brief 1_mexico citys innovation budgeting with a human rights approach
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7/31/2019 Brief 1_Mexico Citys Innovation Budgeting With a Human Rights Approach
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ELLA Aea: Geae
ELLA Theme: Budget ad Publi Pliies
Increasingly, the budget is being seen as an eective tool to
promote human rights, though most governments around the
world still designate their budgets without specically linking them
to human rights improvements. This brie describes how the irst
budgeting process with a human rights approach was designed and
implemented by the Government o Mexico City (GMC) (Gobierno de la
Ciudad de México) , analyzing the process, initial outcomes and lessons
learned, to help potentially replicate the initiative in other contexts.
SUMMArY
By ratiying human rights treaties, states assume obligations and duties
under international law to respect, protect and ulil human rights. However,
these legal obligations do nothing i governments do not devote suicient
inancial resources to realising human rights. In the last decade, human
rights and budget activists rom around the world have begun to argue
that governments should ormulate their budgets with a human rights
approach to eectively link public spending with human rights objectives.
The GMC became the irst in the world to put these arguments into practice.
USInG SPEnDInG To MAKE HUMAn rIGHTS A rEALITY
LESSonS LEArnED
KEY
Patie Bie
Budgeting with a human rights
approah an inrease the human rights
ations undertaken by governments by
specically linking spending allocations
with the realization of human rights.
Inorporating a human rights approah
into the budgeting proess is feasible,
but it requires hanges in institutional
proesses and routines, while also
enating legal reforms to sustain the
proess over time.
civil soiety partiipation and the multi-
stakeholder set-up proved ruial to
implementing this innovative approah.
In 2009, the Mexio city government implemented
an innovative budgeting approach – the rst
of its kind – to specically link the budget
with human rights. As a result, 75% of
the Mexio city budget is now tied to
implementing specic actions to
promote human rights.
MEXIco cITY’SInnovATIon: BUDGETInG
WITH A HUMAn rIGHTS
APProAcH
LEGAL HUMAn rIGHTS oBLIGATIonS AnD DUTIES ASSUMED BY
STATES Do noTHInG If GovErnMEnTS Do noT DEvoTE SUffIcIEnTfInAncIAL rESoUrcES To rEALIzInG THESE rIGHTS
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oUTcoMES of THE APProAcH
The GMC’s inventive budgeting approach has only been
operating or two years in all the local ministries and
municipalities and is still considered an ongoing process.
That being said, some early results show the success o
the implementation and the potential the approach has or
addressing human rights.
For example, compliance is high amongst public ocials: in
2011, 75% o the units that prepared budgets successully
linked their spending allocations to human rights actions.
GMC, called the ‘public policy ramework’ and adapted it so
that public ocials had to specically list out the human
rights actions that were linked with each spending line (see
Figure 1). Once implemented, public ocers would have touse the adapted tool when ormulating their annual budgets.
2. EnAcTInG LEGAL rEforMS To SUSTAIn THE InITIATIvE
Changing the way the budgeting process was done in the city
required enacting legal reorms and specic changes to the
manual that public ocers consult to design their budget.
These reorms were needed to legally enorce the changes
made to the budgeting process, but also serve the purpose
o sustaining the initiative over time.
3. cHAnGInG PUBLIc SErvAnTS’ vISIon of BUDGETInG
The majority o public servants and elected ocials do not
see a link between their daily work and the advancement o
human rights. For the new budgeting strategy to be efectively
implemented, it was thereore necessary to rst change public
ocers’ and legislators’ vision o budgeting itsel. For public
ocers, a training course was implemented collaboratively
between the government and CSOs to sensitize public ocers
about human rights issues and teach them how to incorporate
human rights actions in the adapted budgeting tool. For
legislators, given their role in approving the budget, meetings
were carried out to convince them about the importance o
adopting this novel approach.
Sme the ems ad laws eated ae:
2009The Local Budget Law was modied so
that imati spedig allatis
ad huma ights uld be equested by
the Miisty fiae.
2011The Law the Mexi city Huma
rights Pgam was eated, makig
budgetig with a huma ights appah
ad sme the huma ights piiples
iteatial pats madaty.
2010 ad2011The Pgammig ad Budgetig
Manual was modied to reect the
hages made t the ‘publi pliy
amewk’.
Furthermore, using the new approach, spending allocations
in 2011 unded 52 new human rights actions that were not
carried out beore in the city, but that were identied as
essential by the HRP. The three ministries that incorporated
most o these new human rights actions were the Ministry
or Integral Development o the Family (Desarrollo Integral
de la Familia) , the Ministry o Social Development (Secretaría
de Desarrollo Social) , and the General Accounting Oce (Contraloría General) . The human rights being advanced the
most, based on the number o actions related to them that
have been budgeted, are equality (157 actions), environment
(52), health (49), and education (45).
Figure 2: Training GMC
public ofcers on human
rights issues and on
budgeting with a human
rights approach
Source: Training course
or GMC public ofcers,
2010
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fInD oUT MorE froM ELLAT id ut me abut Budgetig ad Huma rights, ead the Sptlight
Publiatis. T lea me abut Budgetig ad Publi Pliies, ead
the ELLA Guide, whih has a ull list the ELLA kwledge mateials
this theme. T lea me abut the ELLA deelpmet issues, bwse
the ELLA Themes.
conTAcT fUnDArT id ut me abut this ase, tat the auth: Jaet opea,
Pjet cdiat, [email protected].
ELLA is suppted by:
The iews expessed hee ae t eessaily
thse DfID.
ELLA ArEA: GovErnAncE | ELLA THEME: BUDGET AnD PUBLIc PoLIcIES 4
EnABLInG THE IMPLEMEnTATIon
of THIS BUDGETInG APProAcH
To better understand this ground-breaking case, and to think
about how the lessons learned can be applied in other regions,
it is necessary to understand the underlying contextual and
enabling actors that impacted how the initiative was designed
and its successul implementation.
The government’s commitment to involve civil society in
decisions and to implement their recommendations proved to
be key. Overall, the GMC opened spaces or citizen participation
in decision making and was receptive to their proposals. In act,
the very recommendation to implement this new budgeting
methodology came rom a multi-stakeholder exercise involving
government and civil society.
The GMC also showed a willingness to ‘open’ the ormulation
stage o the budget cycle. Though the tools and criteria used or
allocating the budget are usually not shared with citizens, the
working group was able to adapt the ‘public policy ramework’
precisely because the GMC was transparent and willing to share
the budget tools and criteria.
In addition, the GMC has been eager to innovate and adopt
new models and approaches more generally. With regards to
budgeting, the city has also implemented gender-sensitive and
results-based budgeting approaches, as well as participatory
budgeting.
Sufcient nancial resources were designated to cover the
costs o implementing the initiative, such as the public ofcers
training and modiying the online platorm that ministries and
local municipalities use to prepare and submit their budgets.
The GMC showed the capacity to enact legal reorms and to
get legislators’ political support. The act that the executive
and legislative majority were rom the same political party
acilitated the lobbying process.
Finally, civil society’s technical expertise and interest in
participating and nurturing the process proved to be important.
The CSOs that participated had demonstrated know-how on
management, budget, and human rights issues, and this
expertise turned out to be crucial or the design o the budget
tools and during the implementation phase.
conTEXTUALfAcTorS
The Mexi city ase shws that the
appah a be a suessul stategy
esuig gemets implemet
specic actions to promote human
ights.
Gemets’ mmitmet t adae
huma ights, be taspaet, ad
gie ie t iil siety pes the
pssibility t desig ad udetake
iatie budgetig appahes that
hae t bee tested bee.
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L E S S o n S
L E A r n E D Ipatig a huma ights
appah it the budgetig
pess equies hages i
istitutial pesses ad
uties. These hages me
slwly ad it is eessay t
invest time, effort, and nancial
esues i tasmig publi
ofcials’ and legislators’ vision of
budgetig.
Eatig legal ems esues the
sustaiability el budgetig
pesses.
opeig spaes i t i e
patiipati ad eatig multi-
stakehlde wkig gups a
utue ad eih pliy em
pesses. I this ase, eah
membe the wkig gup
tibuted uique expetise ad
tehial kwledge t the pess.