Kayah’s regional government led a two-day civic consultation attended by 71 civil-society organisations, media, and government officials. The consultation, led by the Kayah State Ministry of Planning and Finance, is the first time a government has invited civil society to outline their priorities for the upcoming state budget. It comes at an opportune time, coinciding with the first budget cycle of the fiscal year.

The workshop was initiated and designed by the Kayah State Budget Director as a part of the government’s efforts to sustain recent efforts to promote fiscal transparency and civic engagement, which have included regular citizen budget publications and budget literacy trainings.

According to the new fiscal year cycle, proposals for a new sub-national budget should be gathered at the township level between January and February, meaning that the timing of this Kayah consultation will allow for citizen’s voices to be included in proposals for the first time.

The proposals will then feed into a draft budget, which will be developed by the State Budget Department in May.