Project Case Study
Making the economy the central issue to the formation of the new Libyan state
Promoting good public financial management in Libya's new social contract
Libya has considerable mineral wealth and a strong sovereign wealth fund. However, there is enormous pressure on the transitional government to spend at unsustainable levels. Any failure of the transitional government to respond to these calls is being met with accusations of corruption and incompetence.
While the Department for International Development is working through the World Bank and the IMF to improve the government’s financial management systems, they are working through us to start addressing the level of public awareness of basic public financial management principles and their role in both good governance and Libya’s economic future.
Tamkeen works firstly by supporting activist groups to develop research and advocacy campaigns that focus on the financial drivers behind key public policy issues. It then helps these groups to get air time in the media so that they can raise awareness of public finance issues in relation to policy issues that matter to them.
We are bringing these partners and a broad coalition of social figures together to develop a Public Financial Management Charter that can define the government’s responsibilities for economic management and enshrine those responsibilities in the new constitution. Better understanding of public finances and a better informed civil society pressure on government to improve public financial management will be the result.
I didn't realise government finances played such a role in every day life.
A Civil Society Organisation participant in the first workshop on running research and advocacy projects