'This document grew out of the experiences of developing gender-sensitive budgets in several countries. Australia was the first country to develop a gender-sensitive budget with the Federal government publishing in 1984 the first comprehensive audit of a government budget for its impact on women and girls. Women’s budget exercises were also undertaken by each of the Australian State and Territory governments at various times during the 1980s and 1990s. In South Africa, parliamentarians, together with non-governmental organisations, started working on a gender-sensitive analysis of budgets in 1995. The data has been drawn from those countries which already have gender-sensitive budgets in place, or are in the process of initiating them. .There is no single approach or model of a gender sensitive budget exercise. In some countries, for example, these exercises are implemented by the government while in other countries individuals and groups outside government undertake the budgetary analysis. This publication is primarily aimed at informing those governments considering undertaking a gender-sensitive budget exercise. It covers the issues, methods and strategies for the first year of implementing such an exercise.'