Developing the advocacy capacity of NGOs on fiscal and budgetary policies

Updates

25th of October 2022: For those who could not make it to the first two, we are inviting you to the third training in the CMTRFB series, in Bucharest, on November 10-11. Registration is open until November 6th, location to be announced, details here.

12th of september 2022: We invite NGOs and journalists interested in public budgets to sign up, until the 16th of September, at the second training in the series of events of the CMTRFB, from September 23-25, from Turda (Cluj county). Details and registrations on the training page.

8th of August 2022: NGOs and journalists can now register for the first training on budgets, from August 26-28, Bucharest. Details and registrations on the training page.

Hello, we are Funky Citizens and over the last ten years we have consolidated our expertise on budgets and public money. This year we launched CMTRFB to make this unfriendly field an essential one for any activist and journalist. Yes, at first glance the budgets are hidden in boring Excels, but if you spend a little time on them, you will see that it is not so complicated to track the public money. Once you graduate from our Center's courses, you will be able to better support your case in front of the local authorities, if you are an NGO-ist, or do more in-depth investigations, with data journalism, if you are a journalist.

Good to know:

The trainings are aimed at those who are part of NGOs / civic groups and journalists.
Participation in any of the sessions is free, but we will do a selection of the participants because we want the information to reach those who will benefit the most from it.
Where possible, we will provide transport and accommodation for a limited number of participants.

This year we decided to share our budgeting knowledge with other NGOs or civic initiatives in the country. In the first stage, we will organize 3 trainings in which the participants will develop their capacity to implement advocacy actions in the budgetary field. The next stage consists in the organization of two Summer Schools where the participants from the initial trainings can enroll to put the learned theory into practice.

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Motivation

Monitoring the budget process and educating the public on this subject are among the things that have consecrated our activity, since our launch in 2012. In the 10 years since, we have carried out constant research programs, education, trainings, coaching, constant support for citizens, organisations, journalists and even local and central elected officials.

În continuare, cunoștințele puține pe care multe organizații le au despre bugete și cheltuiala banului public sunt un obstacol în fața unor acțiuni de advocacy reușite și cu impact în comunitățile locale. Știm asta din prisma solicitărilor de sprijin pe acest domeniu de la organizații cu mai puține resurse dar și prin observarea unor indicatori de tipul celor din Open Budget Survey care plasează procesul bugetar românesc aproape pe 0 ca participare.

Goals

We will put together and maintain an online support center for those who want to better understand how public budgets are made and how taxpayer money is spent. The published information, educational materials and news in the field will be addressed to those NGOs that want to use this knowledge in advocacy actions.

At the same time, we will work with 40 organisations or civic groups from the country who are interested in speaking „bugeteză”. Through online and offline sessions, we will show them how to develop advocacy campaigns with a budgeting component and how to involve the local community in these actions.

Activities

Sociological research to find areas with low NGO participation in the budget process
Analysis of the needs of those civic groups through meetings and interviews
Development of online support center and educational materials
Organizing trainings for civic groups, both online and offline, with public registration
Organising a train of trainers event for trainers in the budgetary field and the development of joint action plans at local level

Beneficiares

The materials and events developed in this project will be intended for those organizations or civic groups in the country that want to develop their ability to conduct advocacy campaigns on the budget process. Also, the resources of the support center will be public and available to any citizen who wants to train his civic muscle.

Calendar

1 year and 8 months
January 2022 - August 2023

Financing

The project benefits from a budget of 143.760 euro through the Active Citizens Fund Romania.

The project is implemented by Funky Citizens and benefits from a 143.760 euro grant from the Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.

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