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projects, and activities of the ministry fiscal performance and financial statements and performance indicators and targets (Allen and Tommasi, 2001). Inmost developing countries, public budgeting to achieve a development plan is still conveniently governed by the arcane principle that budget information should be guarded as a state secret and the process dominated exclusively the executive. Unfortunately, citizens have traditionally been excluded from budget
decision making and monitoring, as have CSOs, legislatures and the media. Budget transparency and accountability are often weakest in countries where poverty and inequality are highest. The result is massive leakages of scarce public resources into unnecessary projects, corruption and
ineffective service delivery, undermining efforts to reduce poverty (de Renzio and Krafchik, An important function of CSOs is their role as watchdogs. For many CSOs in the poorest countries, this role is very new and thus is far less developed than their role as services providers. But with growing donor support for advocacy work and greater attention
to good governance matters, this is beginning to change
(Wood, 2005). Although monitoring of budget processes is still in its infancy, there is now considerable experience available in undertaking monitoring and carrying out
advocacy based on its resul Share with your friends: