In this event, speakers from civil society and government will speak about the challenges of implementing participatory budgeting processes and how online platforms can help overcome them.

In countries facing poverty, corruption, or instability, government decisions are often made far from the public's eyes, resulting in disenfranchisement and deepening citizen disengagement from local government. Where implemented successfully, participatory budgeting (PB) allows people to work together to identify priority issues for their communities and determine how to best spend public funding by directly deciding over the allocation of a portion of the budget. PB’s implementation, however, is not clear of challenges. Local governments struggle to implement effective PB programs given gaps in capacity, knowledge, and resources, among others.

This session explores the challenges government officials and civil society faces on the ground when implementing PB and how a single online platform - with assimilated PB tools, best practices, and lessons learned from a variety of contexts - could contribute to solving some of these roadblocks.

Speakers:

• Marr Nyang, Executive Director, Gambia Participates

• Josh Lerner, Executive Director, People Powered

• Binta Touray, Program Officer for The Gambia, International Republican Institute

• Sofia Arce, Director for International Relations, Mayor's Office of Cuenca, Ecuador

Language: English

Location: Online

Cost: Free

Event Organizer: Gambia Participates, International Republican Institute, and People Powered