Idasa is an independent public interest organisation committed to promoting sustainable democracy based on active citizenship, democratic institutions and social justice. Idasa understands that democracy is a principle that informs the development of political institutions, norms and procedures. In keeping with the meaning of the origin of the word “democracy” – demos and kratia in Greek – this principle literally means “people rule” or its modern equivalent, popular self-government. Idasa is mainly concerned with answering the question: To what extent does the political system in a particular country bring about popular self-government?

In our endeavour to answer this question in the African context, Idasa developed a Democracy Index that sets out to assess the quality and evaluate the performance of democracy in Africa. In its attempt to refine the concept of popular self-government, the Democracy Index is designed around two key principles:

• The extent to which Africans can control those who make decisions about public affairs (elected representatives and government appointees at all levels); and
• The extent to which Africans are equal to one another in this process.

It is important to understand how much control citizens have over the actions of the government and how equal they are in exercising this control. Idasa attempts to understand democracy not merely as having certain institutional and procedural norms in place, but rather in terms of the extent to which those norms facilitate the ability of citizens to rule equally, or at least participate equally in the governance of the country. Idasa runs nine main programmes, namely the Economic Governance Programme, Media@Idasa, the Political Governance Programme, the Safety and Security Programme, the Political Information and Monitoring Service, the Southern African Migration Project, the Community and Citizen Empowerment, Initiative for Leadership and Democracy in Africa and Governance and AIDS.

The Governance and AIDS Programme at Idasa (Idasa-GAP) aims to build AIDS-resilient democratic societies in Africa. Idasa-GAP was formed in 2002 and it recognises the importance of the overall key pillars of democratic consolidation. GAP embraces the notion that HIV & AIDS can destabilise institutions of democratic governance, hence the need to help countries affected by HIV & AIDS explore their impact on governance and the converse impact of governance.1 Thus GAP seeks to build AIDS-resilient democratic societies in Africa by promoting knowledgeable governance2 and developing visionary leadership and citizen agency to deal effectively with the pandemic.

The idea of resilience conveys not only improved management of the HIV & AIDS pandemic by state institutions, but the existence of thriving democratic communities, able to confront the epidemic and its consequences with confidence, looking towards a more hopeful future. The vision captures Idasa-GAP’s belief that democratic governance, broadly understood and widely practised, can create a culture of collaborative problem-solving involving state and non-state actors, leading to the unlocking of resources across communities to deal with HIV & AIDS and to promote development.

It means that democratic institutions are strengthened as they take full account of the political and organisational implications of the epidemic and plan strategically to ensure their sustained effectiveness and efficiency. Idasa-GAP’s aim is to ensure that policies and development plans treat HIV & AIDS as a continuing priority, while also focusing on building democratic hope and empowering citizens to shape and create the society of the future. Idasa-GAP’s mission is centred on promoting knowledgeable governance and developing visionary leadership and citizen agency to deal effectively with the pandemic. The approach emphasises the strong interaction between empirical research and policy actions based on communicative and collaborative citizen-state relationships.

Idasa-GAP aims to strengthen good governance to counter the effects of HIV & AIDS by instituting evidence-based advocacy, skills-building and active citizenship, and targeting intergovernmental organisations and relevant regional non-state actors. Idasa-GAP’s vision is captured in five strategic objectives, namely research, advocacy and network building; accountable governance; local government; human rights and democratisation; and political communication.

GAP’s AIDS Budget Unit (ABU) seeks to promote accountable governance through budget analysis and resource tracking processes. The ABU is spreading its work of promoting good, accountable AIDS governance to cover countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In the ABU’s view, good, accountable AIDS governance involves participation, transparency, accountability, the rule of law, effectiveness, and equity.

The participation of citizens in the budget process (formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation) is of paramount importance in the attainment of the ABU’s objectives. The ABU is also involved in building the capacity of non-state actors to monitor national budgets from an HIV & AIDS perspective and to ensure that governments are accountable to the people, that budget processes are transparent and that HIV & AIDS resources are effectively utilised and are distributed equitably.

The ABU has established long-standing relationships with reputable partners in eastern and southern African countries to promote accountable governance by strengthening the HIV & AIDS resource tracking and budget analysis skills of national, subregional and continental parliamentary groupings, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media. The ABU intends to reinforce these relations and also establish new partners in west Africa. The ABU’s activities focus on, but are not limited to, building the capacity of CSOs, parliamentarians (specifically portfolio committees on finance and health), the media and national AIDS councils in basic economic principles, budget analysis and resource tracking using a variety of tools.3 The ABU works with regional CSOs to share evidence-based advocacy and impart skills to other CSOs to enable them to engage with policy-makers on budget matters and promote accountability across sub-Saharan Africa.

The ABU’s work is premised on research, advocacy, and capacity building and skills transfer to strengthen legislative oversight and civil society watchdog roles regionally. To promote accountable governance through active citizen participation in the allocation, distribution and spending of HIV & AIDS resources, ABU’s capacity building programmes enhance and strengthen partners’ abilities to do HIV & AIDS resource tracking and budget analysis work independently.

HIV & AIDS Accountable Governance: A Resource Tracking Handbook defines frequently used budget and resource tracking terms. It demystifies the budget process, which has traditionally been viewed as the domain of economists and government technocrats. The ABU hopes that more non-state actors involved in HIV & AIDS work will be able to participate more in the budget process. The federal budget process, as a mechanism for setting resource priorities and controlling the use of those resources to attain policy objectives, is grossly undermined by a lack of participation. This budget handbook promotes the drive towards greater citizen agency by making the budget and resource tracking fields more accessible to all citizens. Informed and organised participation by all stakeholders is a cornerstone of the budget consultative process. Participation can be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives.

The role of non-state actors as watchdogs in the implementation of HIV & AIDS activities can be enhanced with more information and skills. Non-state actors need skills and information on budget processes to engage effectively with policy-makers on issues that affect their lives and those of the constituencies they represent. Advocacy can only be effective when the activists speak the same language as the technocrats and policymakers. It is against this background that the handbook seeks to simplify terms relating to economics, governance, HIV & AIDS, and resource tracking that are critical when undertaking budget analysis and resource tracking work.

Generally non-state actors doing HIV & AIDS work lack the skills to undertake budget analysis and resource tracking, and this limits their ability to monitor the government’s progress towards achieving its national, regional and international commitments with respect to HIV & AIDS. It has also been noted that where non-state actors are involved in this work, they are more often than not reactionary. They make submissions after the budget has already been presented in Parliament – at which point their contributions are no longer useful. We recommend that non-state actors try to understand the budget process in their countries better and identify the best entry point for effective results, which should be the formulation stage.

This handbook can be used by research institutions, national and regional nongovernmental organisations, parliamentarians, government officials, national AIDS councils and commissions, bilateral and multilateral organisations, political parties, people living with HIV & AIDS, and the media. This elementary “HIV & AIDS Accountable Governance: A Resource Tracking Handbook” includes simple definitions and explanations of terms from the areas of governance, economics, democracy, resource tracking, and HIV & AIDS, as well as tools for basic budget analysis.

* The Idasa website contains a range of other resource documents which readers might find useful in furthering their own social accountability projects. 

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Key Concepts in Budget Analysis and Resource Tracking - Cover

Key Concepts in Budget Analysis and Resource Tracking - Full Book