Overview
In October 2001, with funding from UNDP-Niger, NDI organized a seminar for deputies to examine ways for the National Assembly to strengthen parliamentary oversight and the legislators' handling of the approaching budget session. Approximately three-quarters of the deputies attended at least one session of the two-day program, which provided an overview of the budget process for the deputies, including the role of the legislature, the committees and individual deputies, and suggested techniques to utilize when developing a strategy to deal with the budget.
Five local and two international panelists offered concrete advice on how and when to amend budgetary provisions and worked with participants on developing strategies for individual deputies, committees and the entire Assembly on how to best perform budgetary oversight. Through these exercises, deputies produced a number of sound recommendations that will serve to increase their legislative control of public finance. The training also involved a simulation exercise done in small working groups with the guidance of the panelists, giving deputies the opportunity to read and analyze a mock budget and develop a series of questions that were answered by a "pretend" minister. According to the deputies, this simulation exercise was one of the highlights of the seminar and improved their ability to utilize external information to read and analyze a budget, set legislative priorities, and review and amend legislation.
Several deputies commented to the Director of Legislation and NDI staff that the NDI-sponsored seminar on the budget resulted in a high quality of parliamentary deliberations during the Second Ordinary Session where deputies considered the new budget. For example, National Assembly committees overrode objections from the executive branch on certain amendments and proceeded with forwarding them to the Finance Committee. The amendments were then voted on in the plenary session, leading to a more transparent and open budget session. Deputies also pulled on lessons learned from their exchanges with Nigerien citizens during the public consultation campaign. For example, pursuant to private discussions, the Committee on General and Institutional Affairs (CAGI) realized that the amount budgeted to pay for the gasoline for government inspectors to visit public schools was woefully inadequate. The CAGI subsequently offered an amendment to increase their gasoline budget. In addition, the Assembly showed a new commitment to more inclusive democratic processes as committees invited representatives from civil society, namely human rights groups, to testify on legislation under review.
In order to reinforce the key points of the seminar, NDI published and disseminated a 35-page booklet on the budget process to the deputies. This educational tool served as an important reference during the training and will provide parliamentarians with a guide for future legislative activities. The document was subsequently edited to a shorter and more approachable format. In addition, the Institute translated two documents on the role of the legislature in the budget process into French to provide more substantive resource materials to the deputies.
Contact Information
For further information on this program, please contact:
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