Sex-Disaggregated Budgets as Driver of Social Change? - Exploring the Effects of Sex-Disaggregated Budgets in a Guatemalan Context

Abstract: The aim of the study was to examine the effects of sex-disaggregated budgets (SDBs) by looking at Guatemalan cooperatives. The method of the study was semi-structured interviews carried out with Guatemalan cooperative members and staff accessed through the Swedish Cooperative Center (Swedish development non-governmental organization). The main conclusion is that the SDBs have had substantial positive effects on gender equality and development objectives at a more general level in the organizations included in the study. One important effect noted by the interviewees was the SDB’s positive influence on the women cooperative members’ access to education. This resulted in a range of important spiraling effects, such as self-esteem, gender awareness, participation, cooperative development, income generation and household work distribution. Also, some interviewees stressed the importance of not only looking at the equal distribution of resources between men and women, but also at the SDBs’ contents.