The issue of the budget and obstacles facing the provincial council was the hot topic of an open discussion in Salahaddin, based on the summary of the political report of the project “Budget is Your Right.”
The discussion, which took place on December 22, 2024, was attended by many different sections of Salahaddin, including Nawfal Ghazi, a member of the provincial council and a number of activists, journalists, local residents and contractors.
Hussein Abu Jassim, representative of the “Budget is Your Right” project in Salahaddin, who chaired the discussion, read out a summary of the report on the monitoring and follow-up on the budget issue in all four provinces of Salahaddin, Kirkuk, Nineveh and Diyala. (Click here to read the report in Arabic).
In addition to an introduction to the details of the monitoring and follow-up process of the council, the report explains the problems and challenges facing the provincial council and the budget process through ten findings and at the end presents a number of recommendations as solutions.
The findings include the consequences of the struggle to form local governments and the distribution of posts on the duties of the council, with the risk of unfairness in the distribution of budgets and projects, underestimating public opinion, marginalizing some areas and the role of civil society organizations NGOs, lack of transparency, access to information and other points.
The recommendations emphasize the provincial council's attention to the current needs of citizens, budget distribution according to the principle of justice, strengthening transparency, avoiding political conflict, involving the public and access to information about discussions related to service projects and eliminate obstacles to the work of the council.
Ali Mousawsi, a journalist and researcher at the Salahaddin Research Center, said the discussion was important to create a general understanding of citizens' rights in the budget process, as well as go into details of how to distribute projects and measures taken, as some areas who have no representative in decision making centers feel they are marginalized compared to other areas.
The summary of the report is based on field observations of the council, surveys in all four provinces, assessment of the legal framework, eight focus groups and more than 15 interviews with council members, decision makers in the local administrations and different sections of society.
The draft summary of the report has been shared with a number of lawmakers, heads and members of the provincial council, academics, civil society activists and journalists for feedback and reviews before the final edition.
Salwan Ibrahim, a civil society activist and participant in the Salahaddin discussion, said the move was very important to strengthen transparency and will play a role in narrowing the gap between citizens and local authorities.
"Budget is your right" is a vital project concerned about daily life of ordinary people carried out by (KirkukNow) Media Outlet and Wadi, a German-Iraqi organization with the support and funding of the National Democratic Institute - NDI - Iraq, dedicated to monitoring the role of provincial councils in the four provinces of Kirkiuk, Nineveh, Diyala and Salahaddin.
The overall goal of the project is to further encourage transparency in the budget issue, while creating dialogue and understanding among citizens, officials, civil society and the media.
*This article has been produced within the framework of the "Budget Rights" project funded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
