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Sharing Practices


This is an evolving area of practice that requires work across some diverse and rather complex areas, such as budget processes, advocacy, indicators, human rights and policy development. Learning how budgeting for human rights can be an effective tool can be facilitated through sharing practices on and around these topics. This space is developed for this purpose. We will share examples of different ways in which people are making a link between budgets and human rights, and engaging in advocay on this basis for change.

Please send us any examples that you would like to share!

  1. Budget Analysis in Mexico
  2. MDG Cost assessment in Zambia
  3. Participatory budgeting in Brazil
  4. Gender budgeting in South Africa

Budget Analysis of Maternal Mortality in Mexico


Transparency is one of the most important factors. However, it sometimes does not come from the government, but rather from citizen groups or civil society organizations, as they demand transparency and information. In Mexico, the “civil alliance in Mexico” launched a campaign to challenge the President‘s special fund. Over years of campaigning, eventually this “secret fund” was eliminated and other measures were introduced in order to monitor the government‘s expenditure and allocation of resources.

Who was involved?


Fundar has worked on budget-analysis for some years and led various processes on this issue. According to Fundar, an ability to engage in the budget process can help human rights organisations in various ways, including: Measuring and comparing governments‘ commitments to different policy areas; costing the implications of policy proposals; analysing the impact of budgetary choices on people; and assessing the adequacy of funding provided to fulfill international or local conventions and commitments

What was the process?


While the Mexican Government has long pledged commitment to improving healthcare and decreasing maternal mortality, the maternal mortality rate has hovered at about 6.2 per 10.000 for over a decade (from 1990 to 2003). Poor women in rural areas were disproportionately affected. Via budget analysis, Fundar was able to establish that: Resources were not being allocated in the national budget to effectively combat maternal mortality; and throughout the country there was a lack of funding for emergency obstetric care.
 
Fundar and a coalition of other non-governmental organisations met with policymakers to argue for specific funding allocations. They emphasised that increased funds for emergency health care would directly benefit pregnant women, especially those from poorer, indigenous communities.

What was the impact?


This led to an increase of US$ 50 million in 2003 for a national programme expressly designed to decrease maternal mortality rates. The challenge is to ensure that this funding is sustained and that women in the poorest Mexican states are able to benefit from it. In 2005, officials from the Health Ministry announced a decision to prioritise emergency obstetric care as a priority in all maternal health programs. This decision was influenced by a costing exercise in which Fundar illustrated that providing emerging obstetric care is financially viable.

MDG Cost Assessment in Zambia


Who was involved?


The Civil Society Organisation for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (JCTR) and the Catholic Center for Justice and Peace (CCJDP) jointly carried out an assessment of the costs of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Zambia.

What was the process?


At the time the government was developing the new National Development Plan (NDP) and the three organsations recommended that the MDG costing serve as a basis for planning processes.

What was the impact?


The government responded by saying that their costing in the NDP was not restrictive, but were minimum indicative figures that could be increased subject to availability of donor support. At present, advocacy regarding the findings of the costing study is ongoing and CSPR plans to link up with other agencies which intend to support the government in conducting its own costing.
 
This information was taken from Budgeting Human Rights Guide, January 2007

Participatory Budgeting in Brazil


In Brazil, participatory budgeting has taken hold! It was started in 1988 through a constitutional amendment. A series of legal amendments aimed to introduce responsibility and transparency in public finance at all levels of government through control of excessive and recurrent deficits, sound management of public debts, stable tax policies and public access to fiscal and budget information. Citizens themselves have been provided the space and power to decide about virtually everything regarding municipal spending. They can even  influence what street should be improved, where parks should be built, what special cultural activities should be staged for a particular period of time or in which area sanitation should be improved. They also organise public hearings at the municipal level. This is one way of getting citizens involved in the entire process of making the purpose of the budget clear, making the process transparent and having the execution monitored.

Who was Involved?


The requirement of popular participation in local decision-making prompted municipalities to experiment with citizen participation, ranging from the presentation of budget proposals for public comment to the actual involvement in decision-making of delegates representing individual sub-areas within the municipality. The role of the municipal administration is key to the breadth and depth of the programme, led by local govenrments and municipal mayors. Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Gravitai, Caxias do Sul, Belo Horizonte, and Santo Andre local governments/Municipalities instituted a participatory budgeting system; this provides a unique opportunity to examine the challenges involved in organising and implementing popular participation at the regional level. The impact of the operation is potentially far reaching.
 
Porto Alegre was the first to develop and institutionalise a participatory budget. The process allowed each sub-area to have a voice in the annual allocation of capital investments.

What was the Process?


What was the Impact?


Participation:  The participatory budgeting process is primarily an instrument of empowerment and social inclusion. Participation and social impact are the most important dimensions. Taking the budget process to the community level has allowed poorer segments of the population to be part of the decision-making process. It has also allowed more women to participate since they tend to avoid meetings away from their communities. Lower-income communities coordinate their action to ensure that their demands are included in the list of funding requests. The opportunity to participate in decisions regarding the allocation of public funds for projects has fostered a shift in the local political culture from confrontational tactics and corrupt political bargaining to constructive debate and civic engagement in governance. It has triggered changes in the relations between the poor and their municipality as each side develops a better understanding of needs, constraints and mutual roles and responsibilities. Priorities for investments are selected during the regional and thematic plenaries in accordance with the overall number of votes cast for each theme, and the three highest scores determine the thematic priorities for the whole jurisdiction. Even though different priorities are expressed in each cycle, recurring themes are evident in the consistent ranking of “housing,” “education,” “street paving,” and “basic sanitation” among the top priorities. At the state level, “agriculture,” “education” and “transportation” emerged as consensus investment priorities.
 
Resource allocation procedures ensure that most budget categories receive resources to meet the highest priority needs of the citizens. However, the apportionment of the budget among thematic categories is rather complex and is not well understood outside the departments most directly involved. At the state level, the resource allocation process has to balance between urban and rural interests and the criteria clearly favour smaller  communities.
 
Investment in Lower Income Areas: In all municipalities, the proportion of investments serving lower income communities has increased. The location of projects is related to participation, which in turn is related to household income. Mapping statistical information from Porto Alegre, Santo Andre, Caxias do Sul, and Rio Grande do Sul confirms the process's participation rules and resource allocation criteria on empowerment, social needs and redistribution in a region and a country where income disparities are large and the gap is growing.
 
This information is taken from More >>

 

Gender Budgeting in South Africa


An interesting experience in South Africa is the so called “group-focused budgeting” or “agenda budgeting”. In South Africa there are two very popularly documented cases that illustrate it. One, the “Women’s Budget Initiative” (WBI) started in 1994, immediately after the end of apartheid. Women participate in deliberating, and in setting the purpose, process, execution, and monitoring of the budget. It therefore becomes a driving force for gender equality and equity. The other successful case in South Africa is the “Children’s Budget Initiative” (CBI). We provide a brief overview of WBI here. For further information on CBI, see IDASA publication Children's Budget Initiative
 
The WBI was launched in 1995 at the end of the apartheid era. During this period, black South Africans were denied jobs and educational opportunities, and their access to economic opportunities and basic services such as housing, health, and transport was limited. Furthermore, black women were denied participation in various aspects of life and were forced to do menial jobs under exploitative conditions, often coupled with violence and sexual harassment. In 1994, after the first democratic elections in South Africa, most of the parliamentarians in the new government were involved in the struggle for women’s equality during the apartheid era. They were keen to establish and regulate policies that were gender-sensitive and also ensure the government’s commitment to implement these policies.
 
The idea behind the budget exercise was to analyse any form of public expenditure or method of raising revenue in the context of the benefits that would go to women and girls in relation to men and boys. The first phase of the initiative focused on four sectors—welfare, education, housing, and the Reconstruction and Development Program—as well as on the cross-cutting themes of taxation and public sector employment. The second phase, launched in early 1997, included areas such as health, justice, safety and security, correctional services, transport, home and foreign affairs, agriculture, land affairs, and energy. Under the initiative, public expenditures were analysed in three categories, namely:

Who was involved?


What was the process?


Generally, a gender analysis of the budget in all of the key ministries and development sectors in South Africa took place over a period of four years. This work is documented in four books entitled Women‘s Budget, published by IDASA.

What was the impact?


A key outcome of the project is the inclusion of gender case studies in the results compiled on the parliamentary budget day. In the fourth year, five case studies were published, covering such diverse areas as local government, donor funding, and the gender implications of allocations for job creation.
 
Analysis of pension policies (1997) indicated that, although women were predominant in the workforce in the informal sector and in seasonal, part-time and contractual work, policies that provided for pension and retirement funds were not extended to these sectors. Similarly, transport subsidies applied only to those who held weekly or monthly tickets, discriminating against those who did not hold regular jobs. Unemployed people in search of jobs and those working in the informal sector (most of whom are women) who traveled at irregular intervals and by varying routes did not qualify for the subsidy.
 
Universities have incorporated gender budgets into either standard teaching programs or the courses offered for non-traditional students. The Commonwealth Secretariat is supporting a pilot project in South Africa called the Gender and Macroeconomic Policy Initiative. This project was introduced within less than a year of publication of the first research of the WBI and is led by the Department of Finance.
 
Education
Approximately 85 percent of the education budget was allocated to primary and secondary education. Higher education accounted for about 15 percent of the budget, and at this level, women outnumbered men. However, men dominated in courses related to science and technology, areas that promised higher rewards for graduates in later life, and that were more expensive in terms of state allocations. In 1995, 20 percent of adult South African women and 16 percent of men were illiterate. However, just 1 percent of that year‘s education budget was allocated to adult basic education. WBI argued that the funding was inadequate and disadvantaged both men and women. According to the latest available information, this figure has increased to 2 percent of the education budget, perhaps still not sufficient to bring about significant improvements in adult education (Call to Spend More on Adult Education,” Sunday Times (Johannesburg), 2 March 2003. Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303020097.html).
 
Public Works Program
WBI found out that 40 percent of the employees in public works programs were women. Women occupied only 27 percent of management positions in the national government and only 38 percent in provincial administrations. While 37 percent of the men received training, only 32 percent of the women did. WBI proposed gender sensitisation of these programs by providing women with both (1) immediate income-earning opportunities in the form of jobs, and (2) future income-enhancing activities in the form of training. As a result, out of 42,000 jobs created by the Working for Water Program in the first quarter of 1998, 55 percent were allocated to women.
 
Accountability
One of the objectives of this exercise was to make the functioning of the government transparent and to hold it accountable for implementing gender-responsive policies in the post-apartheid era. In one such instance, the gender budget analysis revealed that despite the government‘s adoption of a Domestic Violence Act and the formal allocation of 2 million rand (the currency of South Africa) for its implementation, no financial expenditures were actually made.
 
this information was taken from .... More >>