Strengthening Institutions to Improve Public Expenditure Accountability
Policymakers in 15 developing countries in Latin America, South, East and Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will soon have access to evidence-based policy options for improving budget allocations in health, education and water. The Global Development Network, in partnership with Results for Development is implementing an exciting five-year research project titled ‘Strengthening Institutions to Improve Public Expenditure Accountability.’ The fundamental goal of this project is to improve development outcomes by increasing the effectiveness with which governments allocate and use their resources.
The project aims to do this by: (1) Supporting and strengthening 15 think tanks and research and policy institutions to engage in the analysis and monitoring of the quality of public expenditures, present research findings and policy alternatives for shaping policy debates; (2) Achieving internationally comparable information on public expenditures, incidence (who benefits), effectiveness, and policy reforms in the social sectors and infrastructure (education, health and water) that will begin to build international benchmarks for the quality of public spending; (3) Creating a peer-learning network amongst the partners, so that each may take full advantage of the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other countries in monitoring public expenditure
About the Project
The five-year, five million pounds project is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) UK through its Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF). Thirty eight organizations have received funding through the GTF, of which GDN’s grant is one of the largest.
The 15 project partners are located in developing countries and transition economies. They are operating independently and are either relatively new or well established with technical capacity to undertake rigorous analysis of public expenditure priorities. The coverage across the developing world, mixing countries with different income levels, geographic size, institutional capabilities, and governance systems, is aimed to encourage cross-learning between the partners.
Advanced Social Technologies (AST) – Armenia
Center for Economics and Development Studies (CEDS) Faculty of Economics, Padjadjaran University – Indonesia
Center for Research and Communication (CRC) – Philippines
Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS) – India
Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) – Argentina
Center for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) – Nigeria
Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) – Uganda
Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) – Tanzania
Fundación para el Desarrollo de Guatemala (FUNDESA) – Guatemala
Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy (EGAP, Tecnológico de Monterrey University) – Mexico
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – Kenya
Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) – Ghana
Policy Research and Development (PRAD) – Nepal
Research Center of the University of the Pacific (CIUP) – Peru
Unnayan Shamannay (US) – Bangladesh
These partner institutions will engage in rigorous, credible public expenditure analysis to design policy alternatives for the effective allocation of resources for national development in 15 countries.
Project Activities and Proposed Timeline
Running through June 2013, the project will conduct rigorous analysis of public expenditures at the district, state and national level as well as engage in concerted dissemination and outreach efforts involving policymakers, media and other relevant stakeholders. The first round of Program Budgeting, Benefit Incidence and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis have been conducted and will be repeated for the following 3 budget cycles.
