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Mayanmar Global Perspective

The Science of Human Behavior can help
Legislatures Advance Gender Equality

T he promotion of gender equality

and the empowerment of women
must be at the heart of any effort to
meaningfully strengthen democracy. Behaviorally
informed interventions can help making small
changes in the way legislatures oversee the use
of public funds, in turn significantly contributing
to gender equality in the long run.
In 2020, to deepen its understanding about
the psychological challenge of integrating
gender considerations into legislative financial
oversight, International IDEA partnered that prevent us from following through with our
with BEworks, a leading global behavior change intentions to perform a particular behaviour.
company,. Having piloted a behavioral approach in A wealth of research points out at gender
the context of the National Parliament in Myanmar, responsive budgeting - a practice of integrating
International IDEA’s gender considerations into
experience highlighted the key stages of the national
the approach’s potential Gender equality and the empowerment of budget cycle, including
to influence also in other women is pertinent to strengthen democracy formulation, approval,
jurisdictions the behavior of execution, and control and
members of parliament in support of integrating a audit - as an approach that can help enhance
gender perspective into parliamentary oversight of gender equality in a country. Because a government
the national budget. budget not only allocates public resources among
competing priorities but also serves as a policy
The behavioural Approach to instrument for achieving economic development
Gender Integration in the country, the executive branch’s leadership
The notion of ‘behavioural approach’ is grounded is a critically important actor in promoting
in the growing field of behavioral economics which gender responsive budgeting. Equally important
seeks to make sense of how and why, in the real is that the legislative branch provides gender
world, people make judgements and decisions the sensitive financial oversight, reviewing the impact
way they do. The approach underscores the notion of government budget on gender equality and
that people often make choices on the basis of only women’s empowerment and holding the executive
limited information and without the capacity, time, accountable for its actions.
or resources to thoroughly analyse and consider However, one of the recurring challenges facing
alternative choices. Also, it stresses the power of many countries is how to ensure that legislatures
social influences on our internal thought processes can actually play an active role in overseeing
and our own behaviour. One of the essential national budgets in a gender sensitive manner.
realisation of the behavioural approach is that while From a behavioural perspective, the challenge
our behaviour is often shaped by our intentions, is twofold: one is to cultivate the interest and
attitudes, or beliefs, there are cognitive barriers intention of legislatures to integrate a gender

October 2022 | VoICE International | 43