Every year, governments collect and spend billions of taxpayer funds to pay for public services like education and healthcare. The public has a right to know how that money is allocated and how it is spent. Making budgets open to public input and scrutiny can help ensure that government planning and spending align with public priorities. In particular, people should be able to see that money is spent equitably, addressing the needs of women, people with disabilities, youth, and low-income groups, among others. OGP members have made their budgets increasingly transparent, yet more work remains for governments to proactively increase civic participation and oversight.
Debt is also a critical component of a country’s public finances. When acquired and managed responsibly, debt plays an important role in a country’s economy and fiscal health. It helps finance the development of new infrastructure, emergency procurement, and economic stabilization. However, many governments do not publish sufficient debt information, leading to an increased risk of corruption, bad investment decisions, and undemocratic borrowing practices. Increasing debt integrity through greater transparency and public accountability helps ensure that debt levels are sustainable and that funds received through borrowing are efficiently allocated to meet public needs.
The Open Gov Guide is the go-to resource for open government reformers. The guide provides concrete recommendations for policy makers, civil society representatives, and more on how to apply open government principles to real-world challenges. Readers can also use the guide to learn more about how governments at the national and local level are putting these values into practice through OGP action plans and beyond.
Learn more about this policy area in the “Open Budgets” and “Public Debt” chapters of the Open Gov Guide.
As part of the Open Gov Challenge, the OGP Support Unit would like to recognize some of the most inspiring commitments made by participants to date. Read more about these exciting reforms on this topic below.
For a full list of Challenge commitments submitted by members, visit our Open Gov Challenge Commitment Tracker.
Improve the Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Funds
To increase its tax revenue and better allocate its public funds, Elgeyo Marakwet committed to improving its fiscal monitoring and evaluation processes. For example, it aims to formalize its existing multi-stakeholder Project Management Committees by embedding it in the country government and to provide increased training on monitoring and evaluation and clearer guidelines on public participation.
Improve Public Participation in the Annual Budgeting Process
Quezon City in the Philippines has been working to improve public participation in its annual budgeting process, especially to better engage with vulnerable communities. Through this commitment, the city committed to inviting civil society representatives to help shape the new budget, as well as hosting training sessions and workshops to allow participants to better understand how the process works.
Explore all fiscal openness commitments from OGP members.
The following list reflects commitments submitted through national or local action plans. For more details, visit OGP’s Data Dashboard.
Filter the commitments according to three categories evaluated by the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM): ambition, completion, and early results.
| Country/Locality | Year | Commitment Title | More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quezon City, Philippines | 2025 |
Enhancing Public Participation in the Creation of the Annual Budget of Quezon City Government Departments and Offices |
|
| Tagbilaran, Philippines | 2025 |
Open Budget for an Inclusive and Responsive Budgeting |
|
| Cajamarca, Peru | 2024 |
Citizen Participation Training – Cajamarca Regional Government |
|
| Dominican Republic | 2024 |
Plataforma virtual al Ciclo Presupuestario Nacional |
+ |
| Liberia | 2024 |
Publication of Budget Documents |
+ |
This table shows all commitments that match the filters selected at the top of the page. At least one filter must be selected to populate this table. Use the tags above the table to further filter by commitment quality (e.g. ambitious, complete). Click on commitment titles to learn more about each commitment. Click on “Featured” icons to access stories, where available.
This table enables finding existing commitments in specific policy areas, regions, and years, as well as top-performing commitments by using the built-in table filters.
The commitment performance metrics (e.g. ambitious, complete) are derived directly from IRM reports. See the terms below for details. The Year field shows the year in which the commitment was first submitted. Icons in the Featured field indicate that a story is available on the OGP website.
It has been a turbulent few months around the world as youth-led protests have roiled countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria. Much of the analysis of these protests has focused on the perceived and inter-related causes, which include…
The OGP Nordic+ group met in April 2024 and again during Open Gov Week to discuss how to advance fiscal transparency and enhance participation in fiscal policy. From these discussions, four key lessons emerged, each illustrated with practical examples from various countries.
Utilize new commitment tags to analyze thematic content, monitor adoption trends, and identify notable reforms.
Read how the 2021 OGP Local Accelerator Awards, supported civil society organizations and local governments in collaboration to carry out reforms and deliver public services.
The state of Adamawa in Nigeria identified the existing gaps in governance as one of the causes of insecurity. It adopted open governance principles to bring the government closer to its citizens and curb service delivery deficits. Following the example…
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