An audit carried out by the Federal Court of Accounts – Brazil (TCU), reported by Minister Ana Arraes, has pointed out weaknesses in Brazilian public policies aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering all girls and women, as stipulated by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) of the 2030 United Nations Agenda.

Aiming to evaluate the preparation of the Brazilian Federal Government to implement SDG 5, TCU’s work revealed results such as the inefficiency of articulation mechanisms, insufficient transparency of the budgetary actions under the responsibility of sectoral bodies that work with this theme, and problems of coordination among ministries/federal sectoral bodies and institutions responsible for coordinating gender policies.

The audit lists actions that have been implemented, but it evaluates that the Brazilian government did not estimate the resources and the skills necessary for implementing the SDG 5. In addition, it did not analyze the resources the country disposed and neither did it verify which skills and resources considered necessary for implementing the SDG 5 were in the management sphere of the body responsible for women policies.

Another point highlighted was the non-implementation of the transversal governance structure, even with the institution of the Rede Brasil Mulher program, in December 2017, and the establishment of areas of activity in five different thematic directions (health, education, fight against violence, power and decision spaces, and economic autonomy).

The 2030 UN Agenda puts together 17 SDG. Gender equality is considered as a necessary foundation for achieving a pacific, prosperous and sustainable world. The empowerment of girls and women has a multiplier effect and helps to promote economic growth and development at a global level.

The audit concluded that the gender wage gap has not changed in Brazil over the past years. Women’s unpaid workload is higher than men’s. This extra load of housework increases disadvantages in relation to competition.

However, since 2015, the start of the 2030 Agenda term, many changes resulting from economic factors and lack of prioritization of the subject by the Federal Government have implicated the reduction of 80% of the budget allocation of the institution and of 42,3% of the establishment plan of the National Secretariat of Policies for Women (SNPM), according to what was concluded by the court’s inspection.

The audit integrates the program "Auditing Sustainable Development Goals", an initiative by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). It represents part of the strategy related to gender matters from the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS).