EU DG-NEAR is joining forces with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) on an exciting new program in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to help build a framework for civil society organizations and the public to play a key role in the budget decisions that impact their daily lives.

The four-year project is launching this month and focuses on Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Palestine. 

The project will focus on three interlocking components - participating in IBP’s Open Budget Survey, developing civil society capacity to leverage budgets to drive reforms on issues they care about, and supporting CSOs co-creating and following through with the budget advocacy agendas they develop.

The OBS is the world’s only comparative and independent assessment of fiscal transparency, oversight and public participation at the national level across 120 countries, and is relied on by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others.

“The goal is to build the conditions for transparent, inclusive, and accountable public budgeting,” said Aideen Gilmore, IBP’s Head of Training, Technical Assistance and Networking. “Nearly all of these countries have opaque budget processes, lack strong budget oversight institutions, and rarely allow public input on budget issues. We hope to change that.”

If you have experience in budgets/public finance, civil society and program implementation in this region, look out for a job posting for a regional coordinator in the near future!