As the first country that volunteered for the Aid on Budget Working Session, the Government of Rwanda displayed commitment to integrating more aid into the budget process. Specifically, it was interested in exploring the following questions:
- What are the criteria for putting aid on budget?
- Why is aid currently not ‘on budget’ (external financing and its intended use reported in the budget documentation) and/or ‘on parliament’ (external financing included in the revenue and appropriations approved by parliament).
The workshop engaged with how aid information is currently collected, processed and distributed in Rwanda. It endorsed the key research findings and agreed that whereas clarity on the criteria for when aid should be on budget and on parliament is necessary for improving the coverage of aid in Rwanda’s budget and budget process, it is by far not sufficient. The workshop agreed unanimously that data collection and management should be streamlined as a matter of urgency, implying amongst other that coordination of aid information on MINECOFIN should be addressed.
The workshop brought together various stakeholders to address the identified issues and drew on key experiences from selected CABRI countries: Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Workshop's presentations are available for download here.