Advancing Fiscal Transparency for Development: a free online course

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I have posted on the new Tax Transparency Principles that I have co-authored for the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency that were published last week, but now I note that their Advancing Fiscal Transparency for Development free online course is now live and publicly available in English and French, and thought that worth mentioning too.

The course includes a section in Module 3 on revenue transparency, referencing Making Tax Work, which I also co-authored, and the recently approved principles. The online course is perfect for ministry of finance officials, as well as other practitioners in government, civil society, legislature finance committees, supreme audit institutions, donor representatives, and indeed, any member of the public who wants to understand how they can contribute to, and benefit from transparency in the use of public resources. Advancing fiscal transparency for development is truly a global effort, so everyone is invited to join. As such, please share this information regarding the course with colleagues and feel free to extend an invitation to attend the course to all those that you, or your colleagues, feel would benefit from it.

Throughout the course, participants are walked through key concepts, international norms and standards, and the practical steps that can be taken towards achieving improved fiscal transparency by members of the GIFT Team, and practitioners and experts from GIFT network organizations such as the International Budget Partnership, the IMF, the PEFA Secretariat, the OECD, the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), among others.

Providing opportunities for peer-learning, the course presents numerous examples of concrete steps that countries have taken to successfully increase fiscal transparency. Participants get a unique chance to listen to testimonials directly from reform champions such as the Indonesian Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati; the Deputy Finance Minister of Georgia, Nikoloz Gagua; the former Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management of the Philippines, Florencio Abad; the former Deputy Finance Minister of Guatemala, Ricardo Barrientos; and senior officials from the South African National Treasury. The course also highlights experiences from key stakeholders outside the Ministry of Finance, including testimonials from Martin Masinde, Senior Deputy Director in Kenya's Parliamentary Budget Office; Nelson Shack Yalta, the Comptroller General of the Republic of Peru; and civil society representatives from several countries.

The course is divided into five modules, including interactive discussion sessions, with videos explaining theoretical concepts, country field examples, downloadable summary documents for better learning, and links to a range of reference materials on fiscal transparency and good governance.

Prospective course participants can watch this overview video, read this blog and visit the course's website: https://aftx.learning.fiscaltransparency.net/ to get more information on the course and to sign-up to take it.

GIFT is an action-network established in 2011 to achieve sustained, measurable improvements in fiscal transparency, accountability and inclusive participation; by advancing incentives, norms, peer-learning, collaborative assistance and new technologies. It brings governments, civil society organizations, international financial institutions and other stakeholders together, and facilitates meaningful dialogue on fiscal openness. More can be read about GIFT on our website and on this leaflet.


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