BudgIT expands operation to four African Countries

BudgIT, a civic technology organisation, has expanded its operation to Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to promote citizen engagement in governance and enhanced development through improved public service delivery.

The expansion into these countries was coordinated by the Data and Research Analyst at BudgIT, Fauziyyah Abdulrahman.

Fauziyyah, who doubles as the Research and International Program Officer for BudgIT, stated that as part of BudgIT’s vision to continue promoting citizen engagement across African countries and beyond, the organisation successfully expanded its footprint to the countries in 2020.

She stated: “Earlier this year, BudgIT Global Director Oluseun Onigbinde and I visited Senegal to introduce the BudgIT brand to Enda Lead Francophone Africa (LEAD) and the CSO community in Senegal and to collaborate with LEAD on tracking COVID-19 donations as part of the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP).

“During that visit, we completed the necessary preparations to officially launch our office in Senegal.”

Accoriding to the Data and Research Analyst, BudgIT would continue to engage grassroots communities through outreach such as community engagement meetings, radio programs, and town hall discussions to ensure accountability in governance and improved public service delivery in those countries.

She added: “We plan to continue our institutional support, capacity-building, and collaboration with local civil society communities, government ministries, and agencies to raise awareness and connect with citizens through digital mediums such as Twitter, Facebook, Radio, TV, and YouTube, as well as physical engagement, to enhance our advocacy further and reach a wider audience for better public service delivery.. and other engagement approaches that will best suit the local context in this country will be deployed as we progress.

“People should be allowed to participate in the budgeting process and be informed about how public funds are handled and used. That is why we produce annually simplified versions of the national budget documents under our Budget Access Project, through which we empower citizens with the right information to foster their civic rights and ignite the spirit of participation in demanding better service delivery in those countries.

“By the end of this month, we will introduce Senegalese to our inaugural budget analysis publication, which will be a dual language and the first-ever simplified Senegal 2022 budget document in dual language and interactive visual for both technical and non-technical consumption.”