MIFTAH recently concluded its participation in the international participatory meeting on “Integrating Gender in Fiscal Policies”, which was held in Marrakesh, Morocco between June 26-28. The meeting was attended by representatives from women’s movements, civil society organizations and OXFAM representatives from 19 countries and regions: Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, the UK, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Latin America, the United States, Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan, Uganda, India, Argentina, Italy and Greece.

Director of the Policy Dialogue and Good Governance Program at MIFTAH, Lamis Shuaibi, who represented the organization at the meeting, said the gathering showcased multiple experiences on issues of social justice and gender, including budgets and tax systems. “MIFTAH presented its experience in integrating gender in budgets and institutionalizing criteria for international transparency in budgets in the social sector in Palestine,” she said. Shuaibi explained this entailed the publication of a citizens’ budget for the Social Development, Education and Health Ministries. She also said a presentation was given on the developmental steps in institutionalizing gender-responsive budgets and the adoption of social justice criteria in fiscal policies, which Shuaibi continued, was a reflection of MIFTAH’s efforts in this regard since 2005. MIFTAH’s interventions, she explained, have been at the governmental level, namely with the Ministries of Finance and Women’s Affairs, until gender was adopted and approved in the budgets’ law of these two ministries. This is in addition to the developmental framework MIFTAH assumes in institutionalizing criteria of social justice in fiscal policies and the tax system, which was reflected in the publication of the citizens’ budget in the ministries included in the social sector of the public budget.

MIFTAH’s advocacy and lobbying campaigns were also highlighted, which were conducted in collaboration with partner organizations in the Oxfam-funded program “Finance for Development”. The partner organizations were able to lobby for an increase in expenditures in the medications clause of the Health Ministry budget.