The Government of Bangladesh is strengthening its parliamentary oversight as part of a bigger drive to improve the supply and demand sides of its public financial management system. Parliamentary oversight is widely considered an essential pillar for ensuring the financial accountability of the executive arm of government. However, until now, the three committees that oversee parliament in Bangladesh have faced a range of difficulties in fulfilling their responsibilities, including lack of skills and capacity.
Improved agricultural production and community-based solutions are just some of the factors that have helped Rwanda reduce the proportion of people living in poverty from 56.7% to 44.9% over the last five years, according to a major household survey in the country. A strong sense of local ownership for pro-poor policies, coupled with increased GDP growth, also played a key role.
In 2009-10, the health department of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa treated around 7,000 Hepatitis C patients. A year later, with no discernible increase in the total health department budget, it was able to treat 17,000. The reason? A new focus on outputs which is transforming the way public sector budgets in the province are allocated.
The results of the 2008 FinScope survey indicate that over 52% of the Rwandan population are financially excluded and that banks and microfinance organisations serve only 14% and 7% of the population respectively. The Government of Rwanda have responded to this challenge through establishing the Ubudehe Credit Scheme. OPM was commissioned to assess if its objectives are being met.
A new initiative in India will provide CSOs with real-time data so that they can help socially excluded groups in the country gain access to basic service such as healthcare, as well as livelihood options. Using a ‘value for money’ framework, the initiative will involve developing new tools and be supported by a web-based management information system for monitoring and evaluation.
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