In Argentina, the first Gender Responsive Budgeting experience dates back to 2020 with the formulation of their 2021 Budget, which allocated 15.2% of their expenditure (3.4% of the country’s GDP) to policies aimed at bridging inequality gaps. Before that, in 2019, a policy tagging or classification methodology was developed. This methodology had a positive impact on gender equality in public expenditure budgets. The National Fiscal Policy Directorate and the National Women’s Institute put together a proposal to expand the budget tagging process and methodology to policies intended to achieve the “autonomy of women” at all levels. This commitment was explicitly stated in the 2018-2020 Plan on Equal Opportunities and Rights (PIOD).

In December 2019, the Argentine government created the National Economy, Equality and Gender Directorate (DNEIyG), as part of the Ministry of Economy, as well as the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity (MMGyD). These government entities played a key role in the process of mainstreaming the gender approach in public policies and its incorporation in the national budget. In early 2020, a working group with the participation of the National Budget Office (ONP) and DINEIyG was created to review the progress, obstacles, and challenges of the previously developed tagging or classification processes. A review of the methodology led to improvements in the Budget reach and increased its mainstreaming potential. Their 2021 National Budget, which is considered the first gender-responsive budget in the country, also incorporated the diversity perspective and, therefore, the GRB tagging process was expanded, resulting in the Gender and Diversity Responsive Budget (PPGyD). Similarly, Argentina’s 2021 Annual Budget was the first budget to fully incorporate actions aimed at bridging gender gaps as part of its economic development plan.

Another major achievement was the creation of the Interministerial Gender Responsive Budgeting Programme, which included the participation of the Ministry of Economy (MECON), the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity (MMGyD), and the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers (JGM), to promote the incorporation of this approach in the design, execution, and evaluation of budgets at the national and sub-national levels.

To facilitate the transfer of the PPGyD, the Budget Office of the Argentine Congress analyzed the budget lines identified and earmarked by the Executive Power (PE) in the 2021 Budget to provide support to the Legislative Power in connection with the Executive Power’s allocations in the context of parliamentary debates on the Budget Law.