Wow – it is now one year since we launched the SoroptiVoice Blog
at CSW 55! And now we are back again, reporting live from CSW 56! Thank
you to our team of Soroptimist delegates who will be keeping us up to
date with all the latest news from New York. This is the second update from SIE Federation Programme Director Ulrike Neubert.

Among the many interesting topics addressed
the issue of ‘gender budgeting’
stayed with me as a way and means to fast track gender equity. Austria and
Switzerland presented strong evidence on how gender budgeting has truly addressed
inequalities felt in daily lives of women.

Austria has gender budgeting even anchored
in its constitution and each Ministry is obliged to identify at least one out
of five objectives that target indicators which address specific gender gaps.
Several Case studies were presented which gave testimony to the positive impact
this approach has on the lives of women and girls.

For example, studies had
shown that high investments were made for road infrastructure, which is mainly
used by cars driven by men. Women were found to walk more often  or to use public transport, where they had to
juggle with children and shopping . The transport ministry now shifted
investment to more flexible bus transport systems, repair of pavements and improved
lighting for better safety and security.

I think Soroptimists have a great
opportunity to advocate with our national Governments and especially local
Government institutions to conduct gender gap analysis and then allocate tax
money to benefit women’s specific needs. This would result in a leap to gender
equality. Let’s get inspired by Austria’s best practices showcased on www.imag-gendermainstreaming.at