The Parliamentary Centre in Pan Africa

Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Program for Budget Oversight

The Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Program (APSP) for Budget Oversight is a five-year program with a total budget of $14 160 000, of which $13 700 000 represent CIDA’s contribution and $460 000 represent in-kind contributions by PC, The African Parliamentarians' Network Against Corruption (APNAC) and partner parliaments.

Duration of Project: 
2009-2014 (five years)

Partner Parliaments:
Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia

The Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Program (APSP) for Budget Oversight builds on the strongest elements of its first phase, the Africa-Canada Parliamentary Strengthening Program (ACPSP), which ran from 2003 to 2007. The APSP, however, has narrowed its focus to parliaments’ role in the budget process. The number of core countries has also been reduced to enable increased depth and sustainability of program results.

The APSP is designed to increase the capacity and authority of select African parliaments (Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) as well as their accountability to citizens in the budget process, thereby increasing financial accountability and contributing to improved democratic governance in these select African countries. Parliamentary capacity building will consist mainly of services and training exercises geared to support the day-to-day work of members and staff. Furthermore, it aims to increase the capacity of the Parliamentary Centre (Africa) to provide this support, in part, by the establishment of a Budget Advisory Unit (BAU) within PC (Africa). One of the expected results of the program is to help build this office as a sustainable and responsive resource centre for parliamentary support in Africa.

Expected Results
The expected result at the ultimate outcome level of the APSP is: Improved poverty reduction in select African countries through strengthened parliaments in the budget process.

The APSP has four intermediate outcomes, eight immediate outcomes and fourteen outputs:

1. Parliaments in select African countries are more responsive to citizens’ needs in the budget process

   1.1 Improved access to information for citizens in select African countries throughout the budget process

   1.1.1 Tools and instruments to inform citizens of the budget process, the resulting budget and its implications are developed in select African parliaments

   1.1.2 Tools and instruments for partner parliaments to reach out to citizens and understand their needs

   1.2 Increased opportunity for citizens in select African countries to participate in the budget process

   1.2.1 Mechanisms and instruments for citizen participation in the budget process established for select African parliaments

2. Parliaments in select African countries have increased authority and involvement in the entire budget process

   2.1 Increased knowledge of select African parliaments of their roles and responsibilities in the budget process

   2.1.1 Tools and instruments on the roles and responsibilities by parliament in the budget process developed

   2.2 Increased ability of select African parliaments to enhance their authority and involvement in the budget process

   2.2.1 Strategies for increased authority and involvement in the budget process developed for select African parliaments

3. Parliaments in select African countries have increased capacity to fulfill their pro-poor budget oversight roles and responsibilities

   3.1 Increased skills of MPs, parliamentary committees and support services in select African countries to address pro-poor and environmental issues as they relate to the budget process

   3.1.1 Tools and instruments addressing poverty reduction and environmental issues in the budget process developed for MPs in select African countries

   3.1.2 Tools and instruments on how to support MPs during the budget process developed for parliamentary staff and support services in select African countries

   3.2 Increased skills of MPs, parliamentary committees and support services in select African countries to address gender issues as they relate to the budget process

   3.2.1 Tools and instruments addressing equality between women and men in the development, oversight and evaluation of national budgets developed for MPs, parliamentary committees and support services in select African countries.

   3.3 Increased ability of APNAC to address corruption issues as they relate to the budget process

   3.3.1 APNAC Secretariat operational

   3.3.2 Tools and instruments addressing corruption in the development, oversight and evaluation of national budgets developed for MPs, parliamentary committees and support services in select African countries.

4. Parliaments in select African countries increasingly recognize the Parliamentary Centre and its Budget Advisory Unit as an expert resource on budget oversight

   4.1 Increased ability by the Parliamentary Centre and its Budget Advisory Unit to act as an expert resource on budget oversight for select African parliaments

   4.1.1 Budget Advisory Unit (BAU) established and operational within the Parliamentary Centre (Africa)

   4.1.2 BAU strategic and communication plans developed

   4.1.3 PC (Africa) Advisory Board established

   4.1.4 Resources centre developed within BAU

Recipient Country Partners and Location of Program
The APSP is a pan-African program and will be implemented by PC (Africa), located in Accra, Ghana. The Program is focused on Core Country partners, but reaches out to include two additional groups: Network Countries and Bilateral Countries, as follows:

Core Countries consist of seven countries which will be specifically targeted for institutional strengthening within APSP, namely Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These countries have well-established parliaments with which the Parliamentary Centre has worked successfully in the past. The seven represent a good balance among countries in terms of the relative strength of their parliaments in the budget process. Collectively, they offer a balance between East, West and Southern Africa.

Network Countries consist of approximately 20 countries which are currently part of the wider PC (Africa) network and programming, that is APNAC and other existing networks, such as the African Parliamentary Poverty Reduction Network (APRN) and the Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS (CAPAH). These Networks may participate in selected activities when opportunities for joint activities arise in the areas of poverty reduction, anti-corruption, gender and HIV/AIDS. In addition, they would have access to all of PC Africa’s advisory and on-line training tools.

Bilateral Countries constitute a select group in which PC (Africa) is implementing ongoing bilateral programming (e.g. Rwanda and Sudan) and to which aspects of the APSP may be extended in similar ways as the Network Countries.