APRN Conference: Parliaments, Poverty Reduction and the Budget Process

October 19-21, 2009

The Parliamentary Centre, in cooperation with the National Assembly of Senegal, will be organizing a regional conference entitled Parliaments, Poverty Reduction and the Budget Process October 12-14, 2009 in Dakar, Senegal. The Conference will be attended by Members of Parliament from 12 different countries in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, as well as representatives from organisations such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the World Bank Institute (WBI). It will be an opportunity to discuss important issues relating to poverty reduction and how the budget can serve as an important tool in this regard. The presentations and group discussions will focus on the following areas:

1. Pro-Poor Policies and Budgeting. The Role of Parliament/Parliamentarians

• What policies/programs are considered pro-poor? Examples of policy priorities.
• What type of consultation conducted to achieve broad consensus? Advantages and challenges with various forms of consultations.
• Are the views of the poor and vulnerable solicited and how?
• How are these policy priorities reflected in the budget?
• Role of MTEFs - How do they relate to the MDGs, PRSPs and other National Development Plans?

2. Effective Parliamentary Involvement in the Budget Process  - Key to Pro-Poor Budgeting

• How can the budget be used as a tool for poverty reduction?
• How can the involvement of Parliament in the budget process and its influence over the budget be strengthened and become more effective?
• Budget scrutiny and approval. What facilitating tools does parliament need to execute this function and to ensure the poor are taken into account? 
• Role of Legislative Budget Offices
• Participation of the poor during the legislative stage of the budget
• Ensuring budget compliance. Key challenges.

3. The Role of Domestic Resource Mobilization in Poverty Reduction

• How can Parliament influence the revenue side of the budget?
• What needs to be in place for the establishment of an effective, efficient and equitable tax system?
• What role does Parliament play in ensuring sound macroeconomic policies to sustain high rates of economic growth, full employment, poverty eradication, price stability, and sustainable fiscal balances? How can this role be increased?
• How can Parliament influence increased domestic savings and accessibility to credit by the poor, for example through micro-credit programs?

4. Parliament and the Role of Monitoring and Evaluation in the Budget Process

• What tools does Parliament have to its disposal to conduct effective oversight and follow-up analysis of the effectiveness of policies, projects and programs addressing poverty issues?
• The importance of defining goals and identifying indicators and targets at an early stage for Policy Impact Review and Poverty Monitoring
• Budgeting for M&E
• Defining  the key actors and their responsibilities
• How monitoring and evaluation can help reduce poverty – Best Practices

5. Engendering collaboration between parliament and civil society organizations at the national and local levels.

• Evaluating strengths and weaknesses of CSO – Parliamentary relationships
• Addressing mutual suspicions between the two bodies
• Gains of effective collaboration between CSOs and Parliaments, i.e. identifying best practices
• Ways of sustaining collaboration and deepening democracy and good governance

The conference will provide important input to an updated version of the Handbook for Parliamentarians on Policies to Reduce Poverty.