Over the last decades a strong focus on capacity building and process strengthening has led to results such as interconnected financial management systems or strengthened fiscal transparency. Stronger capacity at the center of government however is no guarantee for effective service delivery as civic engagement on budget discussions is rare and oversight actors such as Supreme Audit Institutions often lack capacity, mandate or independence to hold the executive to account. A broader focus on central government, oversight actors, media and civil society - the fiscal accountability ecosystem approach - has emerged to build on the progress made.

This project aims to provide the fiscal accountability field with a new framework, evidence and strategic paths – reflecting an accountability ecosystem approach – to enhance the role of public finance as a tool in broader development. It will do so by deepening field knowledge and understanding, undertaking new country-focused political economy research in South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil and convening a collective conversation about how to employ a fiscal accountability ecosystem approach to democratize the budget process and improve its outcomes.

New country research expands available evidence on strategies and impact of ecosystem aligned policies and practices.

Reflecting this new evidence, awareness and understanding of ecosystem strategies grows amongst target country and international actors

International dialogue is established with key international and country actors to promote and test ecosystem approaches.

Expected results:  

Evidence: The following materials are published: Three political economy country case studies and a cross-country synthesis. An intellectual framework/s for an accountability ecosystem approach, and a tested methodology to map and assess country fiscal ecosystems.

Awareness: Communication outputs produced tracking the project are released through blogs/vlogs, interviews, presentations, working papers, etc. to country and internatonal target audiences.

International dialogue: International process and workshop convenes key international and country stakeholders to discuss research outputs and, funding permitting, a facilitatation process to build stakeholder engagement is implemented alongside the research process.

Results from previous phases:  

While no previous phase exists, the country case study in Indonesia which raised the attention of SECO WEMU to join the project can build on experiences made for the country case study in South Africa.