TTEITI To Host Webinars on How CSOs Can Leverage National Budget Data
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Feb. 2, 2021 — The Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) has developed A Guide to the Trinidad and Tobago Budget for Civil Society Organisations, and will hold a series of webinars from next week to walk CSOs and professionals through the budget, which consists of multiple documents.
The goal is to increase civil society’s capacity to understand the technical data contained in budget documents and thus empower them to hold the government accountable for results.
Once civil society organisations know how to analyse the budget documents they will have a deeper understanding of how the budget affects their constituents, and they will have more tools available to them to effect change.
These webinars target finance and business journalists, active community/fence-line groups, youth groups, members of the Law Association, environmental groups, Chambers of Commerce and other trade groups, and the interested public at large.
More broadly, they are part of a larger TTEITI campaign, sponsored by the US Embassy, to empower civil society organisations to advocate for budget reforms including a shift in Trinidad and Tobago toward open budgeting.
The TTEITI has long supported open budgeting because a transparent and inclusive budget process is essential to facilitating investment, holding government accountable for its management of public resources, and eliminating corruption.
In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are all champions of open fiscal systems and practices and have been trumpeting the benefits of citizen participation in the budget process.
With good reason.
The 2019 Open Budget Survey ranks 117 countries worldwide on budget transparency, budget oversight, and public participation. TT scores 30/100 for budget transparency, a score that has become worse.
Our budget oversight score, a measure of legislative and auditor oversight, is 39/100. For public participation, we score 7/100, something we can reverse with the right mix of policy and legislative changes.
Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis, which months ago forced an adjustment in revenue projections from the energy sector, has only made budget reform a more urgent matter for the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General.
The TTEITI maintains it is now more important than ever that government spending be monitored so that transparency, accountability, and integrity are maintained.
Indeed, we are heartened by the support we have already received for this project by the Hon. Minister of Finance Colm Imbert.
Through these webinars we expect civil society actors will step up.
We hope the expertise gained will mean deeper CSO/public debate on budgetary issues, and more analysis and monitoring of public funds by CSOs and media.
The first webinar takes place on Feb. 4 from 10 a.m. We encourage CSOs and interested professionals to visit our website at tteiti.com/webinar for registration details.
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The TTEITI is committed to sharing information about the extractive sectors and facilitating interviews about our public policy and advocacy work. If you would like to secure an interview, please email our communications team at info@tteiti.com.
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