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Bishkek City Council Holds its First Public Budget Hearing
The Bishkek City Council held its first public budget hearing on December 9, 2005, organized with support from the USAID Local Government and Decentralization Project, implemented by the Urban Institute. The hearing focused on the 2006 budget and was attended by more than 100 residents who actively participated in the budget discussion and questioned city officials.
One retiree at the hearing stated, “We didn’t know how difficult the process was before and now we understand that budget formulation is not easy work.”
The USAID project works with 25 pilot cities (58% of the country’s total) on public hearings, asset management, strategic planning, budgeting, and citizen participation. Budget hearings allow city administrations to adjust their budget to account for citizen's comments and priorities. Additionally, such an inclusive process builds stronger relationships between the local government and NGOs. In total, 22 cities held hearings on their draft 2006 budgets; the three cities that opted not to hold a hearing this year have held hearings in previous years.
Bishkek was the last pilot city in Kyrgyzstan to hold a hearing.
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More than 100 citizens participated in the Bishkek City budget hearing
Photo Credit: Urban Institute |
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