WK 413 Budgets: Tools for accountability and transparency

Budgets and expenditures should not be kept a secret. They provide a unique and concrete way to monitor everything from government policies to development infrastructure to bureaucratic corruption. Following the money – what was allocated, what was spent and where it was spent – is an effective way to establish accountability and transparency.

Panelists

Featured Tactic: Lerato Kgamphe, Institute for Democracy in South Africa, South Africa Complementary Presentation:

• Sowmya Kidambi, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), India

Featured Tactic

Examining budgets to reveal social and economic inequities and persuade the government to rectify them. Lerato Kgamphe, IDASA, South Africa

• View Lerato Kgamphe’s PowerPoint presentation 131 KB
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• Read the outline of her presentation

The Children’s Budget Unit (CBU) at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) uses national and provincial budgets to reveal whether the government is meeting its commitments in protecting the rights of children and to make recommendations for changes. South Africa’s constitution states that every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, health care and social services. However, millions of children go hungry, do not have the material means to attend school or receive health care, and find it impossible to live healthy and secure lives. The CBU first determines the government’s obligations based on the constitution and international commitments. It then measures the extent of child poverty. This is followed by a comprehensive analysis of budget allocations and expenditures and of the delivery of key services to children, revealing the government’s fiscal priorities. This analysis and compilation of the budgetary facts allows CBU to clearly illustrate where the national, provincial or local government is not meeting its obligations. It also provides solid facts and data from which to make recommendations and strongly pressure for change. In some cases, local governments do not even collect this data and welcome the information that IDASA provides as a way to improve their own work.

Complementary Presentation

Sowmya Kidambi, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, India Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) holds the government to its promises by organizing public hearings on public expenditures. MKSS activists and residents of the area conduct investigations into allegations of corruption in a particular district and submit application requests for copies of the relevant official records. Once obtained, the accounts are cross-checked through site visits and interviews. MKSS then holds public hearings, attended by villagers, the press, government officials and those suspected of corruption, in which the documents are contrasted with what really happened.