The SDGs Secretariat presented the Kazakhstan Draft Methodology of budget formation for children 

ERI experts offer two options for developing the budget for children: as a supplement to the Republican and local budgets or as a part of the Civil Budget.

Currently, budget issues and efficiency of public funds spending for the decent development and well-being of children are designated as a priority of the National Policy, Dulat Zhekebayev, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Children Rights Protection of the Ministry of Education and Science said at Budget for Children International Dialogue Platform .

At the opening of the meeting, Dulat Zhekebayev noted the importance and timeliness of such a broad discussion of

implementation and development of the budget for children. "To date, current budget does not allocate expenses for children separately and is divided between all social areas at the national and local levels. This discussion will result in proposals and recommendations for inclusion to the Kazakhstan Draft Methodology for formation of the budget for children," the Deputy Chairman of CCRP noted.

YelenaDanilova-Kross, the Program Specialist of the Sustainable Development Department of the UNDP Regional Hub in Istanbul, was the first to speak. She spoke about the possibility to mark budget expenditures aimed at the interests and needs of children in accordance with the tasks and subtasks of the Sustainable Development Goals and specifics of expenditures classification. Examples of marking social sector expenditures were considered, which in the future will improve the methodology of rapid comprehensive assessment of national budgets.

Svetlana Garashchenko, the International Expert on Gender Issues, spoke about the experience of Ukraine in implementing gender-oriented budgeting, as well as experience of other countries. Ms. Garashchenko noted that accounting of gender approaches in the budget process will increase the efficiency of using state funds. 

Galina Kurlyandskaya and Yelena Andreyeva, UNICEF's Consultants, presented international experience of forming the budget for children on the example of Russia, India, Peru, El Salvador, and the Great Britain (Wales). It is noteworthy that the development of the methodology and formation of the budget for children is usually handled by the Ministry of Finance (India, Peru, Russia), but the Presidential Office (El Salvador) and the Legislative Assembly Committee on Social Affairs (Wales) can also be involved. 

Experts noted that many stakeholders are involved in the development of the budget for children: ministries and departments, representatives of civil society; and an interdepartmental working group is being created to coordinate all activities. Russian experience has shown that the budget for children does not cover the expenses of extra-budgetary funds: the Pension Fund, Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, and Social Insurance Fund. This is due to the fact that the the Ministry of Finance is the main ministry responsible for the formation of the budget for children in the Russian Federation. In Russia, the budget for children is formed simultaneously with the draft Federal Budget and includes only direct expenses for children. In turn, the budget for children is not included in the Federal Law, but is used as a reference and analytical material.

The Kazakhstan Draft Methodology of budget formation for children was presented by Bakhytgul Khambar, the Director of the Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat of Economic Research Institute JSC (ERI). 

In this Methodology, she offers two options for developing a budget for children by making changes and additions to the Budget Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

• Budget for children as a supplement to the Republican and local budgets;
• Budget for children as a part of the Civil Budget.