2016 OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP GLOBAL SUMMIT, Paris, December 7-9

World Bank- IBP- GIFT Fiscal Transparency Sessions

Annotated agenda

OGP Fiscal Openness Working Group& Stewards Sessions

Public participation in fiscal policies (session 262, Summit’s program)

December 8th 9:45 – 10:35, Power room, Palais de Tokyo

This session will address public engagement in fiscal policies, with the presence of Budget High Level government representativesof six countries that have recently advanced public participation in the budget process and experiencedpositive impacts on service delivery, resource efficiency and trust in communities.The objective of this session is to share and discuss ambitious collective commitments that OGP countries are making to raise civic participation in the budget formulation, execution and service delivery in OGP action plans across a significant proportion of the OGP countries, as the next frontier of fiscal openness.

Based on the notion that fiscal transparency reaches its broader potential when people use fiscal information and get involved in the use of public resource, this session will seek to make the case that public participation in fiscal policy is a practice that is already taking place in some countries, but that it needs to be generalized across all OGP countries.

Speakers:

Mr. Álvaro García Rodríguez, Director General, Office of Planning and Budget, Uruguay

Mr. Romuald Wadagni, Minister of Economy and Finance, Benin

Mr. José Angel Mejía, Head of the Performance Evaluation Unit, Secretary of the Treasury, Mexico

Mr. RiadhMouakhar, Minister of Local Affairs and Environment, Tunisia

Dr. Kay Brown, Chief Director, Budget Planning, National Treasury, South Africa

Mr. Rolando Toledo, Director, Fiscal Planning and Reforms Bureau, The Philippines

Moderator:

Mr. Juan Pablo Guerrero; Network Director, GIFT

Outline of the session (50 minutes)

  1. Introduction of the panel, speakers, objectives and frame conversation with an introduction on public participation in the budgetary cycle and its transformative potential.

Juan Pablo Guerrero, Network Director, GIFT

5 minutes

  1. Speakers will have 5-6 minutes to share recent developments to advance public participation in the budget cycle in their countries and discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in their implementation. In so doing, they will reflect on one or two of the following questions:
  2. From your experience, how are transparency and public participation linked?
  3. What are the expected outcomes from public participation and why is it important?
  4. How can your ministry increase public participation in fiscal policy and practice?Consider adding yourselves to the collective action number 7 of the Paris Declaration, which reads:

Paris Declaration (point number seven)
7. Transparency and participation in budgets and fiscal policies
Partners joining will improve public participation in the development and implementation of fiscal policy and budgeting, the dissemination of fiscal data in line with international good practices on budget transparency using open data formats, to popular dissemination of budget information through portals, citizens budgets or other means, and to fostering strong and independent supreme audit institutions. Partners will support legislative reform on country by country reporting to tax authorities to combat tax avoidance and evasion.
Note: a central part of the OGP Summit refers to ambitious commitments to open government from OGP members. OGP Steering Committee has produced the Paris Declaration which seeks to encourage governments and CSOs to sign onto the collective actions with specific country statements of what they will do to contribute.The latest Declaration draft is here

35 minutes

Note: Given the time limitations, speakers will not use power point presentations.

  1. Q&A

10 minutes

Innovations in Open Budget Practices in Francophone Countries

December 8th 2016 at 16.00, Ventejol Room

Countries in Francophone Africa have demonstrated impressive improvements in budget transparency, as shown in successive rounds of the Open Budget Survey produced by the International Budget Partnership (IBP).

In this context, IBP and the French government are organizing a panel discussion for senior government officials and civil society organizations from France and the Francophone Africa region. Panelists will share innovations in open budgeting practices, including transparency reforms and participatory budgeting, and the early results that they are achieving from greater openness. Panelists will also focus onfuture opportunities to further advance transparency and accountability reforms, perhaps in the form of commitments made to the Open Government Partnership or to the Fiscal Openness Working Group. With the sharing of innovations and learning in the francophone Africa region and France, the discussion will showcase how to advance open budget practices within the subregion.

Speakers:

Mr. Romuald Wadagni, Minister of Economy and Finance, Benin

Mr. Soulama, Director General of Budget, Ministry of Finance, Burkina Faso

Ms. Deborah Wetzel, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice

Mr. Remy Rioux, Director General of the AgenceFrançaise de Développement (TBC)

Ms.Pauline Véron, Deputy Mayor of Paris

Mr. Warren Krafchik, Executive Director, International Budget Partnership

Moderator:Ms. Anne-Marie Descotes, Director General of Globalization, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Outline of the session (50 minutes)

  1. Opening remarks

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development

5 minutes

  1. The Ministers will highlight their open budget practices and focus on their priorities and policy commitments for the coming year. These may be framed in the form of commitments made via the Open Government Partnership or the Fiscal Openness Working Group.

15 minutes

  1. Intervention of the Deputy Mayor of Paris. The ParisMunicipality is leading a program on budget transparency and Europe’s largest participatory budgeting effort. The presentation will highlight tools and processes to support open budget practices at the sub-national level.

5 minutes

  1. Reflections from international financial institutions and development agencies. The discussants will share their reflections on the priorities and policy commitments in francophone countries and opportunities for peer learning and development assistance to support governments in achieving their open budget priorities.

Deborah Wetzel, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice (TBC)

Remy Rioux, Director General of the AgenceFrançaise de Développement (TBC)

10 minutes

  1. Comments/questions from civil society representatives in the audience.

Civil society representatives will have an opportunity to comment on the priorities and policy commitments. Their interventions will acknowledge the impressive gains in budget transparency in their countries and encourage the advancing of open budget practices, which may include citizens budgets and public participation in the budget process.

10 minutes

  1. Closing remarks

Warren Krafchik, Executive Director, International Budget Partnership

5 minutes

Note: Speakers and participants of the roundtable and guide presentation will have 10 minutes to walk from the Palais d’Iena to the Plaza Athénée Hotel.

Roundtable discussion on fiscal transparency and public participation commitments and actions

December 8, from 17:00 to 19:00 at the Hotel Plaza Athénée.

This will be a parallel activity of the OGP Summit agenda, where participants will have the opportunity to continue the conversation from the morning session. The objective is to provide a space for a friendly and more ample exchange about current fiscal transparency and public participation commitments and actions, as well as on plans for future engagements in dynamic and fruitful dialogues between high level budget and public finance officials from Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia and Uruguay and civil society representatives.

Speakers:

  1. Mr. Álvaro García Rodríguez, Director General, Office of Planning and Budget, Uruguay
  2. Mr. RiadhMouakhar, Minister of Local Affairs and Environment, Tunisia
  3. Ms. Soledad Núñez, Minister of Housing and Habitat, Paraguay
  4. Mr. José Angel Mejía, Head of the Performance Evaluation Unit, Secretary of the Treasury, Mexico
  5. Dr. Kay Brown, Chief Director, Budget Planning, National Treasury, South Africa
  6. Mr. Rolando Toledo, Director, Fiscal Planning and Reforms Bureau, The Philippines
  7. Ms. Debbie Wetzel, World Bank

Moderator:

Ms. Chiara Bronchi, Governance Practice Manager for Africa, World Bank

Outline of the session(90 minutes)

1.Introduction of speakers and objectives

Ms. Chiara Bronchi, Governance Practice Manager for Africa, World Bank

7 minutes

2.Budget authorities will have 7 minutes to expand and share on recent developments to advance public participation in the budget cycle in their countries and discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in their implementation. Some of the questions to reflect on are:

  1. From your country’s perspective, how are transparency and public participation linked?
  2. What are your ministry’s plans to increase public participation in fiscal policies?
  3. What are the expected outcomes from public participation and why is this important?
  4. How should we evaluate citizen participation in fiscal policies?

60 minutes

Note: speakers are welcome to use presentations if that is their preference.

3.Debbie Wetzel, WB, will discuss opportunities for international assistance and peer to peer learning, 7 minutes

4.Q&A

30 minutes

Coffee break

15 minutes

Presentation of the GIFT Guide on Public Participation in Fiscal Policy Principles and Mechanisms

This will be a cocktail to take place on December 8, 19:00 to 21:00, Hotel Plaza Athénée

As a parallel activity of the OGP Summit, GIFT will present the Guide on Public Participation in Fiscal Policy Principles and Mechanisms in Fiscal Policy. Given the limited guidance onhowpublic entities should engage directly with the public in managing public resources, GIFT undertook a substantial multi-year work program to generate greater knowledge about country practices and recent innovations in citizen engagement. In 2016, after an extensive public consultation process, GIFT launched a new set of principles: the newPrinciples of Public Participation in Fiscal Policy. Such principles provide a conceptual framework.

However, GIFT recognizes that concrete guidance on how to integrate public participation into fiscal policy is needed. To achieve this, GIFT has produced the Guide on Principles and Mechanisms of Public Participation in Fiscal Policy. The Guide, which will be officially presented as a side event, illustrates with practical examples of mechanisms (“practices”) and provides guidance about how the GIFT principles on public participation in fiscal policy can be successfully put in practice.

Outline of the session (120 minutes)

1.Welcome and introductory remarks: Guide’s background and objectives, GIFT – Juan Pablo Guerrero, Network Director, GIFT

5 minutes

2.Presentation of structure and contents of the Guide, and invitation to contribute, GIFT – Tania Sánchez, Research and Learning Manager, GIFT

20 minutes

3.Q&A

10 minutes

4.Cocktail at the Plaza Athénée

Venue addresses

  • Le Palais d'Iéna

9 Place d'Iéna, 75016, Paris, France

  • Palais de Tokyo

13 Avenue du Président Wilson75116, Paris, France

  • Hotel Plaza Athénée

25 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France

GIFT-IBP-WB Participants will be lodged at the:

  • ElyséesRegencia Hotel

41 Avenue Marceau, 75016 Paris, France

Phone:+33 1 47 20 42 65

fiscaltransparency.net@FiscalTrans