A Local Budget Transparency Index for Cameroon's Local Councils : Insights from a Benchmarking Exercise

Transparent budgets and public financial management processes constitute a key pillar of good governance. However, while this has been increasingly recognized for national budgets, little attention is paid to subnational budget transparency. To fill this lacuna, a World Bank-supported initiative piloted a local budget transparency index (LBTI) in two of Cameroon s ten regions. Thirty-one local councils in the Northwest Region and nineteen in the Adamawa Region self-assessed the openness of their budget processes by filling out questionnaires in 2012. The councils were then ranked, the results were published, and, in Adamawa, discussed in a public meeting called by the region s governor and attended by mayors and the media. Through this exercise, mayors of low-ranking councils were publicly questioned about their low scores, which led to a palpable desire on their part to better perform in the next round of the survey. In 2013, independent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gathered the same information in a second round of surveys. This note discusses the methodology, main findings, and results from the LBTI pilot in the two regions and concludes with key challenges and lessons learned.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Alton, Martin Luis, Agarwal, Sanjay, Songwe, Vera
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-06
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY RELATIONSHIPS, ANNUAL EXPENDITURES, BANK DEPOSIT, BENEFICIARIES, BEST PRACTICES, BORROWING COSTS, BUDGET ALLOCATIONS, BUDGET ANALYSIS, BUDGET CYCLE, BUDGET DISCUSSIONS, BUDGET DOCUMENTS, BUDGET FORMULATION, BUDGET INFORMATION, BUDGET INITIATIVES, BUDGET LITERACY, BUDGET PREPARATION, BUDGET PREPARATION PROCESS, BUDGET PROCESS, BUDGET PROPOSALS, BUDGET TRANSPARENCY, BUDGET YEAR, BUDGETING, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT, CIVIL SERVANTS, CIVIL SOCIETY, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, COLLABORATION, COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT, CONSULTATIONS, CONTROLLERS OF FINANCE, CORRUPTION, CREDIBILITY, CREDIT RATINGS, DATA COLLECTION, DEBT, DECENTRALIZATION, DEPENDENT, DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS, DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES, DONOR ASSISTANCE, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS, EXPENDITURE FORECASTS, EXPENDITURE PROGRAMS, EXPENDITURES, FIGURES, FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, FINANCIAL ASSETS, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION, FISCAL PERFORMANCE, FISCAL TRANSPARENCY, GOOD GOVERNANCE, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY, GOVERNMENT BUDGET, GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE, GOVERNMENT POLICY, GOVERNMENT REVENUES, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INSTRUMENT, INTERVIEWS, INVESTMENT BUDGET, LEGAL FRAMEWORK, LEGAL PROVISIONS, LEGAL REQUIREMENTS, LINE MINISTRIES, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, LOCAL CAPACITY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, MARKET VALUE, MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, MONETARY FUND, MUNICIPAL BUDGET, MUNICIPALITIES, NATIONAL BUDGET, NATIONAL BUDGETS, NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, NATIONAL INVESTMENT, OPENNESS, OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES, PAYMENT OF EXPENDITURES, PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT, PERFORMANCE INDEX, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, POLICY DECISIONS, POLICY FORMULATION, POVERTY REDUCTION, PROGRAMS, PUBLIC, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, PUBLIC AWARENESS, PUBLIC CONSULTATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT REFORM, PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC MEETINGS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, PUBLIC RESOURCES, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY, QUALITY OF LIFE, REFLECTION, REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS, REMEDY, RESERVE, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, RETURN, REVENUE ESTIMATES, ROADS, SALARIES, SELF-ASSESSMENT, SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL SERVICES, TAX, TAX COLLECTIONS, TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENT BUDGETS, WARRANTS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/19909106/cameroon-budget-transparency-initiative-local-budget-transparency-index-cameroons-local-councils-insights-benchmarking-exercise-cameroon-budget-transparency-initiative-local-budget-transparency-index-cameroons-local-councils-insights-benchmarking-exercise https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20130
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