TURNING COMMITMENTS INTO ACCOUNTABILITY
This briefing looks at how civil society, national institutions and oversight bodies can analyse and scrutinise budgets through a human-rights lens. It introduces key frameworks, such as the OPERA model, for assessing whether states use the maximum of their available resources to realise our everyday rights.
It explains how budget analysis can reveal gaps between government commitments and real-world outcomes and highlights international and domestic case studies where rights-based budget scrutiny led to tangible change, from health funding in South Africa to housing in Northern Ireland.
It also discusses the role of courts, audit institutions and parliaments in holding governments accountable for how they raise, allocate and spend public funds.
Together, these approaches help ensure budgets truly serve people’s rights rather than just balancing financial targets.
Human Rights Budgeting: What to Look For
Back to Part 1 - Human rights, Fiscal Policy and Public Budgets
Back to part 2 - Designing human rights based compatible budgets