Budgets are the government’s most powerful tool for meeting the needs of its people and ending extreme poverty. Yet, in many countries around the world, information on how public money is managed is not made available and budget decisions are made behind closed doors. This often means budgets are skewed to benefit those at the very top while critical services such as access to healthcare, education, clean water remain under resourced, underspent, and poorly implemented. However, when people have the opportunity to participate in spending decisions and hold government to account, the result is fairer budgets, improved services and transformed lives.