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General Information
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Accounts of government spending, its amount and its allocation, together with the sources of revenue to finance the spending. The accounts serve as records of intentions and performance of government. They represent our collective choices as society, as determined via our political institutions, with respect to public expenditure and revenues, and reflect how conflicts between our various economic policy objectives and political interests have been resolved in the past or not, and whether or how and when the government intends to respond to them.
The power of the state budget lies in its capacity to deal with fundamental financial, economic and political problems that affect people in many ways. These include questions of what is produced, how is it produced, by who, where, when, who ultimately benefits, and why. For example, what goods or services should the state or government provide? Who should the government employ to produce and/or dispense the goods or services? Who should receive the government produced or paid for goods or services, and how much should they get? Who should pay what for these state activities, and will the revenue be enough to meet the costs of government? How much debt should the government be allowed to get into, and can it borrow that much, where?
Answers to such questions can vary widely with any number of persons or groups operating through political and bureaucratic institutions, and within a framework of laws, rules and conventions. Getting consensus is often not easy. Nevertheless, the state (or government) budget represents the outcome of efforts to bring the several decision making processes to the point of decision and get decisions made.
Open dialogues on substantive state budget issues provide invaluable opportunity for public policy stakeholders including lawmakers, interest groups, the media and the general public to judge the intentions and performance of government and hold it to account.
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EITD Research (Research for Enterprise, Industries, Technology and Development) is a private non-profit making non-governmental research and policy education institution with head quarters in Kumba, Cameroon, working on development issues related to technology, enterprise and industries since its founding in 1992.
The task of EITD Research is to seek solutions to pressing development concerns and assists society to take, with responsibility, opportunities offered by science in the use of technology for development via enterprise and industries. In addition to providing field services and technical support in resources management, EITD Research develops and circulates information on a wide range of issues, advocating strategies and making policy recommendations.
EITD Research activities are classified under seven broad headings: (1) Development and Economic Policy; (2) Enterprise and Industry; (3) Engineering Science and Technology; (4) Primary Health Care; (5) Education; (6) Environment and Production; and, (7) Field Services and Technical Support. More ...
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Strategically located in the Gulf of Guinea in the west coast of Africa, Cameroon is a fascinating country with a population of about 18 million from over 230 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The official languages are English and French. Even as ethnic and linguistic rivalries are never far from the surface, Cameroon has mostly had stable governments since gaining political independence in 1960/61. The relative stability has given rise to economic activity that is pretty diverse but commodities dominated. The country's per-capita gross domestic product is estimated as US$2,700.
But, Cameroon has a reputation for being corrupt and is lagging on its promise to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Even as the country's economy has been growing at rates that are higher than population growth in recent years, poverty levels have been increasing for the vast majority of the population.
Efforts have been underway, since the late 1980s, to restructure the largely inherited system of state to help meet growing aspirations of people in the country. Measures have been taken to liberalize the economy and democratize politics in Cameroon. But the reform efforts are facing numerous obstacles from Cameroon's colonial and one-party institutional histories, legal framework, limited democratic experience, a culture of not sharing information and the cross-cutting, competing allegiances of partisan politics, ethnic and linguistic groups.
-------------------------------------------------------- Why the State Budget Issues Conference?
State Budgets are at the heart of the Cameroon government reform efforts. The Constitution of Cameroon requires the government to table the State Budget in Parliament when it sits in ordinary session in November. EITD Research initiated its State Budget Issues Conference series to support government reform efforts by helping to focus democratic discussion of the budget on substantive financial, economic and political issues facing people in Cameroon and around the world.
The EITD Research State Budget Issues Conference dialogues started May 12, 2000, when more than 75 people from 40 organizations responded to an EITD Research invitation and assembled at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel to discuss State Budget Issues. The first ever meeting of its kind in Cameroon was much appreciated by the assembled parliamentarians, diplomats, representatives of ministers, government and inter-governmental departments, political parties, non-governmental organizations, media houses, businesses, students and independent personalities. It set a major public policy development precedent in Cameroon and recommended that more State Budget meetings be organized with wider participation to inform/educate policy making, implementation and evaluation in Cameroon and Africa.
Other EITD Research State Budget Issues Conferences have since been organized following calls for papers, which received impressive responses with quality contributions from some of Cameroon's senior parliamentarians, civil servants, academics and civil society activists.
--------------------------------------------------------- The Great Need and Urgency of this Conference
The ongoing crunch in credit systems and apparent collapse in the global economy comes at a time when much of the world, including Cameroon, is lagging on its promise to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This, when the MDGs represent only a fraction of what several country Constitutions and other basic declarations of the United Nations mandate states to guarantee as human rights and freedoms. Many, especially in countries such as Cameroon, appear condemned to lives of perpetual depravity, disease and early death or little hope of being born healthy!
Nine years ago, in 2001, the United States (US) State Department, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Germany and the US Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Washington collaborated to organize a conference on: Political Participation and Economic Prosperity in a Global Economy. The concern then was that debate about globalization was reaching an impasse. Resistance to globalization was growing as serious political and economic side effects were becoming apparent. Many were calling for global rules, but few knew who should make the rules or enforce them! Dani Rodrik (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the USA) wrote a discussion paper for the conference with the title: Four Simple Principles for Democratic Governance of Globalization. He summed his presentation in the following words: "Markets require governance. Good governance can be ensured only via democracy. And democracy remains co-extensive with the nation state. These simple facts impose serious limits on how far we can push global economic integration and international institutionalization. Ignoring this is a recipe for economic failure and social instability."
Recent events following turmoil in financial markets and economies around the world also speak for themselves. The G20 group of countries met in London, April 2009, and in Pittsburgh, September 2009, with less than clear outcomes for countries in straits like Cameroon. The country's trade, growth and public finances are being badly hit. And, the Cameroon government's capacity to engage in countercyclical policies was already limited and heavily dependent on International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and donors. Cameroon is also reputed to be corrupt, is lagging on its promise to achieve MDGs, and has experienced serious food price riots recently. How should the country be addressing these issues in its State Budget?
Nation states have to take their own democratic responsibilities seriously, both in procedure and substance. Every individual, organization or business has to understand this, and make it clear to political authorities at home and abroad, to ensure peace, stability and prosperity for all.
Cameroon and other countries (Chad, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea) in the CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) region operate a fixed exchange rate monetary policy. In times of crisis, like now, State Budgets gain added significance. The State Budget or fiscal policy - government taxing and spending - is vital to bringing Cameroon, the CEMAC region and world out of crisis into prosperity for all.
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The Conference is designed to involve as many public policy stakeholders as possible. A marketing campaign is well underway and is getting to leading policy advisors and decision makers including parliamentarians and representatives of various government departments, diplomatic missions and international organizations, academic institutions and businesses, political parties, trade unions, other non-governmental organizations and the media.
Over 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the EITD Research State Budget Issues Conference. Many more will share in its build up and outcome, through a variety of pre-and-post Conference meetings and online discussions and follow-ups including provision of training in state budget affairs at various levels within Cameroon and in every region of the world. The issues the Conference is raising are relevant to many individuals, organizations and businesses in various countries around the world.
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Yaounde, the administrative and political capital of Cameroon. The exact location of the Conference in the city will soon be posted here, on this website.
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Activities leading to the EITD Research State Budget Issues Conference will be holding within Cameroon, around the world, and online.
Within Cameroon - Meetings and other Conference marketing campaigns will continue holding in towns and villages of all the ten administrative regions of Cameroon, based on the Conference 1st and 2nd Calls for Papers, and Sponsorship Prospectus, to inform leading public policy stakeholder representatives, indicating how State Budget decisions affect voters and provide opportunities to clarify issues.
Around the World - Meetings and other Conference marketing campaigns are also being organized to hold in the United States of America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, as the EITD Research Conference is raising serious and urgent government budgeting issues that are relevant to many individuals, organizations or businesses and their governance in various countries of the world.
Online - These will include moderated e-mail and discussion board dialogues, assembly of budget issues terminology glossary, and an introduction to budget issues training for those who need it.
Schedules for these activities will soon be posted here, on this website.
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Other meetings and media campaigns within Cameroon, around the world, and online, will be following the Conference, based on the Conference Proceedings Book/CD, which will be produced for broad dissemination, and other declarations or recommendations of the Conference.
Schedules will be posted here, on this site.
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If you have any special physical or communication need that you think may affect your participation in this Conference, please contact us as soon as possible. We will be delighted to discuss your need with you and arrange to meet it. Remember to also tick the appropriate box on your registration form and append a statement specifying your need.
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There will be plenty of room to display posters in the Conference Poster Exhibition area. Individuals, groups and organizations or businesses are welcome to share graphic representations of their concerns, programmes/products or creative solutions/recommendations. Participants will have ample time to present and discuss their ideas, and distribute handouts at the Conference. Please register your poster exhibits here.
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Hard and/or electronic copies of the Conference newsletter will be sent to all existing and potential delegates to keep them fully informed of Conference activity schedules, contents, requirements, etc., in the lead-up to, and after, the Conference. Read the Conference Update page of this site.
To submit a story, information or advertisement, please email sbic@eitdr.org, or bring them on flash memory or floppy disk or hard copy to the Conference Secretariat, at EITD Research Head Quarters in Kumba, or at the Conference venue in Yaounde, Cameroon.
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The Conference is programmed to use Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) as much as possible. Conference facilities will include an Internet Café, broadcasts via conventional media (press, radio and television) to national and international audiences, and live Internet streaming of Conference proceedings and highlights.
EITD Research SBIC Studio - A fully equipped, carefully located and highly visible television, radio and Internet broadcast studio will provide a dedicated window to the world for the Conference. It will be producing and distributing live interviews and news stories with the EITD Research State Budget Issues Conference leaders and visiting speakers for TV and radio stations in Cameroon and around the world, as well as streaming Conference events on the Internet.
Links to the streams, media reports and other activities will be posted here, on this website.
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July 14, 2009 - EITD Research issue Call for Papers and Launch Website of its forthcoming State Budget Issues Conference holding in Yaounde, Cameroon.
October 7, 2009 - EITD Research issues 2nd Call for Papers and Reschedules State Budget Issues Conference (SBIC) for April 19-21, 2010, to hold in Yaounde, Cameroon.
March 22, 2010 - New Dates for the EITD Research State Budget Issues Conference (SBIC), November 2-4, 2010.
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