IBP News

• Recent IBP newsletter with articles on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Annual meeting, civil society learning exchanges, budgeting for food security, new publications, and more
• New Budget Brief on citizen participation in county-level budget processes in Kenya
• IBP Director Warren Krafchik was interviewed by The Guardian about the importance of government budget transparency
• Job openings at IBP for a Training Program Officer in the Capacity Building Program and an Editor/Writer in the Communications Program

News from the Middle East and North Africa

• This OECD report on fiscal transparency in Tunisia includes a thorough overview and analysis of the Tunisian budget process as well as proposals for strengthening transparency for better public governance
• A new open data initiative in the Middle East and North Africa for improving the quality of and access to government statistics in the region

Blogs and Commentaries

• Two recent posts from the IMF’s Public Financial Management Blog on the late-twentieth century revolution in fiscal transparency and a workshop on fiscal reporting and transparency in West Africa
• Neil Cole of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) talks about the importance of linking open aid data with country budget systems and processes
• “Transparency, coupled with a strong civil society, can prevent corruption” – some reflections on International Anti-Corruption Day from Tearfund’s JustPolicy blog

Open Government Partnership Updates

• The United States has released its second OGP Action Plan which includes commitments to join the Global Initiative on Fiscal Transparency and promote participatory budgeting
• Don’t miss the Open Government Guide’s chapter on budgets, which highlights practical, measurable, specific, and actionable steps that governments can, and are taking to open budgets