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| Second Conference of the International Budget Project Daily Conference Draft Agenda Sunday,
February 21 17:30 to 21:00 Welcome dinner.
This day provided exposure to illustrative budget projects, including the Idasa Budget Information Service and exciting new initiatives in Mexico and India. The first sessions concentrated on the work of three institutions in detail, allowing an appreciation of the socio-economic and institutional context. The day concluded with small group breakouts into issue clusters, to facilitate the exchange of information among participants with shared interests. In these workshops delegates shared detailed technical knowledge and located the people and questions they were most interested in pursuing during the informal sessions. The overall aim of the day was to appreciate the diversity of possible activities and to begin to explore the replicability of some of these options. 9:00 to 9:30 Introduction to the conference and the agenda
9:30 to 10:45 Budget issues in South Africa and the Idasa: Budget Information Service
11:00 to 12:15 New budget initiatives around the world
14:00 to 15:15 Small group breakouts by issues. These sessions typically included one presentation in each area and focused on assessing common challenges and approaches. In the sessions, the presenter laid out the issue in general and offered some of the activities / models that addressed the issue. This led to a general discussion of other options to consider before concluding with an assessment of the most useful ideas for moving work in each area forward in the context of individual countries.
15:15 to 15:30 Tea / Coffee break 15:30 to 16:45 Breakouts Session 2.
The second day began the discussion of issues related to transparency and participation in the budget process. Among the questions that were addressed: in the context of the budget, what is meant by transparency and participation? How can budget systems be assessed to see if they meet these goals? To what extent and in what ways do the budget systems of participants meet, or fail to meet, these goals? Are there common transparency and participation weak points internationally? What tools /strategies are available to strengthen transparency and participation in budget systems? Can these tools be applied across countries? The day began with an examination of the IMF transparency scorecard. Thereafter, the conference addressed a pilot survey that has been applied to track transparency and participation in South Africa. The replicability of this and other methodologies were then considered in region-specific workshops.
The morning of this day was dedicated to carrying the transparency work forward in two areas. One area is at the sub-national level, the government level at which many of the participants operate and a level where the obstacles to providing a transparent and participatory budget process can be particularly daunting. The second area concerns working with and strengthening the involvement of legislatures in the budget process. The weakness of legislatures in the budget process is a common impediment to an open and participatory budget debate. But it can also provide an opening niche for groups that are starting out. The second part of the day began with a focus on one of the most common types of budget work that researchers have begun to undertake: budget trainings. Examples of this work provided an excellent opportunity to learn from each other. In the late-afternoon and evening, delegates visited and had dinner on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other liberation leaders were imprisoned during apartheid.
Thursday, February 25 WORKING TOGETHER The final half-day was devoted to a detailed consideration of various ways to move individual groups and the network forward. These discussions occurred both through plenary sessions and through small group breakouts that focused on budget sectoral analyses, budget trainings, communications, and budget process.
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