BUDGET ANALYSIS AND POLICY ADVOCACY

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BUDGET ANALYSIS AND POLICY ADVOCACY

• Mark Robinson
• (Institute of Development Studies)
• Warren Krafchik
• (International Budget Project)
• 30 January 2007

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Research aims

• Document growth of applied budget work
• Provide systematic analysis of the nature and
  impact of applied budget work
  
• Disseminate lessons learned to budget groups and
  policy makers in governments and aid agencies
  
• Research collaboration between IDS and
  International Budget Project, funded by ESRC, the
  Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and Open
  Society Institute.

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Six case studies

• DISHA, India
• Fundar, Mexico
• IBASE, Brazil
• Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA),
  South Africa
  
• Institute for Public Finance (IPF), Croatia
• Uganda Debt Network (UDN), Uganda

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Team composition and fieldwork

• Two member teams combining a mix of disciplines,
  experience and country knowledge
  
• Maximize cross-evaluation and potential learning
  outcomes at least one team member is directly
  engaged in applied budget work
  
• Field visits of 10 -12 working days
• Data gathered from several sources, including
  interviews and focus group discussions with wide
  range of stakeholders, public budget and policy
  data, IBP and group materials, and media reports

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Key research questions

• Budget policies Changes in budget policies and
  systems budget allocations implementation
  (efficiency and effectiveness) and outputs
  
• Budget process Budget awareness and
  understanding budget transparency participation
  in the budget process
  

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Impact budget systems and allocations

• Budget systems some influence in Croatia and
  South Africa - structural constraints on the
  budget process
  
• Budget allocations evidence of increased
  allocations for specific sectors or programmes in
  Mexico (reproductive health), India (tribal
  welfare expenditure) and South Africa (children,
  HIV/AIDS, women)

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Impact implementation

• Significant engagement and impact in Gujarat and
  Uganda at local government level through
  expenditure tracking
  
• Monitoring reveals strong evidence of
  inefficiency, corruption and expenditure
  misallocations
  

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Impact budget awareness and budget literacy

• Legislative influence strong in Gujarat, Mexico
  and South Africa, resulting from deliberate
  strategy of engagement, and with elite policy
  makers in Croatia
• CSO influence significant take-up of findings
  from budget analysis by other groups for advocacy
  and analysis, especially in Uganda, India and
  South Africa
• Media coverage significant reporting by media
  for most organisations, often the sole source of
  information outside government
  

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Impact budget transparency and participation

• Transparency demonstrated capacity to open up
  budget process to public and legislative
  scrutiny, especially at the federal level in
  Mexico and South Africa
• Participation ability to promote wider citizen
  participation in budget deliberation more
  limited partial exception of Ibase in Rio de
  Janeiro through leadership training and distance
  learning

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Interim conclusions

• Strength of independent budget analysis lies in
  information provision and awareness building (for
  legislators, CSOs and media), enhanced budget
  transparency
• Some positive impacts on budget priorities,
  allocations, implementation and outcomes
  financial impact can be very significant with
  social justice and equity implications

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Critical success factors

• Civil society can add value to public budgeting
  
  
• Transparency and inclusiveness positively
  associated with equity, efficiency and
  effectiveness.
  
• Limitations? Incremental vs. structural change.
• Budget work is a flexible tool
• Can be applied in diverse countries and stages of
  development.
  
• Environment should influence program choices but
  does not predetermine impact.
  
• Budget work is adaptable to most civil society
  organizations
  
• Think tanks vs. grassroots organizations.
• Specialized budget organizations vs. budget work
  as a tool.
  
• Advocacy vs. information organizations.
• But, dedicated capacity and year-round engagement
  necessary.
  

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Critical success factors

• Quality of analysis and dissemination determine
  potential for impact
  
• Accuracy credibility
• Timeliness usefulness
• Accessibility legitimacy
• Actual impact depends on relationships
• Work within civil society
• Legislature and executive
• Potential with external auditors
• Long-term impact / structural change depends on
  oversight system and coalitions with other actors

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Implications for donors

• Growing recognition that civil society
  participation in the budget process is central to
  effective public financial management
  
• Direct influence of government budget policies
  through policy dialogue and direct budget
  support
  
• Financing for civil society organisations
  directly engaged in budget work

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Improving the environment for applied budget work

• Donors can encourage governments to improve
  budget transparency and make budget information
  widely available
  
• Donors should provide more comprehensive
  information on aid flows and reduce off-budget
  spending
  
• Donors can engage local budget groups in
  diagnostic and analytical work on budget issues
  
• Donors should aim to strengthen accountability in
  the budget process and support the roles of
  legislatures, civil society and the media

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Direct support for civil society budget work

• Avoid over-burdening civil society organisations
  with fragmented, small-scale project support
  
• Long-term core support can support development of
  medium term perspective and strategy by improving
  internal capacity
  
• Preconditions for support include sound technical
  capacity and legitimacy, clear linkages between
  analysis and advocacy, a credible monitoring and
  evaluation system to track impact, and legitimacy
  with parliaments, media and civil society

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Wider significance

• Contribution to government accountability through
  independent scrutiny of budgets and improved
  participation in the budget process
  
• Contribution to improved public expenditure
  management as donors channel an increasing
  proportion of aid through national and sectoral
  budgets
• Reduced scope for corruption through tracking and
  monitoring of government expenditures and
  improved utilization of scarce public resources
  
• Furthering poverty reduction as benefits
  primarily accrue to poor and vulnerable groups
  through improved budget policies, increased
  budget allocations and better service delivery
• Strengthening democracy through a more informed
  citizenry and greater voice and participation in
  decision making