Transcript Budget Advocacy - End Water Poverty

by
Deepak L Xavier
Origin of “Budget”
Etymological
Meaning:
French word
‘bougette’ –means a
small bag or a
briefcase containing
the financial
proposals
The term budget has
been used for the
annual financial plan
presentation since
1733.
What is Budget?
Different views about budget:
Common View:
A Statement of expected income and
estimated expenditure.
Technical View:
Document showing government expenditure
and revenue proposals.
Our View:
Statement of policy priorities and fiscal targets
Why “Budgets” Conceal More
than they Reveal?
The duck–rabbit illusion was used by Thomas Kuhn
in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
to demonstrate the way in which a paradigm shift
could cause one to see the same information in an
entirely different way.
Budget Vs Ideology?
• “the budget is the skeleton of the state stripped
of all misleading ideologies” – Joseph
Schumpeter.
• When the misleading ideologies are stripped
away, what is left is the actual ideology of those
who hold power – budget is the actual proof of a
government’s ideology, and its commitment
towards various sections of the population and
sectors of the economy.
Why bother about Budget? – I
• Budget is central to governance
• It is the most vital instrument at the disposal of the State to
deliver a wide range of responsibilities – translate promises
and commitments into practise
• Budgets affect every sector of the economy and every
section of the population
• It reflects a government's social and economic policy
priorities more than any other document, translating policies,
political commitments, and goals into decisions on where
funds should be spent, and on whom and how these funds
should be raised
Why bother about Budget? – II
• The policy priorities driving the Budget and implementation
of the Budget proposals are of direct relevance to the entire
population
• But frequently people from the most vulnerable sections of
society are the ones who most severely suffer the
consequences.
• The social exclusion extends to the economic realms of
wages, jobs, education, and land – social exclusion is
economics!
• The marginalised suffer from the dual discrimination of
severe economic exploitation and social discrimination.
• Historically, mass/social movements have worked mainly on
civil and political rights – not much work on economic rights.
• Budget work has the potential to ensure economic justice,
which in turn will empower the marginalised to regain civil,
political, social and cultural rights.
What is budget work?
• Budget analysis is the process through which the
government budgets are scrutinised from the
perspective of poor and marginalised.
• Focus is on critically evaluating budgetary allocations
made by governments and tracking expenditure
undertaken on the basis of those allocations to
determine the extent to which policy translates into
outcomes.
Budget work is an effective tool for
- making governance accountable
- advocacy for policy changes
Budget Cycle
What Civil Society budget groups
attempt to do?
• Demystify budget and budgetary process – for
transparency and making it people friendly
• Make governance accountable to the people
• Make policy makers sensitive to popular needs and
concerns
• Awareness on Government Performance
• Create Public Pressure on issues of the marginalised
sections
• Initiate public argument and debate around macro
economic issues from peoples’ perspective
• Engaging institutions of governance to empower the
marginalised through budget advocacy and Capacity
Building
• Strategize the use of knowledge to influence policies
and politics of the state
Budget Advocacy – an integral part
of budget work
• Budget analysis is very important to scrutinize the Government
Budgets from any perspective.
• Mere analysis of the Budgets alone cannot influence the policy
making unless it is supported by proper public action or advocacy to
promote the findings in public forums so as to influence the common
mindset.
• Budget analysis is an advocacy tool for developing public
understanding on policy priorities of the Government. This would
eventually empower the people to seek Governments’ accountability.
• This process would provide us a large operative space that is
unexplored to tactfully engage with the State, and this alternative
mechanism using democratic space goes beyond traditional means
of public activism.
Nelson Mandela
‘your opponents pick your
tactics’
3 Pillars of Action Based
Budget Work
Bureaucratic Action
(for accountable execution of
the programmes)
Civil
Society
Budget
work
Demystifying
information for
Political Action
Public Action
(Lobbying for the
interests of the
marginalised
sections)
(For initiating
debates through
Media, and other
forums)
Some advocacy tools used in
budget work
• Research – demystification and analysis of
budget
• Networking & Coalition Building – responding
to needs, initiating cross learning and amplifying
the issues
• Lobbying
• Campaigning
• Media advocacy
• Legislative Advocacy – providing information
and research support to legislators and other
decision makers
• Training & Capacity Building
Outcomes of Civil Society
Budget Work
• Demystification enables better exchange of
Information
• Informed demand for accountable, transparent
and equitable resource mobilisation/use.
• People are empowered to participate in
budget-making process, expenditure tracking
and performance monitoring
• Creates space for mutually acceptable
institutional arrangements between the
government machinery and civil society
Success factors - I
• Accuracy, accessibility, timeliness – three
pillars of good budget analysis
• Effective budget work requires analysis
AND advocacy
• Some budget changes require long-term
engagement
Success factors - II
•
Focus on whole budget process / cycle –
there is work to do in every stage
•
Need for flexible political and
organisational strategy
•
Dedicated organisation capacity &
investing in staff
To be SMART in Budget work, your
objectives should be:
SMART
SPECIFIC
• What would you like the govt. to do?
Specify an action – the solution that you want
• Be SPECIFIC and CLEAR
Set a specific goal to introduce a social
security programme for unemployed /
unorganised sector workers
MEASURABLE
• If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
• Here ‘measurement’ refers to the AMOUNT you
want govt. to raise or spend differently
 We want Rs. 50 billion to be spent on constructing
toilets for one million households in rural India.
• Not all problems can be solved by the budget
 Discrimination against women cannot be solved by
budget alone
ATTAINABLE
• Goals you set which are too far out of
reach, you and your partners probably
won’t commit to doing
• ‘Make Poverty History’ is not attainable in
the short term. But annual targets on
MDGs
• BIG enough to matter, SMALL enough to
make a difference
REALISTIC
• Budgets are rigid because of political
compromises
Everything can’t be changed immediately
• Propose a plan or a way of getting there
which makes the goal realistic
How can what you propose be done in this
year’s budget?
How much do you want the govt. to spend
and where should they get it?
TIMELY
• Be realistic, but set a timeframe for the
goal: for this financial year, for 2015
• If you don’t set a time or too long a
timeframe, the commitment is too vague
• For big and long-term goals – progressive
realisation
Popular Arguments against Civil
Society Budget work
• Budgets must be secret
• CSOs can destroy budget integrity
• NGOs pursue sectional & sectoral
interests
• Govt. has mandate to prepare the budget
• Potential risks of budgets can be managed
Strong Arguments for Civil Society
engagement in Budget Processes
• Simplifying the budget and deepening debate: This augments
the outreach capacity of the state and legislature and builds
understanding and participation among citizens. Simplified guides
to the budget may cover the budget process, the structure of the
budget, budget trends and current allocations, and some
discussion of current issues.
• Collating, synthesizing and disseminating budget
information: These activities support legislature and civil society
inputs into the budget process. The information may include the
dissemination of national or regional (state level) information on
social expenditures; or the identification and dissemination of local
and international best practice.
• Independent critical analysis: Civil society budget analysis can
augment the research capacity of legislatures and the media and,
sometimes, in the executive. It may provide one of the few
sources of specialized data and analysis on the impact of the
budget on the poor.
Strong Arguments for Civil Society
engagement in Budget Processes
• Bringing new information to budget decision-making: Civil
society budget groups are often able to be in close, regular
contact with citizens and interest groups. This allows them to
collate unique information on citizen priorities, non-government
perspectives on the budget, expenditure tracking and project
impact analysis.
• Training: Many civil society organizations develop budget
training expertise that is directed at augmenting the analytical and
advocacy capacity of other civil society organizations, legislatures
and the media resulting in stronger interventions and oversight.
• Building accountability: Through its analysis and dissemination
activities, civil society organizations can assist citizens and the
legislature to reinforce channels of accountability. This may
occur, for example, when groups provide accessible information
or pursue the findings of the auditor general with relevant interest
groups. It may also follow from monitoring or impact
measurement activities that test or augment the data emerging
from the auditor general’s report.
Major Challenges
• Analytical & advocacy skills
• Macroeconomic policy environment
• Democratising Budget Work
• Budget transparency & participation in the budget process
• Working with the executive
• Systemic engagement with the legislature & policy makers
• Understanding & ensuring IMPACT on accountability and
policy
FINALLY…
Every action needs to be inspired and informed by Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman:
I will give you a talisman…
Recall the face of the poorest
and the weakest man whom
you may have seen, and ask
yourself if the step you
contemplate is going to be of
any use to him. Will he gain
anything by it? Will it restore
him to a control over his own
life and destiny? Then you will
find your doubts and yourself
melting away…