Panama: Publishing Key Budget Documents

Extracts from Panama’s 2023 Citizen’s Budget

FSVC has been actively implementing a program to bolster budget transparency and accountability in Panama. As part of this initiative, FSVC has collaborated closely with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of Panama to develop and publish key budget documents, so that they are better aligned with open budget standards. One of these documents is the Citizen’s Budget, a simplified version of the government’s annual budget written in accessible language to help non-specialist readers understand the information.

After assisting the MEF in publishing Panama’s first-ever Citizen’s Budget in 2022, FSVC provided technical assistance to the MEF this year to strengthen the design of the Citizen’s Budget template, making it more reader-friendly and easily editable. As a result of this work, the MEF successfully published Panama’s 2023 Citizen’s Budget in July 2023.

FSVC is committed to continuing to support the adoption of open budget standards in Panama, thanks to funding from the U.S. Embassy. Next, FSVC will help the MEF develop and publish Panama’s inaugural Year End Report, a comprehensive evaluation of the country’s budget execution at the end of the fiscal year.

FSVC has been working to counter corruption in Angola by building the capacity of investigative journalists, civil society representatives and social media influencers to raise public awareness on corruption-related issues.

Recently, FSVC implemented a workshop for 20 Angolan social media influencers and journalism students on international best practices in mobilizing youth voices for change through social media advocacy. The workshop focused on how to develop effective technical strategies for conducting social media advocacy campaigns and storytelling. Our team of FSVC volunteer experts, which consisted of well-known TikTok influencers based in New York, traveled to Luanda to share insights on how to capture audience attention to inspire collective action, present case studies of successful anti-corruption campaigns and highlight examples of everyday corruption that impacts citizens, like bribery.

As a result of this workshop, participants gained technical skills to conduct social media advocacy campaigns and are more aware of the consequences of financial embezzlement. Additionally, participants recognized their responsibility to use their platforms for positive change, with a specific focus on anti-corruption reforms.

FSVC, supported by funding from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, is implementing a program to assist Tajikistan in its efforts to adopt the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards.

As part of this work, FSVC recently conducted a study tour on the EITI process in Yerevan, Armenia. FSVC invited a delegation from Tajikistan’s Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), which included representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), extractive companies and Tajikistan’s Ministries of Energy, Finance and New Technologies, to meet their Armenian counterparts. Participants discussed challenges in complying with the EITI requirements and shared lessons learned from their respective countries’ EITI journeys. Topics discussed included how to strengthen beneficial ownership disclosure and how to enhance dialogue with civil society.

Following the completion of the study tour, Tajikistan’s MSG members are now better equipped and highly motivated to strengthen Tajikistan’s EITI standards. In particular, this activity helped lay the groundwork for FSVC’s upcoming awareness-raising workshop with CSOs and journalists to present Tajikistan’s newly published EITI Reconciliation report covering the 2019, 2020 and 2021 fiscal years.

The entire FSVC family expresses our heartfelt condolences for the loss of one of our most committed volunteer experts, Wren York. Wren made valuable contributions to strengthening anti-money laundering and risk management frameworks in Angola and Tajikistan.

In Angola, Wren helped banks implement a risk-based approach to compliance, by explaining how to consider and incorporate customer, geographic and regulatory risks into decision-making. In Tajikistan, his guidance helped Tajik banks cope with and adapt to an unprecedented and extremely challenging risk context, in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

FSVC’s team held Wren in the highest regard and is deeply saddened by his passing. We will remember him fondly, and his technical assistance work leaves a valuable legacy.