24 Advancing Gender Equality in Nepal: Refining gender-responsive budgeting for transformative impact 9. Strengthening Institutional Coordination and Support The government of Nepal has promoted the GRBC as an institution to promote GRB tools in the budget preparation process and system. The committee is coordinated by the head of the Budget and Program Division in the MOF. GRBC has promoted the nomination of focal points to represent the GESI or GRB as well as the GRBC in sectoral ministries, to promote GRB in the planning and budgeting processes and systems. With the 2015 Constitution the federal structure was changed and these committees were not functioning as they should, which has slowed down the activities in promoting GRB implementation at all levels. Strategic recommendations for institutional strengthening and coordination include the following: • Establishment of a strong legislative framework to institutionalise GRB(see Chapter 1). • National policies and strategies to explicitly include GRB and transformative gender­equality priorities as a core component. The National Planning Commission should consistently strengthen gender equality in the development of national strategies and policies. • There is a need to integrate GRB and transformative gender-equality priorities into all national development plans and development strategies. • The government of Nepal has adopted the Project Bank mechanism to prioritise the resources: GRB should be included in the project selection criteria, and specific projects focusing on transformative gender-equality priorities should be developed. • Intensify the priority and strategy of GRB and gender equality as a national priority, thus mobilising adequate resources and political will to implement it effectively. GRB requires coordination between multiple government ministries and departments, including finance, planning, and sectoral ministries(e.g., health, education, agriculture). Often, there is a lack of collaboration or shared understanding between these entities on how to implement GRB. In Nepal, the responsible ministry MOWCSC has limited competencies and no institutional network and offices at the province and local government level. It has to work through the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. This ministry has no substantive programme, rather just some policy influence and the ability to provide some grants to special social organisations (targeting women, disabled and senior citizens). This structure hinders the ministry’s capacity to contribute to and influence budget decisions in other sectors, limiting the reach of gender-equality efforts and the effectiveness of GRB. It is recommended that coordination and networking among the different institutions and actors shall be enhanced to: • Strengthen the GRBC by allocating adequate resources and providing it with a clear mandate to coordinate; • Facilitate and oversee GRB implementation throughout the government;