Video: How participatory budgeting can better include women — and why that matters
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 27th March 2024.
What happens when women make the decisions about community priorities? That’s the story this short video tells from Santa Ana Tzacuala in Mexico, where PB has enabled innovative ideas from women and children to protect the environment and create spaces for families.
Participatory budgeting (PB) is a way for communities to have a direct say in how money is spent and can be a transformative way for communities make decisions on the issues important to them.
The accompanying report highlights Oralia Santanna del Ángel who encouraged her community and other women to get involved in "Hidalgo Flourishes”, a PB process designed and run by the community, with support from a participatory democracy organisation.
Oralia worked hard to encourage her community to take part, and her efforts resulted in women and girls proposing two of the three most-voted projects.
As the video concludes: “Women’s priorities tend to focus on the wellbeing of the community and include project that improve the lives of their children.”
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