The Challenge
No government action has the potential to improve the daily lives of poor people more than the budget. However, studies repeatedly fail to find a significant link between public spending levels and human development indicators.  A major reason for this disconnect is that public spending is often not correctly targeting the people who need public services the most and addressing problems in the education, health, and water sectors in the most effective ways.  Even when policymakers have the political will to improve how money is being spent, governments often do not have the time and resources to analyze how well the budget is functioning and whether public funds are having the intended effects.  

The Opportunity
The Strengthening Institutions to Improve Public Expenditure Accountability project (“SI”) is built on the belief that strengthening local think tanks in developing countries is fundamental to improving budget systems, policies, and domestic capacity to improve health and education outcomes globally.  Led by the Global Development Network (GDN) and the Results for Development Institute (R4D), the five-year project supports and empowers research institutions and think tanks to produce reliable public expenditure analyses and reform proposals, shape policy debates, and thus improve the effectiveness with which governments allocate and use their resources in the health, education, and water sectors.

SI focuses on developing local research institutions and think tanks to increase the sustainability of independent budget analysis in low- and middle-income countries.  By working with the think tanks for five years and providing targeted support on budget analysis research methods as well as support for constructive engagement with the policy community, our belief is that the participating think tanks will develop the capacity to increase fiscal transparency and accountability as well as provide concrete and effective improvements for improving spending in health, education, and water and sanitation.  

Our Work
SI’s competitive grant program empowers think tanks and research institutions to improve the quality of public expenditures in the health, education and water sectors by strengthening their institutional capacity for public expenditure analysis, policy alternatives development and constructive engagement with policymakers. The project does this by supporting organizations as they carry out connected research, analysis and dissemination activities around program budgeting analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, benefit incidence analysis, policy simulations, and major budget reform proposals.

• Technical training – customized training in public expenditure analysis tools and communications skills, along with tailored individual support from experts in the field
• Peer learning – Peer review, collaboration between organizations from different countries analyzing similar issues
• The production of  internationally comparable information on public expenditure incidence, effectiveness, and policy reforms
• The creation of a strong network of institutions working on public expenditure analysis and reform

• Advanced Social Technologies (AST) - Armenia
• Center for Economics and Development Studies (CEDS) Faculty of Economics, Padjadjaran University – Indonesia
• Center for Research and Communication (CRC) – Philippines
• Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS) - India
• Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) - Argentina 
• Center for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) – Nigeria
• Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) - Uganda 
• Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) – Tanzania
• Fundación para el Desarrollo de Guatemala (FUNDESA) – Guatemala
• Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy (EGAP, Tecnológico de Monterrey University) – Mexico
• Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) - Kenya
• Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) - Ghana
• Policy Research and Development (PRAD) – Nepal
• Research Center of the University of the Pacific (CIUP) - Peru
• Unnayan Shamannay (US) - Bangladesh