Guatemala’s experience seeks to mainstream gender equality and equity in the public budget and national policies through the implementation of the Budget Classifier with a Gender Perspective (CPEG) to evaluate budget allocations to bridge gaps between women and men.

Even though the CPEG was launched in 2003, it was only regulated in 2013 with the enactment of the Organic Budget Law and the Regulations thereto. The CPEG aims to quantify the allocation of resources to be used by public institutions to comply with the National Law on the Comprehensive Development and Promotion of Women (PNPDIM) and the 2008-2023 Equal Opportunities Plan (PEO).

In 2018, the Interinstitutional Working Group on the budget for equality between men and women was created with the participation of the Secretariat of Planning and Programming of the Presidency (SEGEPLAN), the Ministry of Public Finance (MINFIN), the Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM) and civil society, represented by Colectiva para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres en Guatemala (CODEFEM), to incorporate the equity approach in public planning and budgeting processes, in addition to establishing guidelines and orientations for the management of equity between men and women in the public administration.

SEPREM, the CPEG’s leading entity, has provided technical assistance to public institutions and local governments for the coordination of their planning processes. According to CPEG’s report prepared by SEPREM during the 2020 cycle, budget allocations to follow up on the PNPDIM made by the national government’s CPEG and local CPEG’s increased from 1.6 billion quetzales in 2016 to 7,082.60 billion quetzales in 2020.