Citizen Budget (CI0016)

Commitment 1: Develop and publish a citizen’s budget as of 2019 June 2019-June 2020 Lead implementing agency/actor Ministry delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of Budget and State's Portfolio Commitment description What is the public problem that the commitment will address? A great number of budget documents and information are available through several channels, especially on Administration Internet site. However, these budget and informations documents cannot be easily exploited by the population because of their relative complexity. This situation does not ensure a more active citizen participation in the management of public affairs with a view to more efficiency in public action. What is the commitment ? The citizen’s budget is a document which aims to briefly show and make easily accessible to the public, data and information in the state budget. This commitment ensures the production and publication of the simplified budget version, each year, with illustrations (pictures). How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? Its implementation shall enable any citizen to better understand the budget, its operation as well as the Government budget policy decisions. Why is this commitment
relevant to OGP values?
This commitment ensures the improvement of budget
transparency by facilitating the public's access to budget
information.
In fact, the citizen’s budget shall provide any citizen with the
possibility and opportunity to understand more the state
budget and its operation as well.
It shall also ensure citizen participation in the management of
public affairs.
Additional information
In the citizen’s Budget development process, civil society's
participation and involvement are expected.
Important activity having a
verifiable deliverable Start date End date
Develop 2019 Citizen’s
Budget
Thursday, January 31, 2019 15 février 2019
Put on line 2019 Citizen’s
Budget
March 1st, 2019 31 mars 2019
Develop 2020 Citizen’s
Budget
Friday, January 31, 2020 15 février 2020
Put on line 2020 Citizen’s
Budget
March 1st, 2020 31 mars 2020
Contact information
Name of Responsible person
from the implementing
agency
Mr Adama SALL
Title, Ministry
Cabinet Chief, Secretary of State to the Prime Minister in
charge of Budget and State's Portfolio.
Email and Phone
- salladama@yahoo.fr ;
- +225 20 21 59 95.
Other
involved
stakeholders
State actors
involved
CSOs, private
sector,
multilaterals,
working groups
Civil Society Organization

1. Develop and publish a citizen’s budget as of 2019

Commitment description as it appears in the action plan:

"The citizen’s budget is a document which aims to briefly show and make easily accessible to the public, data and information in the state budget. This commitment ensures the production and publication of the simplified budget version, each year, with illustrations (pictures)."

Milestones:

1. Develop 2019 Citizen’s Budget
2. Put on line 2019 Citizen’s Budget
3. Develop 2020 Citizen’s Budget
4. Put on line 2020 Citizen’s Budget”

Lead implementing agency/actor: Ministry delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of Budget and State's Portfolio / Civil society organizations

Start Date: June 2019

End Date: June 2020

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see Côte d'Ivoire’s 2018-2020 action plan: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Cote-Divoire_Action-Plan_2018-2020_EN.pdf.

Context and design

A significant number of documents relating to the state budget are already available to the public, especially on the Ministry of Budget website; however, they are difficult for most of the population to use and understand. Limited budget literacy and the ability to access budget documents inhibits active participation from citizens in the development and follow- up of public budgets. [1]

Indeed, expert organizations consider budget transparency in Côte d’Ivoire remains low. In 2019, the country ranked 83^rd out of 117 in the Open Budget Survey, conducted by the International Budget Partnership [2], with an overall score of 34 points out of 100. Experts interviewed by the IRM researcher stated that, before 2019, the government only shared budget information through press conferences and complex technical documents: 5 out of 8 key budget documents were being published, according to the International Budget Partnership, with varying degrees of quality and accessibility (some, like pre-budget statements and mid-year reviews, were solely for internal use or published late). [3] Civil society actors also noted the challenges of “budget illiteracy”, or the population’s limited capacity to understand budget documents. As a result, the population could not evaluate government priorities leading the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the budget, and participation in the budget cycle was very limited. [4]

This commitment aimed to properly inform the population about the state’s budget process through a Citizens’ Budget, a shorter version of the authorized budget, which is easy-to-understand and illustrated. [5] The commitment sought to produce and release a Citizens’ Budget for 2019 and 2020. [6] As recorded in the action plan, activities could be quickly confirmed by estimating whether the 2019 and 2020 citizens’ budgets were drafted and published on the General Directorate of Budget and Finance website. The commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information, facilitating access to budget information by making this data more accessible and comprehensible to the public.

This commitment is considered to have a modest potential impact on access to budget information, provided that publication becomes routine government practice past 2020. While not explicitly outlined in the commitment text, civil society will play a role in drafting the Citizens’ Budget; this is a notable entry point for civil society involvement in budget transparency and processes. One civil society representative, who was interviewed by the IRM researcher, concurred that the Citizens’ Budget could help the general public to understand how budgets are drafted and implemented. [7]

However, a civil society representative also noted that this commitment fails to provide citizens with the opportunity to participate in the budget process, only releasing information when the budget is finalized. [8] There were no opportunities for offline publishing or dissemination the Citizens’ Budget in rural communities were absent; this reduces the commitment’s scope as internet access is under 50% nationwide. [9]

Early results

The commitment was fully implemented. The first Citizens’ Budget, a simplified version of the State Budget with accessible language and illustrations, was uploaded to the Ministry of the Budget’s website in May 2019, in PDF format. [10] Similar documents for 2019, 2020 and 2021 were drafted and uploaded. [11]

In terms of content, the document focuses on the budget approved by the Parliament, describes the budget cycle in detail and presents context (objectives, definitions and supporting legal texts, revenue collection and economic hypothesis, analysis of expenditures, principal investments anticipated by sectors and projects, etc.). The 2020 version of the Citizens’ Budget reveals that the government has transitioned from a “means budget” (which emphasizes expenses incurred) to a “programme budget” (objectives with well-defined results to be obtained).

Government representatives from the Technical Committee concluded that the Citizens’ Budget was collaborative, with frequent stakeholder meetings, including civil society representatives. Civil society input was considered and the International Budget Partnership methodological guide was used as reference. [12] In terms of adding to the overall purpose of securing citizen participation in public affairs, government officials reported that the Citizens’ Budget had facilitated understanding and ownership of the budget by diverse segments of the population. [13]

The government organized various distribution activities, beginning with publication of the 2019 Citizens’ Budget on April 30, 2019, in the presence of the Minister in charge of the Budget and State’s Portfolio. In July 2019, an information campaign was held in five regional cities and towns, as well as discussions with civil society and private sector actors. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, distribution activities were carried out through print, radio and television broadcast, and an animated film that explained the budget cycle and Citizens’ Budget. [14]

In summary, this commitment resulted in major change with budget transparency, through the yearly publication of a Citizens’ Budget. The IRM considers the publication of Citizens’ Budget a success, as previously no comprehensive budget was accessible to the wider population. Additionally, government consultation with civil society about the content of the documents signifies a new commitment between state actors entrusted with budget process and civil society. The value of television, radio and online outreach was also crucial to raise awareness and control of the document.

Nevertheless, civil society representatives observed that there could have been more comprehensive consultation earlier in the Citizens' Budget drafting process. Government representatives stated that the 2019 and 2020 Citizens’ Budgets followed the International Budget Partnership's recommended methodology. They also communicated with PSCI-PGO members during several working sessions and regular meetings, to reach consensus on its content. [15] Nevertheless, civil society representatives reported that they had only received the Citizens’ Budget in a workshop after it had been refined by public administration. [16]

It is also important to note that the Citizens’ Budget is issued following approval of the state budget. [17] Therefore, while it affords transparency of the budget and process, the document fails to encourage public participation in the process. Civil society also saw that public use of the Citizens’ Budget could be improved by more inclusive communication. [18] According to this interviewee, along with distribution efforts, the decentralized administration should arrange more workshops or informative seminars and training sessions in the regions. Civic organizations should also be supported in public distribution of the Citizens’ Budget. [19]

Next steps

The Citizens’ Budget is a positive step toward budget transparency. To continue building on this success, the IRM offers the following recommendations:

• Regarding the process, the government should involve civil society from the first stages of developing Citizens’ Budgets to determine which information is most useful and how it should be presented, as advised by the International Budget Partnership. [20]
• To communicate effectively, the Citizens’ Budget should be presented in the official languages of the country, distributed with the authorized budget and distributed in a timely manner. [21] Distribution projects should involve citizens who lack internet access with budget newsletters on paper or with awareness activities, such as town hall meetings or media campaigns. One journalist who was interviewed by the IRM researcher suggested that the government should involve community opinion leaders. [22]
• Beyond transparency, the government could improve public accountability and participatory budgeting throughout the budget cycle, offering tangible opportunities for citizens to study the budget or collaborate with policymakers on monitoring activities to hold them accountable. Côte d’Ivoire can study the Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policies, developed by the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency [23] as well as international examples. [24] Good practices and innovative public involvement initiatives in budget creation include advisory committees and public consultations.