Budgets as an Arena for Accountability: Advancing Citizen Engagement in the Middle East and North Africa

Regional High-Level Dialogue

Tuesday, 15 September 2026

09:30 AM – 12:30 PM Morocco Time

In-Person Event

Through the European Commission funded Building Alliances for Budget Accountability (BABA) initiative, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and its partners worked across the Middle East and North Africa to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations, build collaboration with governments and oversight institutions, generate evidence, and widen opportunities for more inclusive and accountable budget governance. The work rested on one point: greater budget transparency is necessary, but it is not enough on its own. Citizens and civil society also need real opportunities to engage public institutions and influence how public money is raised, allocated and spent.

That work ran while the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faced several pressures at once. Armed conflict, economic uncertainty, rising public debt, climate pressures, and growing demand for better public services. Those conditions raised the stakes on fiscal governance, and made the case for more transparent, inclusive and responsive budget processes.

Against that backdrop, the Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2025 showed that progress remains possible even in difficult political and economic conditions. Across the eight MENA countries assessed, the survey recorded gradual improvement in budget transparency, in legislative and audit oversight, and in opportunities for public participation. Progress was uneven. Even so, the findings showed that steady engagement by governments, oversight institutions and civil society produces reform. Morocco illustrated that wider trajectory, pairing progress in budget openness with continued attention to citizen engagement in fiscal governance. Its experience also showed why publishing budget information is only the start. What matters next is the institutions and channels that let citizens raise concerns, approach public authorities, and hold them to account for the use of public money.

One of the clearest lessons from the International Budget Partnership’s work in the region is that citizen engagement strengthens budget accountability. In many countries, improvements in fiscal transparency and participation came out of sustained collaboration between public institutions and civil society organizations, despite shrinking civic space and harder political conditions. Through evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogue, and constructive engagement with ministries of finance, parliaments, supreme audit institutions and local governments, civil society organizations helped open formal and informal channels for public participation in budget decisions.

Civil society also bridges citizens and public institutions. By turning complex budget information into accessible, locally relevant formats, organizations help communities see how public money affects the quality of public services, and help put the priorities of women, youth and marginalized groups into budget debates. In fragile contexts, where public trust in institutions runs low, that work sustains dialogue, strengthens accountability, and keeps public budgets as one of the few formal spaces where governments and citizens engage constructively.

This regional dialogue brought together senior government officials, parliamentarians, supreme audit institutions, civil society leaders and development partners, to reflect on those experiences and on wider fiscal governance reform across the region. Against the Open Budget Survey 2025 findings, the discussion examined where progress is happening, what enabled it, and how governments, oversight institutions and civil society can build on those openings.

The dialogue focused on practical routes from greater transparency to meaningful participation, on strengthening civil society’s ability to engage and influence budget processes, and on holding public budgets open as spaces for accountability, public trust and more responsive governance.

Opening Remarks

Aideen Gilmore,
Director of Partnerships and Capacity Development, International Budget Partnership

Pablo Cendoya Revenga, Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA), European Commission

Ana Patricia Muñoz, Executive Director, International Budget Partnership

Speakers

Pablo Cendoya Revenga

Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA), European Commission

Directorate-General for Middle East, North Africa and Gulf (DG MENA) in unit B3 (economic cooperation) working on macroeconomics, economic governance & budget financing.

Previously to this position, Pablo Cendoya Revnega has been responsible for Budget Support operations, PFM and Macroeconomics at the EU delegations in Senegal and Morocco.

Mouna Bengerine

Cheffe de la Division du Financement et de l’Appui à la Réforme, Direction du Budget, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Morocco

French:

Mme BENGRINE Mouna
Chef de la division du Financement et de l’Appui à la Réforme à la Direction du Budget du Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances, Maroc

Elle est une experte en finances publiques, spécialisée dans la réforme budgétaire, personne-ressource en budgétisation sensible au genre, ainsi qu’experte dans la monétisation des actifs immobiliers de l’État et les mécanismes de financement innovants.

Mme BENGRINE Mouna a occupé diverses fonctions au sein de la Direction du Budget, depuis son intégration en tant que cadre au service de la normalisation des dépenses d’investissement en 2000. Elle a été nommée chef du service de la normalisation et des études budgétaires, puis chef du service de l’accompagnement des départements ministériels dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre de la loi organique relative à la loi de finances, pour exercer par la suite les fonctions de chef de la division de la réforme budgétaire, puis de chef de la division de l’évaluation et de la programmation des projets d’investissement, avant d’occuper le poste de chef de la division du financement et de l’appui à la réforme.

English:

Ms. Mouna BENGRINE
Head of the Financing and Reform Support Division at the Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Morocco

She is an expert in public finance, specializing in budget reform, a resource person in gender-responsive budgeting, and an expert in the monetization of state real estate assets and innovative financing mechanisms.

Ms. Mouna Bengrine has held various positions within the Budget Directorate since joining in 2000 as an officer in the investment expenditure standardization service. She was appointed head of the standardization and budget studies service, then head of the service responsible for supporting ministerial departments in implementing the organic law relating to the finance law. She subsequently served as head of the budget reform division, then head of the investment project evaluation and programming division, before assuming the position of head of the financing and reform support division.

Tarik Nesh-Nash

Africa Coordinator, Open Government Partnership

Tarik Nesh-Nash is the Regional Representative for Africa and the Middle East at the Open Government Partnership. Drawing on more than 20 years of international experience across over 30 countries, he works with governments, civil society, parliaments, and oversight institutions to institutionalize transparency, citizen participation, and public accountability.

Sarah Eid

Advisor to the Minister of Finance for Budget Transparency Matters & Citizen Engagement, Ministry of Finance, Egypt

Sara Eid is the Advisor to the Minister of Finance for Budget Transparency matters and Citizen Engagement, according to Decree No. 297 of 2025. She is also heading the Fiscal Transparency & Citizen Engagement Unit (FTCE Unit) at the Ministry of Finance, Egypt, and serves as the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance.

Sara is senior economist with 25 years of experience in different capacities & ministries, expert in strategic planning, financial literacy, and social accountability with a passion to shape minds to unleash the unutilized potentials of all economic resources on the top of which human assets which considers the biggest edge in Egypt. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics, Minoring in Political Sciences, Faculty of Economics at Cairo University – French Department; and an IHS diploma, from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Holland in “Sustainable Local Economic Development with a special focus on Entrepreneurship & SMEs enterprises.” She also holds Chicago Booth Executives program certificate in strategic decision-making along with the Leadership & Diversity Program certificate for Regulators by the University of Oxford and Women World Banking, while studying new relations between administrative institutions and citizens from the National School of Administration (ENA Paris, France.)

Sara is working diligently to utilize her round experiences in the government and non-government organizations with her analytical skills in behavioral economics, social entrepreneurship, Micro, and Macroeconomics background to accelerate social economic empowerment through new innovative tools among which participatory budgeting and social accountability models to galvanize all the efforts and maximize the benefits of human and financial resources in Egypt to better serve its citizens. Moreover, she is actively working on bridging the knowledge and skills gaps between government & citizens through education, raising awareness, and public participation among a wide range of Stakeholders, while enhancing public management of funds and resources and combatting corruption to reach 2030 Egypt goals.

While on the Medium-Term, Sara is eager towards sitting on different boards and working on cross-national policy making organizations in order to foster local economic development to better tackling macroeconomic problems in Egypt & peer countries, and ensure that policies trickle down to social development.

Rajae Bounjenah

President, SimSim Participation Citoyenne (Morocco)

Rajae Boujnah is a MENA governance and development finance specialist with 11 years of experience working at the intersection of civic space, financing, governance, and institutional reform across the Middle East, Africa, and the wider Global Majority. Her work combines regional political-economy knowledge with practical experience in how funding models, governance arrangements, and institutional incentives shape access to resources, accountability, and locally led development.

Her development finance experience spans alternative financing, pooled funds, grantmaking systems, localization, and funding governance.

Ali Fayyad

Executive Director, Partners Jordan

Ali Fayyad is the Executive Director of Partners Jordan and specializes in budget transparency, public participation, accountability, and Budget oversight. He leads Partners Jordan’s work as the independent researcher and national partner of the International Budget Partnership in implementing and launching the Open Budget Survey in Jordan, and has also led the establishment of the MASAR Coalition of civil society organizations to advance budget transparency, accountability, and gender-responsive budgeting.

Aicha Karafi

President de l’Association Tunisienne de la Gouvernance Locale , ATGL, Tunisia

Aïcha Karafi est Présidente de l’Association Tunisienne de Gouvernance Locale (ATGL). Forte de plus de 30 ans d’expérience en tant que haute fonctionnaire au ministère tunisien des Finances, elle est une experte reconnue en finances publiques et locales. À travers son engagement associatif, elle œuvre aujourd’hui pour une meilleure participation citoyenne dans l’élaboration et le suivi des politiques publiques, ainsi que pour le renforcement de la transparence et de la redevabilité des finances publiques. Engagée dans le Partenariat pour un Gouvernement Ouvert (OGP), elle préside le Forum Civil Tunisien OGP et est membre du comité de pilotage national, où elle contribue activement à la mise en œuvre des plans d’action pour une gouvernance plus transparente et participative en Tunisie.

Fatma Outaleb

Eco feminist Expert and Member of Menafem Movement For Economic Development and Ecological Justice,

Fatima Outaleb is a Moroccan human rights and women’s rights activist with extensive experience advancing gender equality and women’s rights at national, regional, and international levels. She has worked extensively on UN and international human rights instruments and has contributed to developing practical tools and response mechanisms for survivors of gender-based violence. She has served as an expert with the Council of Europe’s North-South Centre and currently serves as MENA Regional Representative on the Board of the Global Network of Women’s Shelters. She is a member of the MENA Feminist Movement, serves on the Advisory Board of ABAAD (Lebanon) and the Executive Board of the Union de l’Action Féministe (Morocco), and is a co-founder of the Arab Feminist CSOs Network. Her work and writings focus on feminist movements, women’s rights, gender-based violence, and strengthening practical mechanisms for survivor support and protection

David Robins

Senior Partnerships Advisor, International Budget Partnership

David Robins joined the International Budget Partnership in August 2013 and is based in Washington, D.C. As the Senior Partnerships Advisor, he leads the coordination of IBP’s COAB program and is responsible for its strategy, planning, and delivery. This includes aligning country and partner strategies, managing the program’s sub-grant portfolio, and developing capacity development support that helps civil society strengthen its budget analysis and advocacy. Over his years at IBP, he has worked across the organization’s research and advocacy programs, most recently leading the Open Budget Survey before moving into his current role.

Prior to joining IBP, he worked for community organizations in New Orleans. David holds an MSc in International Politics from SOAS, University of London, where his studies focused on the role of non-state actors in governance and democratization.

Moderators

Emad Emam

Senior Program Officer (Regional Coordination), International Budget Partnership

Emad became a Senior Program Officer in the TTAN team at IBP in 2023, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With over sixteen years of experience in international development in the MENA region, Emad has expertise in designing, managing, and evaluating programs and policies that focus on governance, citizen engagement, social accountability, and gender-responsive services.

As a civic society worker and civic space researcher, Emad has dedicated the last decade of his career to strengthening citizens’ collective power and voices. Emad has invested much of his time working with CSOs and movements to help them build power literacy within their programs. He has been extensively involved in diverse projects, campaigns, and programs throughout the MENA region around gender equity, fighting inequality, youth civic and political participation, decentralization, and minority rights.

Ana Patricia Muñoz

Executive Director, International Budget Partnership

Ana Patricia Muñoz joined the International Budget Partnership as Executive Director in 2023. Previously, she was the Executive Director of FARO, non-partisan Ecuadorian think tank that generates research and implements initiatives to influence public policy and build a more equitable, just, and sustainable society.

As a trilingual economist, Ana Patricia brings strong technical knowledge to work on budgets and fiscal accountability. Her work has mainly focused on reducing inequality.

She spent a decade at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where she rose through the ranks to become Assistant Vice President. She was one of the youngest people— and the second Latina— in this position. During this time, she spearheaded ground-breaking research and produced a seminal report on the racial wealth gap, which has had huge impact. She also played a pivotal role in bringing diverse sectors together—from local housing advocates to private banks—to reduce the number of foreclosures in the city during the 2008 financial crisis.

Ana Patricia has written more than 20 research reports, book chapters, and articles published in academic journals. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Brown University, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Montreal and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

About this Event

Title of Event Dapibus Facilisis in Egestas Eget Quam Etiam

Virtual Event, Budget Credibility

Aug 11-12
 1:00 – 2:00 PM EST