The Middle East and North Africa is faced with the perspective of growth but at the same time, with high energy prices and important debt. The public budget is a powerful tool to drive socioeconomic progress. That is why, the European Union, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the IMF's Middle East Regional Technical Assistance Center (METAC) is strengthening their ongoing collaboration in the region to build the conditions for transparent, inclusive, and accountable public budgeting. The new EU-IBP project 'BABA' will enable further progress to be made. It will provide budget advocacy skills to diverse, particularly country-based groups in the region so that they can analyze budget documents, leverage them to advance more equitable policies, and create winning alliances that can bolster accountability in public spending.