An action plan has been developed to guide the Forum of CSOs in Bauchi state in taking the early lead in the State 2024 proposed Budget.
The developed action plan came up shortly after the quarterly review of the CSOs’ PFM Forum activities held on Thursday at the State to State main office Conference Hall, Bauchi.
The plan was developed towards entrenching citizens’ based Budget process in line with the Community Charter of Demand (CCD) in the proposed 2024 Budget process of Bauchi State.
It was done by a coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) with a special interest in Public Financial Management (PFM) known as CSOs’ PFM Forum, with technical support from USAID funded State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity Bauchi Field Office.
While welcoming participants shortly before the commencement of the review meeting, USAID State2State Team Lead in Bauchi, Rabi Ekele, thanked the CSOs and some key state actors for their commitment to the good cause.
She said that the meeting was to provide an avenue to assess the performance of the CSOs in budget tracking by identifying gaps in their activities, with a view to proffering solutions for optimal future engagement with the State actors.
Rabi Ekele further enjoined the participants to be open in their discussions to have a sound action plan document that could guide the CSOs and the state actors in articulating a budget process that incorporates citizens’ needs in the State.
A Director in the State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mallam Lawan Bako, commended USAID State2State for supporting the quarterly review meeting that brings together State actors and the CSOs.
He said that such an interface between the parties has strengthened the state government’s budget process through the effective participation of the citizens.
Also, presenting the CSOs’ report for the period under review, Chairman of Bauchi State Network of CSOs Coalition (BASNEC) Jinjiri John commended the State Government for the political will demonstrated in carrying citizens along in the State budget process, stressing that a lot more needs to be done towards improved budget releases.
USAID State2State Citizens Engagement and Capacity Building Specialist, Mr. Habila Salem, while highlighting what the review meeting will seek to achieve, said that the objective of the meeting was to track and harvest the outcomes of CSOs interventions, including the number of advocacy initiatives undertaken within the period under review.
Habila Salem also said that the meeting will seek to review progress on the State budget implementation in terms of citizens’ needs and priorities.
According to the CECB Specialist, it will also focus on planning for the next quarter’s intervention and explore avenues for more robust citizen engagement and participation in the upcoming 2024 budget consultations.
The outcome of the quarterly review meeting was the development of an action plan by the CSOs’ Forum to be more pronounced in the Bauchi State 2024 budget preparation and implementation processes.