The International Budget Project was formed within the U.S.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 1997 to nurture the growth of civil society capacity to analyze and influence government budget processes, institutions and outcomes. The IBP works closely with organizations that focus on the impact of the budget on poor and low-income people in developing countries or new democracies. The overarching aim of the project is to make budget systems more responsive to the needs of society and, accordingly, to make these systems more transparent and accountable to the public.
To achieve its aims, the IBP works with individual civil society organizations that are developing or strengthening dedicated capacity to engage in public budgeting, through training, research, and re-granting activities; encourages these civil society budget groups to work together and to learn from each other; and helps to raise the profile of budget work in the international community and to promote private, public and multilateral donor investment in civil society budget work.
One of IBP's major projects, The Open Government Initiative, has rated some 59 governments according to the transparency and accountability of their budgets. IBP also produces a range of manuals and resources to help citizens gain access to and understand their public budgets.
