International Budget Partnership

The Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency is a global network that promotes transparency and public participation in fiscal governance. The initiative brings together governments, public finance experts, civil society organizations, private sector actors, and development partners to dialogue and build consensus and support for transparency and public participation in fiscal matters, discuss and strengthen existing fiscal norms and standards, and promote country-level implementation of these norms and standards. In this grant period, the initiative will deepen transparency and public participation requirements, with a focus on COVID-19 funding. It will also enhance peer-learning and exchange, strengthen technic al collaboration, and use technology to facilitate public access to detailed fiscal information. (Strategy: Transparency, Participation, and Accountability)

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) leads a global campaign to promote transparency and citizen participation in decisions about how governments raise and spend revenues. In partnership with civil society organizations, state actors, international institutions, and the private sector, IBP undertakes research, training, and advocacy to ensure that budget decision-making processes are participatory and inclusive and that spending policies promote equity and justice. During this grant period, in addition to deepening transparency and civic engagement in budget processes, IBP will make necessary adjustments to their country strategies to ensure that country teams can engage effectively and timely with governments on COVID-19 spending decisions. The South Africa team has started an initiative to both enable residents of informal settlements in six major metropolitan centers to provide real-time feedback about gaps in water and sanitation services to their local governments and provide local governments with relevant data to effectively address those gaps.Given the centrality of government budgets in public service delivery, this grant serves several goals across GD&P. IBP’s budget analysis and expenditure tracking methods and tools are used by several issue- and sector-specific stakeholders including grantees in sexual and reproductive health, women’s economic empowerment, and water and sanitation to facilitate meaningful participation in public spending decisions. IBP’s open budget survey data is also used by governments, donors, and investors for decision making and by think tanks and other civil society organizations for analysis and advocacy. (Strategy: Transparency, Participation, and Accountability.)