Alton, Martin LuisAgarwal, SanjaySongwe, Vera2014-09-152014-09-152013-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20130Transparent budgets and public financial management processes constitute a key pillar of good governance. However, while this has been increasingly recognized for national budgets, little attention is paid to subnational budget transparency. To fill this lacuna, a World Bank-supported initiative piloted a local budget transparency index (LBTI) in two of Cameroon s ten regions. Thirty-one local councils in the Northwest Region and nineteen in the Adamawa Region self-assessed the openness of their budget processes by filling out questionnaires in 2012. The councils were then ranked, the results were published, and, in Adamawa, discussed in a public meeting called by the region s governor and attended by mayors and the media. Through this exercise, mayors of low-ranking councils were publicly questioned about their low scores, which led to a palpable desire on their part to better perform in the next round of the survey. In 2013, independent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gathered the same information in a second round of surveys. This note discusses the methodology, main findings, and results from the LBTI pilot in the two regions and concludes with key challenges and lessons learned.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTABILITY RELATIONSHIPSANNUAL EXPENDITURESBANK DEPOSITBENEFICIARIESBEST PRACTICESBORROWING COSTSBUDGET ALLOCATIONSBUDGET ANALYSISBUDGET CYCLEBUDGET DISCUSSIONSBUDGET DOCUMENTSBUDGET FORMULATIONBUDGET INFORMATIONBUDGET INITIATIVESBUDGET LITERACYBUDGET PREPARATIONBUDGET PREPARATION PROCESSBUDGET PROCESSBUDGET PROPOSALSBUDGET TRANSPARENCYBUDGET YEARBUDGETINGCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCITIZEN INVOLVEMENTCIVIL SERVANTSCIVIL SOCIETYCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSCOLLABORATIONCOMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENTCONSULTATIONSCONTROLLERS OF FINANCECORRUPTIONCREDIBILITYCREDIT RATINGSDATA COLLECTIONDEBTDECENTRALIZATIONDEPENDENTDEPOSIT ACCOUNTSDIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIESDONOR ASSISTANCEENFORCEMENT MECHANISMSEXPENDITURE FORECASTSEXPENDITURE PROGRAMSEXPENDITURESFIGURESFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITYFINANCIAL ASSETSFINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSFINANCIAL SERVICESFISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONFISCAL PERFORMANCEFISCAL TRANSPARENCYGOOD GOVERNANCEGOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITYGOVERNMENT BUDGETGOVERNMENT PERFORMANCEGOVERNMENT POLICYGOVERNMENT REVENUESHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINSTRUMENTINTERVIEWSINVESTMENT BUDGETLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGAL PROVISIONSLEGAL REQUIREMENTSLINE MINISTRIESLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL CAPACITYLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSMARKET VALUEMINISTRY OF ECONOMYMONETARY FUNDMUNICIPAL BUDGETMUNICIPALITIESNATIONAL BUDGETNATIONAL BUDGETSNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL INVESTMENTOPENNESSOPERATIONAL EXPENDITURESPAYMENT OF EXPENDITURESPERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTPERFORMANCE INDEXPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY FORMULATIONPOVERTY REDUCTIONPROGRAMSPUBLICPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC AWARENESSPUBLIC CONSULTATIONPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENTPUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT REFORMPUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTPUBLIC MEETINGSPUBLIC OFFICIALSPUBLIC PARTICIPATIONPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYQUALITY OF LIFEREFLECTIONREGIONAL GOVERNMENTSREMEDYRESERVERESOURCE ALLOCATIONRETURNREVENUE ESTIMATESROADSSALARIESSELF-ASSESSMENTSOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITYSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL SERVICESTAXTAX COLLECTIONSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPARENT BUDGETSWARRANTS10.1596/20130