During the Expert Group Meeting on ‘Budgeting and Planning in Support of Effective Institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals,’ participants discussed aligning planning and budgeting processes with the SDGs.
Participants also discussed linkages between budgets, transparency and access to information, and between budgets and participation, accountability, non-discrimination and anti-corruption.
The meeting sought to inform the World Public Sector Report 2019, in particular a chapter on ways budget and planning processes can support national institutions in achieving the SDGs.
5 February 2019: During an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) organized by the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), participants discussed trends, orientations and challenges related to budgeting and planning for the SDGs, and considered ways in which budget processes can be used to monitor and evaluate public spending on the Goals, among other topics.
The EGM on ‘Budgeting and Planning in Support of Effective Institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals’ took place from 4-5 February 2019 at UN Headquarters in New York, US, with the aim to inform the World Public Sector Report (WPSR) 2019. The report is expected to include a chapter on ways in which budget and planning processes can support national institutions in achieving the SDGs.
According to the report of the EGM, participants discussed: aligning planning and budgeting processes with the SDGs; linkages between budgets, transparency and access to information; budgets and participation; budgets and accountability; budgets and non-discrimination; and budgets and anti-corruption.
The report notes that while there is an increasing awareness of the need to include SDGs in performance budgeting in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, this has not really been translated into practice. It highlights the importance of mobilizing “interest of the ministry of finance” in the SDGs, which is the main custodian of the budget process, and indicates that countries that have incorporated SDGs into their budgets tend are those that have made progress on programming and the inclusion of performance indicators.
Citizen engagement can play a useful role in monitoring budget execution.
On budgets, transparency and access to information, the report states that several governments are publishing information on their national budgets, but many budget transparency mechanisms are not linked with SDG processes and are not being used to provide information on the SDGs. It also indicates that there is little information on trends in budget transparency at the sub-national level. According to the report, EGM participants stressed that the scope of budget transparency should be wide and cover all sources of revenue and expenditures, and called for the so-called “citizen’s budgets,” which are non-technical, simplified budget briefs, to be published by governments along with other official budget documents.
On participation, the report notes that citizen engagement can play a useful role in monitoring budget execution, and adds that many countries have some kind of engagement mechanism at the local and national levels. It outlines a variety of approaches for engagement at different stages of the budget cycle, including pre-budget consultations in Canada, and citizens’ budgets focusing on specific SDG areas in countries that are trying to link their budgets with the Goals.
On accountability, the report highlights aspects of budget accountability that are critical to SDG implementation, including: combining financial and performance information in budget documents, instead of presenting them separately; enhancing the evidence base of budgetary decisions; ensuring “budget credibility,” or the degree to which spending reflects allocations; and using “accrual accounting” in budget documents to better reflect public assets, liabilities and the management of natural resources. The report also notes challenges in the context of the SDGs, such as: addressing issues related to private sector accountability within the framework of the budget, for example in cases of public-private partnerships (PPPs); and clarifying the role of government and non-governmental experts in safeguarding the reliability of information.
On non-discrimination, the report states that gender-responsive budgeting is well developed compared to other areas. It notes that SDG indicator 5.c.1 (Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment) provides a solid basis for national conversations on gender budgeting. It also notes that Mexico is engaging vulnerable groups in budget implementation.
Since 2001, the WPSR has covered issues of global relevance in the field of public administration, including globalization and the role of the State, e-government, rebuilding public administration post-conflict, human resources in public administration, participation and engagement, accountability and transparency, and institutional aspects of policy integration. Its 2019 edition will look at institutional dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and focus on institutional principles related to SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), namely effectiveness, transparency, access to information, accountability, anti-corruption, inclusive decision making, and non-discrimination in laws and policies. The 2019 edition takes place in the context of the first review of SDG 16 by the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). [Expert Group Meeting on Budgeting and Planning in Support of Effective Institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals] [EGM Agenda] [Concept Note] [Statement from the Assistant UN Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist]