Message
from the GIFT
Network Director
GIFT
Community News
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to Watch
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2020
is finally over…
It changed us
forever.
A Year-End Reflection
from the GIFT Network
Director
In
this blogpost, Juan
Pablo Guerrero writes to
the GIFT community about
the difficult year that
was, the value of fiscal
transparency during
times of crisis, and his
hopes for the year
ahead. Read more here.
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Universidade
de Sao Paulo’s fiscal
transparency project
recognized
December
4, 2020
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The Caring
for My Neighborhood
program, a fiscal transparency
and social participation
initiative of the Universidade
de Sao Paulo (USP) in
Brazil, won an honorable
mention from the 5th Luis
Fernando Computing Award last
December 4. The said award is
promoted by Brazil’s Web Media
’20 and given to innovation
projects that have a social
impact and promote society
improvements. Find out more
about the project’s citation here.
Congratulations, USP!
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| Atelier
sur la transparence budgétaire
en Afrique Francophone | 30
Novembre, 1er, 7 et 8 Décembre
2020 |
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IMF
holds regional seminar
on transparency for
Francophone Africa
December
8, 2020
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The
International Monetary Fund
held an online regional
workshop attended by
representatives from 16
countries in Francophone
Africa last December 8.
Featuring conversations around
issues related to government
response mechanisms to combat
the COVID-19 pandemic and
their financial implications,
the workshop served as an
effective venue for dialogue
between and among actors from
ministries of finance,
auditing authorities,
parliaments and civil society
from participating countries. GIFT
Network Director Juan Pablo
Guerrero participated
in a roundtable discussion
that was part of the workshop,
highlighting the relevance of
the fiscal transparency agenda
for regional development.
During the event, Guerrero
also shared that the French
language version of GIFT’s
publication on Fiscal
Data for Emergency
Response: Guide for
COVID-19 will
soon be available. Stay tuned
francophones!
Access GIFT’s presentation
(in French) here.
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In
Focus: Public
financial management
in the post-pandemic
in Argentina
December
10, 2020
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More
civil society organizations
(CSOs) around the world have
been tapping into
discussions related to
public financial management
after the pandemic. This
past December 10,
GIFT
Network Director Juan
Pablo Guerrero
participated in an online
forum that featured the
intersection of this agenda
with transparency and
integrity. The event was
hosted by the Center
for the Implementation of
Public Policies for Equity
and Growth (CIPPEC)
in Argentina. As one of the
event panelists, Guerrero
highlighted the need for
fiscal transparency in
emergency situations and
promoted the use of the COVID
guide both
as an analytical and a
practical tool for
ministries of finance and
auditing institutions, as
well as for CSOs and
academics.
Find GIFTs presentation (in
Spanish) here.
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Fostering
Cooperation and
Promoting Global
Integrity: Mexico
commemorates
International
Anti-Corruption Day
December
10, 2020
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The
observance of the
International
Anti-Corruption Day is aimed
at raising awareness about
this public problem and
fostering international
cooperation and
co-responsible actions
towards promoting integrity
at the global level. Various
government agencies and
international development
organizations in Mexico
jointly carried out a week-long
series of events to
commemorate the
International Day Against
Corruption 2020. The
GIFT team took part in this
proactive effort, with their Coordinator
for Knowledge, Technical
Assistance, and
Collaboration, Aura
Martinez,
participating in an online
panel, where she highlighted
the role of civil society
and governmental alliances,
as well as that of fiscal
transparency in building
public trust during the
pandemic on December 10.
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How
can governments stop
COVID-19 from supercharging
inequality?
December
14, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has
swept across a world that is
evidently unprepared to fight
it. Countries have fallen short
in efforts to craft effective
policies to fight inequality,
and many are even going
backwards in most of its
dimensions. To raise awareness
about this reality and explore
how governments can better
tackle the expanding gap between
the rich and the poor, Oxfam
International and the
Development Finance
International organized a panel
last December 14 with global
experts who shared insights
about current trends and ways to
move forward.
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Fiscal
Openness Accelerator
in the time of
COVID-19: Benin,
Nigeria, Senegal and
South Africa share
country updates
December
15, 2020
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Reflecting
on the impact of the
pandemic on the
progress of the
Fiscal Openness
Accelerator (FOA)
project, government
and civil society
leaders from Benin,
Nigeria, Senegal,
South Africa shared
country updates
during the Fiscal
Openness Accelerator
(FOA) Meeting
convened by the GlFT
and the
International Budget
Partnership (IBP) on
December 15. The
event served as an
avenue to assess and
reaffirm
commitments to
transparency and
accountability of
the FOA pilot
countries, as well
as to recognize
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that
the challenges ahead require
an all-hands-on-deck
approach and putting more
emphasis on the value of
citizen engagement in fiscal
policies.
But
despite the challenges
brought about by COVID-19,
participating countries
shared inspiring and
significant progress and
future plans in terms of
deepening the openness of
their national budget
process, and incorporating
public participation in
their budget cycle. To close
the meeting, the GIFT and
IBP teams provided a message
of support and guidance for
the next steps in the
efforts of the FOA pilot
countries towards delivering
quality and impactful public
participation mechanisms.
2020 has definitely been a
challenging year but 2021
seems to be more promising
for fiscal openness reforms!
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GIFT
Lead Stewards
convene high-level
panel on equity and
accountability in
COVID-19 spending
December
16, 2020
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The
International Budget
Partnership, the Indonesian
Ministry of Finance and the
International Monetary
Fund–which are all GIFT
Lead Stewards–joined in a
high-level virtual panel on
promoting equity and
accountability in COVID-19
spending held last December
16. The Comptroller General
of the United States of
America also participated in
the event, which was
moderated by the National
Campaign on Dalit Human
Rights.
With unprecedented amounts
of money being spent on
COVID-19 response programs
throughout the world, the
session highlighted the
critical role of civil
society and citizens at
large in keeping government
on its toes while it
delivers essential public
services. All panelists
emphasized the importance of
transparency,
accountability, and public
participation, especially
during times of global
crisis. Watch a replay of
the session here.
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Check
it out: The
IMF’s Fiscal Affairs
Department launched a
new
portal
dedicated
to infrastructure
governance last December
3. This online platform
features assessment tools,
publications, seminars and
other resources developed
by the IMF to support its
member countries to
strengthen infrastructure
governance. The portal
also features useful
information, reports and
comparative and
interactive data
visualizations on the
strength of
infrastructure governance
in the regions and
countries where IMF
works.
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Open
Data Barometer
2020 for Latin
America and the
Caribbean is now
out!
The
report covers 24
countries and classifies
governments according to
their readiness for open
data initiatives,
implementation of open
data programs and the
impact that open data is
having on businesses,
politics and civil
society movements.
Access the full copy of
the report here.
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Russia
publishes report
on best practices
in participatory
budgeting
The
Ministry of Finance of
the Russian Federation
has recently published a
report which highlights
the Participatory
budgeting best
practices, which is
called initiative
budgeting in Russia.
Download the full
report here.
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