Fostering Public Participation in Budget-making: Case Studies from Indonesia, Marshall Islands, and Pakistan

Abstract

This publication documents the experiences, successes, and challenges of pilot testing participatory budgeting at the local level in three countries of Asia and the Pacific: Indonesia, Marshall Islands, and Pakistan.

The pilots demonstrated the challenges of public involvement in the budget process and highlighted the need for an active and articulate civil society in the local context. Successful pilots in these countries also demonstrated that civil society's engagement is not difficult to elicit provided local governments have the political will and technical resources.

Using simple, effective, and low-cost methods, local governments can promote transparency and openness in their decision making. Transparency is vital for good governance that in turn leads to economic growth and poverty reduction in the long term. Lessons and experiences from the pilots in different contexts show similar conclusions about the process.