By Divine Sam

A civil society advocate and communication specialist in Akwa Ibom State, Lucy Eyo, has called on the state government to adopt gender-responsive budgeting in its annual fiscal plans to ensure that women, girls and other vulnerable groups receive adequate attention in public spending.

Eyo said incorporating gender considerations into budget planning and implementation would help address persistent challenges affecting women and girls, particularly in healthcare, education, women’s empowerment, and access to essential social services.

She made the call on Friday in Uyo during the launch of a project titled “Budgets as Policy: Advancing Gender Justice through Fiscal Analysis,” supported by the Nigerian Youth Futures Fund (NYFF).

According to her, an assessment of Akwa Ibom State’s budgets between 2023 and 2025 revealed recurring gaps in fiscal planning, with insufficient attention to the specific needs of women and girls.

Eyo expressed concern that budgetary allocations did not always translate into actual expenditure or adequately address critical social challenges, including gender-based violence and the high number of girls excluded from secondary education.

She said, “In 2023, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare was allocated ₦4.16 billion, yet only 36 per cent, approximately ₦1.5 billion, was actually spent, exposing a systemic gap between budgetary commitment and implementation. Critical gender-based violence (GBV) interventions, including trauma centres, rape referral centres and shelters, received minimal capital funding.

“On education, although the state has nominally increased education budgets over the years, dedicated funding for girls’ programmes remains absent. At the secondary school level, at least 14,200 of the 15,200 out-of-school children are girls, a crisis that budget lines do not adequately address.

“The 2025 revised budget of ₦1.65 trillion prioritises infrastructure and capital expenditure, with no publicly disaggregated gender markers in health or education spending, making it impossible to track whether women and girls are benefiting equitably.

“These gaps make a compelling case for a gender-responsive budget analysis and an evidence-based policy brief to drive accountability and advocacy.”

Explaining the objectives of the initiative, Eyo said the project would scrutinise budgetary allocations and spending priorities across key sectors, monitor expenditure patterns, identify funding shortfalls and determine how effectively gender-related concerns were reflected in government fiscal policies.

She added that the analysis would pay particular attention to women’s empowerment, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and healthcare, with the aim of identifying areas requiring stronger government intervention.

“The analysis will focus particularly on women’s empowerment, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and healthcare,” she said.

Eyo further disclosed that the findings would be presented to government officials, civil society organisations, media professionals and other relevant stakeholders to encourage constructive engagement and strengthen accountability in public financial management.

She said evidence from the exercise would provide a basis for informed discussions on how public resources could be allocated and utilised to improve outcomes for women, girls and other vulnerable members of society.

The initiative is expected to contribute to advocacy for more inclusive budgeting practices in Akwa Ibom State, with emphasis on ensuring that fiscal decisions reflect the needs of different groups and that approved allocations translate into measurable improvements in public services.