Project description:
The goal of the project is to help IBP and selected partner civil society organizations (CSOs) gain a clearer understanding of existing approaches to measuring transparency, oversight, and citizen participation in budget processes at the subnational level, as well as approaches to using such assessments to support advocacy and engagement with subnational authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro. The project is designed as a practical scoping analysis aimed at assessing the current state of play, identifying good practices and opportunities for improvement, and strengthening the future work of CSOs.
Based on a review of available literature and documents, discussions with CSOs, and comparative analysis, the project will provide a brief overview of the legal, institutional, and practical context of budget processes at the subnational level, map existing methods and tools, and assess the basis on which they were designed, what available evidence shows about their effectiveness, and the challenges encountered in their implementation. Particular attention will be given to how the results of existing assessment methods and tools are used in engagement with subnational authorities, how authorities respond to them, and how such engagement could be improved.
The results, together with relevant Croatian and international experience, will serve as a basis for a regional workshop focused on peer learning and the exchange of experiences, as well as for the development of practical recommendations for the future work of CSOs and IBP in the area of budget accountability at the subnational level.
Details of the project and a list of published articles are available in the Croatian Research Information System – CroRIS.