ADRN

As part of the "Building Civil Society Capacity in Myanmar" program, an international conference on government budget monitoring was held in order to present the final results of research conducted as part of the program. In hopes of passing along some of Korea's experience with democratization, the conference was held so that EAI's partner organizations could present and discuss the results of their research. Based on discussions held during the institutional and research capacity building workshops held in August and September of 2015, the Myanmar partner organizations carried out research on government budget monitoring while EAI played a supporting role by offering advice when needed. EAI's partners, Sandhi Governance Insitute, Renaissance Institute, Open Myanmar Initiative, and the Yangon School of Political Science, focused on different parts of the government budget process, including planning, oversight, and execution, and on different actors, including the central government, local governments, and the legislature. As the partner organizations presented their research at the conference, there were lively discussions on how the government is using the country’s resources, why the participation of the people in the budget process is important, and what kind of role civil society should play in creating a transparent and responsible government. EAI is now looking to turn the positive results and experience of this program into an expanded and more developed program in 2016.

The "Building Civil Society Capacity in Myanmar" program is funded in part by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).