PESHAWAR, May 30: Speakers at a workshop on Tuesday emphasised that budget allocations for all sectors should be ‘gender sensitive’, saying that fiscal measures helped a lot in reducing gender inequality.

Economist Mohammed Rafique said a gender responsive budget should be adopted as it could lead to good governance, transparency, accountability, equality and efficiency.

He advised women MPAs attending the workshop to convince the government on setting up a ‘gender cell’ in the finance department. He said women MPAs should actively participate in the budget discussion.

Several women members of the provincial assembly, lawyers and civil society members participated in the workshop organised by the Aurat Foundation on ‘gender responsive budgetary framework’.

According to the official data for 2004-05, female population in the NWFP is 13.7 per cent and male population is 13.2 per cent. The literacy rate among men is 65 per cent against a 25 per cent among women.

“Some 16,500 women died from maternity problems and women make only 18 per cent of the province’s labour force,” Mr Rafique said.

MMA MPAs Naeema Kishwar, Rehana Ismail and Ghaliba Khurshid and Awami National Party MPA Farah Qail also spoke. They complained that bureaucracy was controlling the budget-making process, saying the MPAs were not given enough time to suggest changes.