Budget literacy

"Budget literacy" refers to the ability to read, decipher, and understand public budgets. Budgets are often complicated and difficult to make sense of. As a result, a host of "budget literacy" exercises and initiatives have surfaced in recent years as ordinary citizens and civil society organizations begin to engage in budget work.

While budget literacy initiatives are varied and are often specific to a particular organization’s needs and country context they are all linked in their similar goals of enabling and enhancing meaningful citizen participation in the budget process and ultimately, improving budget outcomes to make governance more equitable and effective.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module you will:

	Explain why budget literacy initiatives are often needed and why they are important elements for a social accountability initiative
	Use case study examples to envision how a budget literacy training might be useful in your unique local context