Show Me The Money
In his piece, which also appeared in The Huffington Post, McLean talks about the importance of budget transparency, and why being open in budgeting makes citizens empowered, leading to better development outcomes and government accountability. Without it, citizens can face situations much like the one McLean highlights in his post, where a mid-1990s public expenditure survey revealed that only 13% of money spent by the Ugandan government for education reached the schools. Revelation of this information led to, as McLean writes, a public information campaign and reforms, which eventually increased the percent of education funds reaching schools to 80% by 2001.
McLean also highlights Kenyan journalist Irene Choge, a "perfect example of 'factivism'" in how being armed with facts and tools for transparency can lead to citizen empowerment and also a check that governments are properly functioning. WBI recently held an event on open budgeting that McLean references at the end of his post; you can watch the recording here to catch up.
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