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The International Budget Partnership (IBP) partners globally with budget analysts, community organizers, and advocates working to advance public budget systems that work for people, not special interests.

Who We Are

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Demonstrating that Democracy Delivers and Supporting Vibrant Civil Society

Moreover, this work has led to concrete service delivery improvements and positively impacted underserved communities.

IBP, through the AAI and other initiatives, works with civil society and government partners to demonstrate that democracy delivers tangible benefits to citizens. Many of these efforts cut across various sectors (e.g., health, WASH, education and agriculture).

A key part of our approach is working within a broad-based, vibrant community of country-based civic actors. We play a vital role in supporting civil society groups through training and technical assistance to strengthen their budget monitoring skills and help them to develop more effective communication and advocacy strategies.

We have deep experience in network building and peer engagement, reflecting our understanding that peer learning is vital to support civil society organizations in emerging fields.

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“Unshackling Auditors” Project Overview

SAIs are essential for accountable governance, but too often their recommendations are ignored.

With USAID support, IBP worked with SAIs and CSOs in five target countries (Argentina, Ghana, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania) to increase government responsiveness to audits, foster peer learning, and document their approaches and impact.

IBP provided technical and financial support and connected actors at the country and international level to secure actions on audit recommendations

Nearly every country in the world has a functioning supreme audit institution (SAI) that is mandated to check the legality and accuracy of public accounts and to report their findings to drive improvements. SAIs have one of the toughest jobs in government: ensuring that powerful politicians, officials and institutions are held accountable.

Yet, while essential for accountable governance, SAIs face serious limitations in many countries. As the Open Budget Survey shows, audit reports are withheld from the public, hearings on audit findings take place behind closed doors and findings are not acted upon.

USAID awarded IBP a $549,993 cooperative agreement for a pilot project to establish partnerships between the national Supreme Audit institution (SAI) and domestic CSOs to persuade governments to respond to long-standing or consistent SAI recommendations that have been ignored by government.

The award’s period of performance was May 7, 2019 - January 6, 2022

In five target countries (Argentina, Ghana, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania), IBP worked with CSO and SAI partners to increase government responsiveness to audits, foster peer learning, document their approaches and impact, and connect with other actors at the country and international level to achieve their strategic objectives.

IBP provided technical and financial support as partners worked to secure actions on audit recommendations in their countries.

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Why this Work is Important for Combating Corruption and Promoting Good Governance

Lack of transparency and civic participation open spaces for corruption, and the budget execution process (how budgets are actually spent) is fertile ground for corruption.

Our work on audits and with Supreme Audit Institutions is particularly important because audits are the best check on irregular expenditure.

IBP’s approach enables collective learning and action between civil society and state actors with constitutional mandates and skills to root out corruption.

Lack of transparency and civic participation open spaces for corruption, and the budget execution process (how budgets are actually spent) is fertile ground for corruption. Governments publish less information and legislative oversight tends to be weaker during budget implementation,

IBP’s work with civil society partners and with auditors is a powerful way to tackle corruption.

Our work on audits and with Supreme Audit Institutions is particularly important because audits are the best check on irregular expenditure, but auditors often lack independence and are paired with weak parliaments. Strengthening the accountability ecosystem is key.

IBP’s approach enables collective learning and action between civil society and state actors with constitutional mandates and skills to root out corruption.

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Country Level Results

The initiative demonstrated that collaboration between SAIs and CSOs is an important factor for increasing government responsiveness to audit recommendations.

Utilizing their broad networks and relationships with media, CSOs were able to build alliances and grassroots pressure for government to address audit recommendations.

These partnerships contributed to important reforms in government programs in line with audit recommendations

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Civil society and auditors unite to drive change

Combating Chagas disease

Argentina

Ghana

School feeding program

Nepal

Sierra Leone

Tanzania

Development projects - user committees

Water & sanitation in schools

Primary education infrastructure

In each country, we tackle issues in audits that matter to underserved communities.

In Nepal, the SAI and our partner Freedom Forum have been Improving Accountability and Sustainability of Development Projects. Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) developed for the first time a unified guideline for user committees tasked with managing local development funds for projects such as new roads, water and sewerage works, a measure called for by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and IBP’s CSO partner, Freedom Forum. The new guideline replaces the ad hoc rules that were previously used by local committees to manage development funds and is expected to reduce mismanagement and corruption in the use of these funds.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) also formed a taskforce and met with Freedom Forum, the Municipal Association of Nepal and the National Association of Rural Municipalities (a national association representing 753 local governments) to resolve the legal and practical issues related to the execution of audit recommendations regarding the user committees.

In Ghana, the Audit Service and SEND Ghana addressed accountability and coordination challenges in the national school feeding program serving 2.6 million pupils.

In Tanzania, a coalition of civil society organizations led by the Wajibu Institute engaged with the National Audit Office to push for the rehabilitation of dilapidated school infrastructure that has left 4 million children without proper classrooms.

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Improving WASH in Sierra Leone’s schools

(Left) IBP partner, the Budget Advocacy Network interviews students at a primary school in Baw Baw Village about the lack of running water in their school, 2020. (Right) Pre-school students play around a broken well at school in Baw Baw Village, 2020.

In Sierra Leone, the Audit Service and IBP’s CSO partner, the Budget Advocacy Network, coordinated their efforts to ensure proper water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools across the country. They conducted surprise school visits with members of the public accounts committee and the media, and discussed the audit recommendations and use of school fee subsidies towards WASH with school authorities at all levels. Following advocacy to establish earmarked funds for WASH in school fee subsidies, the education ministry established a unit focused on improving water, sanitation and hygiene in schools.

Having adequate WASH facilities is now required in order for schools to receive funding.

https://internationalbudget.org/stories/sierra-leone-civil-society-teams-with-auditor-to-assure-children-study-in-safe-healthy-schools/

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Fighting Chagas Disease in Argentina

https://internationalbudget.org/stories/argentinian-auditors-unite-with-civil-society-to-fight-a-rampant-disease/

Argentina’s administration acted on the issue of chronic underfunding and underspending on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Chagas.

As a result of coordinated engagements by the SAI and IBP’s CSO partner, the Asociacion Civil Por la lgualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), the Argentine government increased the budget to tackle Chagas to the highest allocation in the last ten years.

The government also initiated the opening of 18 regional offices for Chagas control. In addition, the Argentine government collaborated with ACIJ on a legal regulation based on the audit recommendations to govern the management of Chagas and a working group for communication and education about Chagas.

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Global Level Activities and Impacts

Important shifts in SAI-civil society collaboration

Engagement with the INTOSAI Capacity Building Committee (CBC) to develop the first-ever framework on SAI engagement with civil society and good practices portal

Ground-breaking All Hands on Deck report with IDI on the audit and oversight system

International learning exchanges with SAIs, CSOs and international partners such as IDI, GIZ and UNDESA

Our lessons and impact feature in the media and INTOSAI Journal

Enhancing learning and advocacy at international fora e.g. IMF/WB meetings, OGP Summit and USAID panel on cross-sectoral approaches at the IACC

This project advanced important shifts in how SAIs and members of the broader public audit community view and experience the benefits of collaborating with CSOs. At the global level, IBP engaged with SAIs, CSOs and international partners such as the INTOSAI Development Initiative to advance SAI-civil society collaboration.

Building on our engagement with the INTOSAI Capacity Building Committee (CBC), IBP contributed to the first-ever framework on SAI engagement with civil society and good practices portal
Ground-breaking All Hands on Deck report with IDI on the audit and oversight system
International learning exchanges with SAIs, CSOs and international partners such as IDI, GIZ and UNDESA, and documented country interventions and lessons from this work about the factors and conditions that lead to strong partnerships between SAIs and CSOs and their implications for scale and sustainability.
Our lessons and impact feature in the media at the national and global level and in the INTOSAI Journal
IBP raised the visibility of our work and promoted learning and collective advocacy at international fora e.g. IMF/WB meetings, OGP Summit and USAID panel on cross-sectoral approaches at the IACC

https://www.publicfinancefocus.org/viewpoints/2020/12/audit-institutions-transform-more-lives-when-amplified-civil-society-groups

https://blog-pfm.imf.org/en/pfmblog/2020/12/harnessing-accountability-through-external-public-audits

http://intosaijournal.org/enhancing-accountability-through-audits-lessons-from-collaborations-between-supreme-audit-institutions-and-civil-society-organizations/

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Key Challenges and How the Project Addressed Them

Significant obstacles regarding SAI independence and leadership of target institutions affecting SAI-civil society engagement (Ghana, Nepal, Sierra Leone).

Over the course of the project, there were significant obstacles regarding SAI independence and leadership of target institutions affecting SAI-civil society engagement and the accountability ecosystem more broadly in several countries. In Ghana, the executive directed the Auditor General to go on leave for a period of 123 days. The reason for this is political, and in response, the Auditor General released a statement that the directive had “serious implications for the constitutional independence of the office of the Auditor General.” In Sierra Leone, the Auditor General and her deputy were suspended weeks before her office was to present an annual audit of the government's handling of public finances in 2020.

In response, civil society took action to uphold the independence of the SAIs, including filing a court case in Ghana and advocacy with civil society and international organizations, such as the INTOSAI Development Initiative and AFROSAI-E, to reinstate the Auditor General and her deputy in Sierra Leone. IBP brokered dialogues between the domestic and international organizations to share insights and strategies to enhance accountability and communicated public statements upholding SAI independence. Meanwhile, despite the challenges regarding the leadership of the SAIs, we were able to sustain our partnership with the SAIs and continue our collective efforts to secure remedial actions on audit recommendations.

In Nepal, then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli dissolved parliament. The Supreme Court reinstated parliament and ordered that rival Sher Bahadur Deuba be appointed as prime minister. Freedom Forum was able to continue its engagement with stakeholders such as the Office of the Auditor General, media and associations of municipalities, and renewed its interaction with legislators as parliament began to function again and a full cabinet formed.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays to in-person gatherings and shifted operations to virtual engagements and ways of working. In Tanzania, for example, the impacts of COVID-19, as well as limitations on civic space in the context of elections hindered partners’ ability to meet with government representatives.

IBP and our partners were able to navigate these challenging circumstances to ensure meetings with stakeholders were convened and joint SAI-civil society advocacy for the implementation of audit recommendations continued. At the global level, we used virtual events and online meetings to continue to provide technical assistance to partners and facilitate learning exchanges, while partners used online channels and community radio to bring stakeholders together.

We could remove this as USAID suggested we don’t need to discuss it.

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Key Learnings

1) SAIs are confronting massive accountability deficits.

2) SAIs and CSOs bring different skills and approaches that can promote greater responsiveness from governments.

1) SAIs are confronting massive accountability deficits.

Too often the obstacles faced by SAIs are exacerbated by oversight systems and processes that do not enable them to be effective advocates for their own audit findings and recommendations.

2) SAIs and CSOs bring different skills and approaches that can promote greater responsiveness from governments.

CSOs are strong at popularizing audit findings through a variety of means, including supplementary research and evidence collection, and engagement with the media.

CSOs are less beholden to formal oversight timetables and have more flexibility in engaging with government officials and institutions than SAIs.

CSOs are good at building broad networks and alliances of civic actors, including professional associations and affected communities, who can pressure government to act.

In turn, CSOs benefit from the credibility of the evidence that SAIs bring and the formal spaces and relationships that SAIs can provide to advance actions on topics that CSOs care about.

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Key Learnings

3) SAI-CSO engagement alone is not a panacea to massive accountability deficits.

4) We are only scratching the surface in terms of engagement between SAIs and CSOs.

3) SAI-CSO engagement alone is not a panacea to massive accountability deficits.

These partnerships are most effective when complemented by other efforts to bolstering formal and informal checks and balances. This would include the presence of strong and independent media, freedom of information and expression, effective legislatures, political parties and leaders that believe in, promote, and practice democratic governance, etc.

4) We are only scratching the surface in terms of engagement between SAIs and CSOs.

These partnerships hold the potential of being much broader and bolder.

For example, in far too many countries, the independence of SAIs is under threat. CSOs can and should be more engaged in calls for protecting the independence of SAIs. In turn, SAIs can go farther in institutionalizing citizen engagement beyond a few specialized CSOs by engaging with broader citizen priorities and evidence to inform audit priorities and complement audit findings. This also can create a more engaged public constituency around audit findings and recommendations for those who have a stake in taking forward the results.

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Applying AAI lessons-learned to other initiatives

Paving the way for accountability and impact – we continue to foster SAI-civil society collaboration from audit planning to audit-follow up in our country work
Drawing on the Open Budget Survey, we promote dialogue between actors within and outside government to advance open and accountable budget practices
Strengthening budget credibility – we engage with SAIs and UNDESA to share good practices and develop and pilot a handbook for assessing and ensuring governments achieve budget promises

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AUDIT ACCOUNTABILITY INITIATIVE �A case of users committee in Nepal

Krishna Sapkota

Budget Researcher

Freedom Forum

February 2023

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Introduction & Issues

Democratic dream – a decentralized approach, ordinary citizens to manage scarce public resource, budget justice and equity

328,100 User's Committees, Rs 100 billion (roughly $800 million) spending annually
Guideline on UC Formation, Mobilization and Management -2017
Roads, Irrigation, Water, Drainage, among others

Challenges – Audit findings

Inadequate guidelines for UC roles and procedures in development projects
Non-compliance with existing guidelines, particularly restricting the use of heavy machinery and use of sub-contractors to undertake projects
Lack of effective monitoring and oversight of user committees
Elite capture leading to ‘phantom’ user committees, diversion of funds, and incomplete or poor-quality projects

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Impacts of the Issues – Big Picture

Big investment- not likely to yield anticipated results
Unaccountable spending of public funds
Weak citizen engagement and higher chance of elite capture
Contractors’ involvement – violation of basic norms
Breaking construction projects to not exceed Rs 10 million along with temporary formation of UC
Misuse of resources and increment of the costs

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Theory of Action & Approach

Communication & multi-stakeholder engagements among parliamentary oversight committees, OAG, MOFAGA, province/local gov, media, CSOs & audited entities will lead the actors to take remedial actions on recommendations

Help check illicit flow and spending of public money
Proper utilization of funds for local development works.
Engagement of local citizens in the development works to sustain initiative and increase chances for quality works

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AAI in Snapshots

Advancing Audit Accountability Meet - 2019

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Journalists’ Training on Audit Accountability

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Field Visit & Group Discussion with Local Community on User Committee’s Work

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Results

Draft unified guideline by PPMO on users committee reflecting inputs of FF , OAG & PAC
MOFAGA formed a taskforce, reviewed legal & practical issues on audit recommendations execution on users’ committees following series of meetings with FF, NARMIN, and MUAN
Bringing together relevant stakeholders (including PAC, OAG) to seek consensus on engaging PPMO to advance the guidelines
Continued promotion of media coverage of the issue
Follow up audits on user committees in one focus province that will enable further OAG-civil society engagement