Status of Public Participation in Planning, Budgeting and Oversight

Abstract

In the first chapter of this book, different levels or phases of public participation were discussed and we found that Afghanistan is at the initial levels of public participation; enough information is still not provided to the public to enable constructive and meaningful participation in budgeting, planning and oversight. In this chapter, public participation in budgeting and planning at the provincial and central levels is discussed in detail. At the central level (Kabul), ministries and parliament are the key organs responsible for making the budget process participatory; at the provincial level, provincial councils, provincial development committees, and municipalities are key organs in relation to public participation in budgeting, planning and oversight. The role of legislature and executive ministries in public participation is discussed separately in Chaps. 8 and 7 respectively. Afghanistan has a centralized governance system, and owing to a low capacity and security problems in the provinces, public participation is good at the center as compared with the provinces. Citizen participation takes place mainly in the planning and budget formulation phases of the budget process, and in the implementation and oversight phases of the budget, citizen participation is relatively weak or does not take place at all.