In the practice of regional planning and budgeting, not all community needs are brought to the table. Data is often not disaggregated, and social analysis is conducted in general terms without considering the different needs of women and men, vulnerable groups, female heads of households, coastal communities, and indigenous peoples, who are often overlooked. As a result, development programs are implemented, and budgets are absorbed, but the impact is not always felt by those who need it most.  

This is the situation faced by many local governments, including in Kutai Kertanegara, a regency in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The commitment to gender mainstreaming exists, but it has not been fully translated into responsive and inclusive planning and budgeting decisions. At this point, Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (Perencanaan dan Penganggaran Responsif Gender/PPRG) becomes crucial, not as an administrative obligation, but as an analytical tool to ensure that development truly reaches everyone.

The three-day PPRG and Gender Action Budget training organized by GGGI through the NASCLIM program aims to address this gap. This training is designed to strengthen the capacity of local officials to identify who has been invisible in the planning process and how to correct this through policy and budgeting.

Participants in Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (GRPB) Training in East Kalimantan.

That morning, the atmosphere in the training room in Kutai Kartanegara felt different. Participants from various regional agencies did not just come to “listen to the material,” but to discuss and reflect on the practices they had been implementing. During the one-day seminar, participants were invited to examine the concepts of gender mainstreaming, gender equality, social inclusion, and the principle of No One Left Behind as part of fulfilling human rights principles. The discussion was facilitated by the Kutai Kertanegara District Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) and enriched by the experiences of local initiatives and academics from Kutai Kertanegara University and Mulawarman University. 

However, the turning point occurred during the training session, which was reflective and case study-based. Participants began to relate the concepts to the reality on the ground: female heads of households who were not reached by economic empowerment programs; coastal communities with limited access to basic services; and indigenous peoples whose needs were rarely accommodated in planning documents. From these discussions, there emerged an awareness that the problem was not the absence of programs, but rather the perspective and analysis of the diverse needs of the community.  

Anggi Apdika Putra from the Education and Culture Office of Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan Provincial Government, was one of the participants who experienced this change in perspective. He realized that programs had often been designed based on the assumption of uniform needs. “The knowledge I gained was very useful. This material opened up a new perspective, especially in seeing who the actual subjects of development programs are,” he said in a reflection session. 

Group activities during the Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (GRPB) Training in East Kalimantan.

This training emphasized that gender-responsive planning is not just about adding a women’s label to programs or preparing a separate budget. PPRG is about changing the way of thinking: from a general approach to analysis based on evidence, local context, and the experiences of vulnerable groups. With this understanding, participants began to see how planning and budgeting documents can be tools for change, not just formalities. 

The impact of this training may not yet be immediately visible in the form of new policies. However, the most fundamental change has already taken place: local officials have begun to question old assumptions and open space for voices that were previously marginalized. From the training room in Kutai Kartanegara, this process has become the first step towards development planning that is more equitable, more inclusive, and more supportive of those who have been left behind—women, coastal communities, and other vulnerable groups.  

This PPRG training reminds us that sustainable development cannot be measured solely by the size of the budget or the number of programs, but by the extent to which policies are able to respond to the real needs of all levels of society, without leaving anyone behind.