| Fiscal
openness in COVID-19
emergency response and
stimulus plans
|
|
This
month our
priority
continued to be
enabling and
facilitating
fiscal openness
(transparency +
participation +
accountability)
in the emergency
response and
stimulus plans.
In this note,
we share evidence
on the crucial
role that civil
society
organizations have
been playing in
supporting and
complementing some
of the emergency
policy responses.
Public
participation and
civic engagement
have driven some
very positive
achievements so
far to check and
improve the
COVID-19 fiscal
packages around
the world,
correcting and
remedying in many
cases the
unavoidable flaws
and mistakes in
emergency
responses to
coronavirus.
We launched a
Network effort to
identify the
datasets required
to properly track
the 1) emergency
spending to
prevent, detect,
control, treat,
and contain the
virus, 2) stimulus
packages for
countercyclical
actions to
reactivate the
economy and
support affected
people and
sectors, and 3) revenue
sources to
ensure the
financial
requirements of
the government
during the
emergency and for
the stimulus
measures. For
those champion
governments
willing to inform
in timely,
accessible, and
clear ways on the
costs of
overcoming
COVID-19 and
economic
recession, the
GIFT network will
be providing a
guide with
concrete examples.
Consult here
the co-creation
dashboards
developed during
the sessions.
|
|
|
The
International
Monetary Fund
(IMF), GIFT’s Lead
Steward, published
a Special
Series notes
to help members
address the
economic effects
of COVID-19. Two,
in particular,
reflect on the
work of the GIFT
Network, Keeping
the Receipts:
Transparency,
Accountability,
and Legitimacy in
Emergency
Responses (report)
and Digital
Solutions for
Direct Cash
Transfers in
Emergencies (report
/ blog).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Open
Budget Survey 2019 results
are in!
April
30, 2020
International Budget
Partnership
|
|
The
International
Budget Partnership
has launched the
results of the
Open Budget Survey
of 2019. The
survey finds
modest improvement
in budget
transparency
scores globally,
reversing the
decline seen in
the last round
(OBS 2017), and
restoring the
upward trend shown
since the survey
began in 2006. In
case you missed
the launch, you
can watch the
video and consult
the results here.
In the middle of
the COVID-19
crisis, the
message is clear:
do not leave this
serious crisis go
to waste… Take
this opportunity
to do things in
fiscal
transparency and
public
participation in
ways we thought we
could not do
before.
Don’t forget to
join the call to
action to promote
the open budget
agenda: (1)
sufficient levels
of budget
transparency, (2)
increased
opportunities for
public
participation, (3)
stronger
monitoring and
oversight of
budget execution,
and (4) sustained
improvements over
time. Sum
your voice now!
|
|
|
|
We
want to particularly
congratulate all GIFT
members and partners
that improved their
stance in budget
transparency from 2017
to 2019! And we are
ready to work hard for
reversing adverse
trends, and for pushing
for higher achievements!
|
|
|
In
case you missed
the OBS 2019
launching!
|
|
|
|
Better
Budget Dataquest for
Sustainable Development
– Mexico
April
30, 2020
|
|
|
This
week we presented the
results for the Better
Budget Dataquest 2020 in
Mexico and the three
winning projects:
1st
place SemaforoDeDatos
Team
2nd
place ThinkTeamMX
Team
3rd
place EconoUNAM
Team
|
|
|
We
want to thank and
congratulate all the
organizations involved in
the development of the
Dataquest, led by Centro
de Investigación Económica
y Presupuestaria (CIEP),
UNDP Mexico, SocialTIC and
Transparencia
Presupuestaria of the
Ministry of Finance.
|
|
Use
of PEFA Reports to Assess
the Readiness of PFM
Systems to Respond to
COVID-19 Challenge
March
31
Public
Expenditure and Financial
Accountability (PEFA)
|
|
PEFA
assessment reports are one
out of several sources of
information available to
support stakeholders’
efforts to get government
systems prepared for an
effective response. The
PEFA Assessment
Framework is the only
assessment tools that
offer a comprehensive
diagnostic of the PFM
system in a country, from
budget formulation over
procurement, cash
management and internal
controls to external audit
and scrutiny. These
reports contain invaluable
information on the PFM
systems, mainly on their
robustness but also to
some extent on their
flexibility, which may
help governments and their
partners use existing PEFA
reports to assess the
readiness of PFM systems
to respond to COVID-19
challenges. Read
the whole description
here.
|
|
Artificial
Intelligence for
Development – empatía
April
23
Latin American
Initiative for Open Data
(ILDA)
|
|
|
ILDA
and the Latam Digital
Center, with the support
of the Center for
International Development
(IDRC), and the
Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) in coordination
with the FAIR-LAC
initiative have started a
cooperation to understand
and develop new knowledge
on the use of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) to solve
public problems within the
framework of the global
initiative “Artificial
Intelligence for
Development”
(AI4D). This cooperation
has three objectives: 1)
Promote a better
understanding of how the
public sector should
develop AI policies for
development, considering
ethical, political, social
and economic aspects 2)
Promote decision-making
capabilities in AI design
and implementation, and 3)
Promote projects that
explore the resolution of
public problems through
the use of AI, focusing on
applications in the public
sector.
AI4D
LAC invites government
institutions, civil
society, academia or the
private sector to compete
for financing and
technical support for the
development and practical
application of AI
techniques in the region.
The
call is open until May
16.
|
|
COVID-19
Africa Public Finance
Response Monitor
April
26
Collaborative Africa
Budget Reform Initiative
(CABRI
|
|
The COVID-19
Africa Public Finance
Response Monitor provides
an overview of expected
financing gaps posed by
COVID-19 and how African
governments are responding
to these through
expenditure
reprioritisation,
efficiency gains, resource
mobilisation, social
assistance, business
support, and monetary and
macrofinancial policy
measures. It also provides
information on health
financing in Africa (as a
proxy of pandemic
preparedness) and
up-to-date statistics of
confirmed COVID-19 cases,
tests and deaths.
|
|
Open
Response + Open Recovery
April
28
Open Government
Partnership (OGP)
|
|
IMF
and World Bank Spring
Meetings
April
15-19 |
|
The
World Bank and the IMF,
GIFT lead stewards, held
the 2020 Spring Meetings,
moved to a virtual format,
with remote access to many
meetings. Watch the
conferences and interviews
of the IMF here and
the World Bank here.
Among the outcomes, the
IMF put together a handy
list below:
|
|
|
|
|
