Summary: The Third International Conference organized by the International Budget Project brought together 90 delegates from 27 countries with an interest in applied budget work. The first international conference of the IBP was held in Washington, DC in 1997 focusing on networking and sharing general experiences. The second was held in Cape Town, South Africa in 1999, and had the theme of transparency and participation in the budget process in developing and/or newly-democratic countries.

The focus of the third conference reflected the special interest of many of the NGOs in assessing how priorities for public spending as expressed through the budget can affect the lives of the poor. Therefore, the emphasis was on using budget analysis to address poverty and economic and social human rights. 

AGENDA:

Plenary Sessions

Introduction

• Michael Lipsky, Ford Foundation, New York office

• Mark Robinson, Ford Foundation, New Delhi office

• Isaac Shapiro, IBP (International Budget Project) of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, USA

International Policy Context

• Jim Schultz, The Democracy Center, Bolivia

• Aurelio Vianna, INESC (Instituto de Estudos Socioeconomicos), Brazil

Budget Analysis and Poverty 

• A. Indira, Center for Budget and Policy Studies, India

• L.C. Jain, India

Relating Budget Work to Basic Rights

• Dominique Ayine, Center for Public Interest Law, Ghana

• Helena Hofbauer, Fundar, Mexico

• Warren Krafchik, IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), South Africa

• M.D. Mistry, DISHA (Developing Initiatives for Social and Human Action) India

• Maha Shammas, Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling, West Bank/Palestine

Tax and Poverty Work

• Joel Friedman and Liz McNichol, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

• Chuck Sheketoff, Oregon Center for Public Policy, USA

Meeting with Indian Government Officials

• Ashok Basak, Secretary of the Planning Department, India

• Jayant Patil, Finance Minister, India

• Isaac Shapiro, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

• Warren Krafchik, IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), South Africa

Representing the Views of the Poor: A Case Study

• Vivek Pandit, Vidhayak Sansad, India

Participatory Budgeting

• Sergio Gregorio Baierle, CIDADE (Centro de Assessoria e Estudos Urbanos), Brazil

• Brian Wampler, University of Austin, Texas, USA

Moving the Network Forward:

Building a Network in Russia
Alexander Sungurov, Strategy Center, Russia

Joint-Database Project for Argentina, Chile and Peru
Arlette Beltran and Eduardo Moron, Universidad del Pacifico, Peru

The Africa Budget Project
Alta Folsher, IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), South Africa

Latin American Transparency Scorecard
Juan Pablo Guerrero, CIDE (Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas), Mexico and Joao Sucupira, IBASE (Instituto Brasileiro de Analises Sociais e Economicos), Brazil

Transparency and Participation Initiative
Warren Krafchik, IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), South Africa

Workshops

Orientation for New Budgeteers

• Isaac Shapiro, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

Sectoral Budget Analysis and Poverty Alleviation 

• Suvarna Kulkarni, Vidhayak Sansad, India

• Sunil Nandraj, CEHAT (Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes), India

Tracking Budgetary Commitments to the Poor

• Davis Ddamulira, Uganda Debt Network, Uganda

• Eva de Luna Castro, Center for Public Policy Priorities, USA

Municipal Budgets, Poverty and Development

• Sita Sekhar, Public Affairs Center, India

• Vinod Vyasula, Center for Budget and Policy Studies, India

Budgets and Urbanization

• Minar Pimple, YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action), India

UNDP-Globalisation Discussions

• Radhika Lal, UNDP (United Nations Development Program), USA

Budget Work and Rights Indicators

• M.D. Mistry, DISHA (Developing Initiatives for Social and Human Action), India

Gender Budgets

• Gemma S.I. Akilimali, TGNP (Tanzanian Gender Networking Programme), Tanzania

• Lucia Perez Fragoso, Equidad de Genero, Mexico

• Helena Hofbauer, Fundar, Mexico

Children's Budgets

• Mastoera Sadan, IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), South Africa

Tax Policy Work at the Subnational Level

• Chuck Sheketoff, Oregon Center for Public Policy, USA

• Vivek Pandit, Vidhayak Sansad, India

Tax Policy Work at the National Level

• Joel Friedman, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

• Katarina Ott, Institute of Public Finance, Croatia

• Fausto Hernandez, CIDE (Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas), Mexico

Local Government Client Survey

• Sita Sekhar, Public Affairs Center, India

Building Civil Societies Voice in the Budget

• Betty Maina, Institute of Economic Affairs, Kenya

• Atiur Rahman, BIDS (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies), Bangladesh

Anti Poverty Advocacy Techniques

• John Samuel, National Center for Advocacy Studies, India

• Ellen Nissenbaum, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

Presenting and Communicating your Budget Work

• Michelle Bazie and Ellen Nissenbaum, IBP (International Budget Project), USA

Discussion Groups:

Cross-Cutting Research Initiatives
Increasing Information Exchange
Education, Training and Capacity Building