for monitoring and evaluating public spending on gender; a tool that allows the Dominican Republic to analyze not only the amount of spending but also its impact on reducing the gender gap, positioning the country as a leader in Latin America. This event complements the training activities on gender-related public spending (GRPS) within the public administration prior to the formulation of the 2027 General State Budget. The training of 30 GRPS trainers has concluded, enabling them to support the Ministry of Women and the General Directorate of Budget (DIGEPRES) in strengthening the capacities of the country's institutions, with the support of a training kit developed for this purpose. The activity was aimed at officials from DIGEPRES (General Directorate of Budget), the Ministry of Women, planning and finance units, and gender equality units of public entities, as well as professionals related to the PSG (Gender and Social Policy) and civil society organizations. Among the latter, representatives from the PROLIDER International Council, Fundación Solidaridad (Solidarity Foundation), the Center for Solidarity for Women's Development (Ce-Mujer), Fundación Mujer Pro-Solidaridad con Amor (Women Pro-Solidarity with Love Foundation), and the Center for Research for Women's Action (CIPAF) were present. The activity concluded with an open mic session where the aforementioned civil society organizations expressed their opinions and observations on the topics discussed in the panel, while also requesting that the training be extended to other organizations in the social sector. Sustainable and Inclusive Public Finances: It is worth noting that the General Directorate of Budget (DIGEPRES) incorporated the Gender Functional Classifier for the National General Budget in 2023, and it forms part of the technical tools for identifying expenditures with a gender impact. Likewise, the labeling of public spending to identify investments aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation is a tool that seeks to increase transparency and evaluate the efficiency of spending on this issue. Within the framework of the project, DIGEPRES and the Ministry of Women will publish a document that systematizes the Dominican Republic's experience since [date missing].