Circular No. 04/2005/TT-BTC guiding the operating funds for women's advancement at Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and People's Committees of centrally governed cities and provinces.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on operating funds for the advancement of women in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government

Implementing Directive No. 27/TTg dated July 15, 2004 of the Prime Minister on enhancing activities for the advancement of women in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government; After reaching consensus with the National Committee for the Advancement of Women, the Ministry of Finance issues guidelines on operating funds for the advancement of women in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government as follows:

1. Objectives and scope of application:

This Circular provides guidelines on operating funds for Women's Offices established within budget-funded units in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government to carry out tasks related to the advancement of women.

Women's Offices established within political-social organizations also fall within the scope of application as stipulated in this Circular.

2. Contents of expenditures for the advancement of women:

- Expenditures for organizing conferences, disseminating information, training sessions aimed at: popularizing the Strategy and Action Plan for the advancement of women; raising awareness about gender equality; understanding the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; disseminating laws and policies related to women's rights...

- Expenditures for implementing the Action Plan for the advancement of women.

- Expenditures for directing and supervising the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the advancement of women in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government.

- Expenditures for summarizing, concluding, and rewarding outstanding achievements.

- Other expenses serving the operations of Women's Offices such as overtime work, purchasing books, newspapers, newsletters, office supplies, etc.

3. Level of expenditure:

The above expenditure items must comply with current financial standards and regulations, specifically as follows:

- For travel expenses for officials traveling domestically to direct and supervise the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the advancement of women; expenditures for organizing meetings and seminars to raise awareness about gender equality and understanding the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; summary and conclusion meetings shall be implemented according to Circular No. 118/2004/TT-BTC dated December 8, 2004 of the Ministry of Finance detailing the regulations on travel expenses and conference fees for administrative agencies and public service units nationwide.

- For other expenses: overtime work; expenditures for purchasing books, printing, preparing conference materials; expenditures for purchasing office supplies... based on valid and legitimate invoices and expense vouchers according to current regulations and approved by the competent authority before implementation, serving as the basis for final settlement of operating funds.

4. Preparation, allocation, execution, and settlement of operating funds:

The preparation, allocation, execution, and settlement of operating funds for the advancement of women in ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, political-social organizations, and provincial/municipal people's committees under the central government shall be carried out according to Circular No. 59/2003/TT-BTC dated June 13, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budgets. This Circular only provides guidance on certain specific points suitable for the advancement of women, specifically as follows:

- Annually, based on the action program and specific activities, Women's Offices in budget-funded units prepare operating fund budgets to ensure activities for the advancement of women in the year, submitting them to their respective finance departments; Units are responsible for consolidating operating funds to ensure activities for the advancement of women according to the expenditure items specified above, following current financial expenditure regulations, within the time frame for preparing budgets as stipulated in the State Budget Law and its guiding documents, and incorporating them into their unit budgets submitted to the corresponding financial authorities.

- Based on the budget allocated by the competent authority, primary budget units are responsible for allocating the allocated state budget to budget-funded units, including calculating the operating funds for Women's Offices. Based on the state budget allocated by the competent authority, the heads of budget-funded units are responsible for notifying the annual operating fund budget to Women's Offices; simultaneously ensuring funding for the advancement of women according to the notified budget and settling the operating funds for the advancement of women in the annual budget settlement of the unit according to regulations.

Annual settlement reports of budget-funded units and primary budget units need to separately explain the contents of expenditures for the advancement of women.

- Specifically, for public service units with self-management financial rights and administrative agencies implementing personnel quotas and administrative management funds, within the scope of the allocated funds, they are responsible for arranging operating funds for Women's Offices in their units.

- Directing the Department of Information and Communications to advise on management, plan formulation, and implementation after approval by the Provincial People's Committee;

State-owned enterprises apply the provisions of this Circular to fund the activities of Women's Offices in their units. The operating funds for the advancement of women in the unit are accounted for according to the regulations of the Law on Corporate Income Tax.

This Circular takes effect 15 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette. Previous regulations contrary to this Circular are abolished. In the course of implementation, if any difficulties arise, please report to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution.