Budget Training Turns Theory into Practice
USAID/OTI partnered with the World Bank to improve local budget literacy and access to local government.
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| Photo: USAID/OTI
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| A training participant learns about the local government budget process in Nookat, a city in southern Kyrgyzstan.
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The decentralization process established soon after Kyrgyzstan's independence was meant to encourage government accountability and citizen participation in government processes. In theory, decentralization provides an opportunity for citizens to directly address the local entities responsible for services and functions. In practice, however, Kyrgyzstan's citizens rarely exercised this privilege, in large part because they have few opportunities to interact with government officials and a poor understanding of how local government should work.
Even local self-government (LSG) staff and elected local council members have struggled to understand the new political process: "Although we approved the local budget, I didn't know how it was formed," said Maralbay Zhanylbekov, a local council chair in Jalalabad oblast.
To address these challenges and strengthen these local entities, the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia and the State Agency on Local Self Government conducted a series of budget development trainings in 200 communities using World Bank funding. Soon after, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supported the extension of the World Bank project, expanding the training program nationwide to the country's remaining 197 local governing units. Following a training session, Zhanylbekov said, "I thought that many taxes were paid into the district budget, but now I know they are not."
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"I really appreciated the discussion about the law on access to information.... I've asked the Kanysh Kiya LSG officials for information on pastures several times, but I was always refused.... Now I know how to get this information!"
—Kenesh Nazarov, NGO representative
in Jalalabad oblast
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USAID/OTI also facilitated open budget hearings in all targeted local administrations and provided participants with user-friendly guides on citizen participation in budgeting and municipal resource management.
In addition to improving budget literacy, the training enabled LSG representatives and citizens to improve their understanding of the funding responsibilities between the LSG and the central government. By putting the spotlight on an issue that used to trigger tension in these communities, this activity fostered increased citizen trust and participation in local government processes.
"Now [citizens] can see the limits of the local budget," said Dinara Isamanbetova, head of an LSG in Naryn oblast. "And they want to help rather than just complain about taxes."
For further information, please contact:
Lisa Bower, Asia & Middle East Program Manager, 202-712-0817, lbower@usaid.gov.
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