COVID-19

A Call to Action on Open Budgets during the COVID-19 Response

Sally Torbert, Open Budget Initiative Program Officer, IBP— May 07, 2020

Vast sums of public money are being mobilized and diverted to fund COVID-19 emergency measures and most countries’ budget accountability systems have gaps even when they operate under less extreme conditions. The latest Open Budget Survey, released last week, finds that some of the weakest aspects of budget transparency and oversight are the ones that will be most critical for monitoring public resources during this emergency.

From Crisis to Opportunity: The 2019 Open Budget Survey

By Vivek Ramkumar, Senior Director of Policy, IBP— Apr 30, 2020

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, IBP released the 2019 Open Budgets Survey (OBS), the world’s only independent and comparative measure of budget transparency and accountability. The COVID-19 crisis demands quick and massive interventions from governments and other actors characterized by honesty, transparency, engagement, and public trust – the very objectives that drive the OBS.

poor community

Latin American CSOs lead during pandemic

Alexandre Ciconello, IBP senior program officer— Apr 07, 2020

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic often put civil society organizations on the front lines of response, filling the gaps governments cannot or will not fill. Two IBP partners in Latin America stepped up to acting lead in their communities.

Homeless man

COVID-19 poses heightened challenges for public budgets

Warren Krafchik, IBP executive director— Apr 07, 2020

Government budgets are undergoing rapid shifts in allocations during the pandemic. And the rush to act may tempt some leaders to forego informing and engaging the public on the steps they take. They shouldn’t.

Let’s protect each other: IBP South Africa’s COVID-19 response

Albert van Zyl, IBP South Africa country manager— Apr 07, 2020

As governments fight the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty-stricken communities are often neglected in the response. That is true in South Africa, where the residents of informal settlements are too often “invisible.” However, IBP South Africa and its partners stepped in to change that.