The
GIFT’s
Coordination
Team changes
and evolves
As
you know, the
coordination team is
an important
component of the
GIFT network. Along
with the
contributions from
the stewards, the
coordination team
makes possible for
the network to stay
in action, to be
responsive, and to
keep moving forward.
It is a group of
highly qualified,
resourceful and
competitive
professionals who
are in charge of the
substantive work
streams and
activities of the
action network
related to norms
harmonization,
principles,
technical
assistance,
dissemination, open
data stream and use
of technologies.
Such team is always
learning and
evolving. We are
very pleased to
inform that Lorena
Rivero,
GIFT Manager for
Knowledge, Technical
Assistance and
Collaboration, is
moving forward to
become part of the
Fiscal Affairs
Department of the
International
Monetary Fund. We
congratulate the
IMF, a GIFT lead
steward, for such a
magnificent addition
to their ranks.
Lorena was part of
the GIFT
coordination team
for 2 years, and her
legacy is profound
and long-lasting in
practically all of
the workstreams of
the network. We
express to her our
eternal gratitude
and wish her a
beautiful journey in
this next step of
her brilliant
career.
We are also thrilled
to announce that Aura
Martínez
is joining the GIFT
team to undertake
the functions that
Lorena was covering.
Aura has extensive
experience on public
financial
management, open
budgets and public
participation in
fiscal policies, as
she worked for many
years at the
Ministry of Finance
in Mexico, and also
at local government
level (in great
Mexico City). Aura
has been a GIFT
transparency
champion since 2014,
when she was part of
the magnificent team
pushing strongly
this agenda at
Hacienda, Mexico. We
had counted on
Aura’s support and
leadership from her
government positions
and now we are very
happy to have her as
part of the team.
We are also pleased
to inform that Marianne
(Yanne) Fabian
is joining the
coordination team.
Until recently a
champion of the
fiscal openness team
at the Department of
Budget and
Management of the
Philippines, a lead
steward, Yanne has
extensive experience
on budget reforms,
open government and
public participation
in governance. More
recently engaged in
the local governance
program in the
Philippines, she has
facilitated a series
of nationwide public
dialogues between
government and
citizens centered on
the country’s
COVID-19 response
programs and
strategies. Yanne
will support GIFT
public participation
and collaboration
activities and will
be in charge of the
outreach and the
dissemination
efforts of the
network, as
Communications
Coordinator.
We are finally
announcing that Elena
Delfino
will be also saying
goodbye to the GIFT
team. We are very
grateful for her
work and her kind
disposition to
support strongly the
team with always
fresh and good
energy.
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Launch
of Jamaica’s
InvestmentMap
November
4
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Jamaica’s
InvestmentMap is a
platform developed by the
Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) in coordination
with the Government of
Jamaica that seeks to
improve the transparency and
efficiency of public
investment. It allows users
to provide inputs to public
institutions about how
projects are being executed
by providing: a way to
collect the level of
satisfaction of each user
regarding the execution of
the project, and the ability
to leave comments and upload
photos, for enhanced
grassroots monitoring.
During the online launch
event, hosted by the
Ministry of Finance and
Public Service, authorities
from the IDB and GIFT
highlighted the relevance of
technology and user-oriented
tools to enable citizen
participation, and the key
role of using the people’s
inputs to improve decision
making in the public
infrastructure sector.
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Inter-American
Open Data Program to
prevent and combat
corruption (PIDA):
training launch session
November
23 |
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Under
the framework of the
Organization of American
States’ (OAS) PIDA program,
public servants from
Argentina, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Panama and the
Dominican Republic started a
capacity-building program
that will harness their
abilities to use open data
to prevent and combat
corruption. The objective of
these training sessions,
organized by the OAS’ Department
for Effective Public
Management, is to
create open data champions
within the governments and
bring about positive impact
in transparency, citizen
participation and improving
public service delivery.
During the launch session,
high level authorities from
all the countries called
attention to: the importance
of user-centered approaches,
the need to incentivize the
data demand through
bottom-up initiatives, and
the essential strengthening
of the capacities of public
institutions. Key speakers
from CAF, Open Data Charter,
GIFT and Colombia’s
government highlighted the
work they’re currently
endeavoring to improve open
procurement, provide
guidance on fiscal
transparency amidst the
COVID-10 pandemic, and
engage civil society in data
driven anticorruption
efforts, amongst others.
Find here GIFT’s
presentation (in
Spanish).
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Guanajuato,
Mexico, launches fiscal
transparency website
using our Open Fiscal
Data schema
November
25 |
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Sub-national
governments are making their
way in the path for fiscal
transparency and open data.
As they delivered 2021
Executive’s Budget Proposal
to their local Congress,
Guanajuato’s Ministry of
Finance, Investment and
Administration, in Mexico,
launched its first
Fiscal Transparency Portal.
The key features include a
user-centered design,
targeted to their specific
audiences, an interactive
citizen’s version of the
Executive’s budget proposal,
information on investment
projects, and data bases in
our Open Fiscal Data Schema
for the enacted budgets and
their execution from
2018-2020. It is also
important to highlight they
published their open data
publication plan for the
site, so people know what to
expect in the future and
engage soon and frequently.
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Work
in progress: we are
improving the Open
Fiscal Data Packager!
Stay
Tuned |
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spoke, we listened. We are
moving forward with the next
iteration of the Open Fiscal
Data Packager! We are
currently working with the Datopian
team to bring about new ways
to power up your endeavors
with a renewed packager. While
our current
version has helped
transparency of expenditure
and revenue information move
forward all around the globe,
we know there is room to do
more. Stay tuned.
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GIFT’S Coordination Team appointments
As
we see our colleagues embark
in new adventures, we are
sure we’ll keep them in the
community that they
themselves so diligently
helped built, and we welcome
new faces and expertise to
our team.
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Aura
Martínez Oriol
Coordinator
for Knowledge,
Technical
Assistance and
Collaboration
@AuraErendira
She
has vast experience in
government openness
aimed at improving
public management,
specifically through
innovation,
transparency and
public participation.
From the Ministry of
Finance and Public
Credit of Mexico, she
promoted the
improvement of the
Open Budget Index,
implemented the
contracting and open
fiscal standards, as
well as the platforms
for extractive
industries,
infrastructure, and
delivery of state aid
and subsidies, among
others.
She
has supported
Ministries of
Finance at different
levels of government
and collaborated
with international
organizations such
as the UN,
Transparency
International, and
the OAS, as well as
worked with
different civil
society
organizations.
Aura holds a B.A. in
political science
and international
relations, as well
as a Master’s in
Public
Administration from
Columbia University.
She has received
academic
distinctions for the
use of quantitative
and qualitative
methods in the
social and economic
sciences, and is the
recipient of the Integrity
Icon México
distinction, for a
career with
integrity in the
public service.
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Marianne
Fabian
Communications and
Outreach Coordinator
@mariannefabian
As
a good governance
advocate, Marianne
has seven years of
extensive experience
in the promotion of
open government and
public financial
management reforms.
As
previous Country
Point of Contact of
the Open Government
Partnership (OGP) in
the Philippines, she
led the co-creation
and assessment of
three OGP National
Action Plans from
2015 to 2019.
Alongside this, she
also facilitated the
development of the
Philippine
government’s
six-year roadmap on
participatory
governance.
During
her tenure as the
Technical Secretariat
of the Fiscal Openness
Working Group in the
Philippine Department
of Budget and
Management, she led
strategic
communications,
outreach and policy
research activities
which contributed
directly and
significantly in the
increase of the
Philippine Open Budget
Index, propelling the
Philippines 13 notches
higher and to the 10th
position in global
fiscal transparency
rankings in 2019 from
23rd in 2015.
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New
report by IBP and the
INTOSAI Development
Initiative: All hands on
deck! Harnessing
accountability through
external public audits
November
17 |
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We
recommend you check-out the
new paper: All hands on
deck! Harnessing
accountability through
external public audits,
a new report co-produced by
IBP with the INTOSAI
Development Initiative, that
presents an assessment of
national oversight systems in
117 countries (made possible
by the Open Budget Survey) and
provides recommendations for
strengthening all components
of the accountability
ecosystem. The full report is
available
in Spanish, French and Arabic
and there is a digital Executive
summary.
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The
International Budget
Partnership, a GIFT lead
steward, has been advancing
very strongly its work on
tax from a civil society
perspective as part of its
Tax Equity Initiative. We
are so pleased to know they
are coming to add so much to
the knowledge, discussions
and advocacy for equitable
taxation around the world.
Take a look:
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