7/31/2019 Brief 1_Mexico Citys Innovation Budgeting With a Human Rights Approach

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ELLA Aea: Geae

ELLA Theme: Budget ad Publi Pliies

Increasingly, the budget is being seen as an eective tool to

promote human rights, though most governments around the

world still designate their budgets without specically linking them

to human rights improvements. This brie describes how the irst

budgeting process with a human rights approach was designed and

implemented by the Government o Mexico City (GMC) (Gobierno de la 

Ciudad de México) , analyzing the process, initial outcomes and lessons

learned, to help potentially replicate the initiative in other contexts.

SUMMArY

By ratiying human rights treaties, states assume obligations and duties

under international law to respect, protect and ulil human rights. However,

these legal obligations do nothing i governments do not devote suicient

inancial resources to realising human rights. In the last decade, human

rights and budget activists rom around the world have begun to argue

that governments should ormulate their budgets with a human rights

approach to eectively link public spending with human rights objectives.

The GMC became the irst in the world to put these arguments into practice.

USInG SPEnDInG To MAKE HUMAn rIGHTS A rEALITY

LESSonS LEArnED

KEY

Patie Bie

Budgeting with a human rights

approah an inrease the human rights

ations undertaken by governments by

specically linking spending allocations

with the realization of human rights.

Inorporating a human rights approah

into the budgeting proess is feasible,

but it requires hanges in institutional

proesses and routines, while also

enating legal reforms to sustain the

proess over time.

civil soiety partiipation and the multi-

stakeholder set-up proved ruial to

implementing this innovative approah.

In 2009, the Mexio city government implemented

an innovative budgeting approach – the rst

of its kind – to specically link the budget

with human rights. As a result, 75% of

the Mexio city budget is now tied to

implementing specic actions to

promote human rights.

MEXIco cITY’SInnovATIon: BUDGETInG

WITH A HUMAn rIGHTS

APProAcH

LEGAL HUMAn rIGHTS oBLIGATIonS AnD DUTIES ASSUMED BY

STATES Do noTHInG If GovErnMEnTS Do noT DEvoTE SUffIcIEnTfInAncIAL rESoUrcES To rEALIzInG THESE rIGHTS

7/31/2019 Brief 1_Mexico Citys Innovation Budgeting With a Human Rights Approach

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7/31/2019 Brief 1_Mexico Citys Innovation Budgeting With a Human Rights Approach

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oUTcoMES of THE APProAcH

The GMC’s inventive budgeting approach has only been

operating or two years in all the local ministries and

municipalities and is still considered an ongoing process.

That being said, some early results show the success o

the implementation and the potential the approach has or

addressing human rights.

For example, compliance is high amongst public ocials: in

2011, 75% o the units that prepared budgets successully

linked their spending allocations to human rights actions.

GMC, called the ‘public policy ramework’ and adapted it so

that public ocials had to specically list out the human

rights actions that were linked with each spending line (see

Figure 1). Once implemented, public ocers would have touse the adapted tool when ormulating their annual budgets.

2. EnAcTInG LEGAL rEforMS To SUSTAIn THE InITIATIvE

Changing the way the budgeting process was done in the city

required enacting legal reorms and specic changes to the

manual that public ocers consult to design their budget.

These reorms were needed to legally enorce the changes

made to the budgeting process, but also serve the purpose

o sustaining the initiative over time.

3. cHAnGInG PUBLIc SErvAnTS’ vISIon of BUDGETInG

The majority o public servants and elected ocials do not

see a link between their daily work and the advancement o

human rights. For the new budgeting strategy to be efectively

implemented, it was thereore necessary to rst change public

ocers’ and legislators’ vision o budgeting itsel. For public

ocers, a training course was implemented collaboratively

between the government and CSOs to sensitize public ocers

about human rights issues and teach them how to incorporate

human rights actions in the adapted budgeting tool. For

legislators, given their role in approving the budget, meetings

were carried out to convince them about the importance o

adopting this novel approach.

Sme the ems ad laws eated ae:

2009The Local Budget Law was modied so

that imati spedig allatis

ad huma ights uld be equested by

the Miisty fiae.

2011The Law the Mexi city Huma

rights Pgam was eated, makig

budgetig with a huma ights appah

ad sme the huma ights piiples

iteatial pats madaty.

2010 ad2011The Pgammig ad Budgetig

Manual was modied to reect the

hages made t the ‘publi pliy

amewk’.

Furthermore, using the new approach, spending allocations

in 2011 unded 52 new human rights actions that were not

carried out beore in the city, but that were identied as

essential by the HRP. The three ministries that incorporated

most o these new human rights actions were the Ministry 

or Integral Development o the Family (Desarrollo Integral 

de la Familia) , the Ministry o Social Development (Secretaría 

de Desarrollo Social) , and the General Accounting Oce (Contraloría General) . The human rights being advanced the

most, based on the number o actions related to them that

have been budgeted, are equality (157 actions), environment

(52), health (49), and education (45).

Figure 2: Training GMC

public ofcers on human

rights issues and on

budgeting with a human

rights approach

Source: Training course

or GMC public ofcers,

2010

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fInD oUT MorE froM ELLAT id ut me abut Budgetig ad Huma rights, ead the Sptlight 

Publiatis. T lea me abut Budgetig ad Publi Pliies, ead

the ELLA Guide, whih has a ull list the ELLA kwledge mateials 

this theme. T lea me abut the ELLA deelpmet issues, bwse

the ELLA Themes.

conTAcT fUnDArT id ut me abut this ase, tat the auth: Jaet opea,

Pjet cdiat, jaet@uda.g.mx.

ELLA is suppted by:

The iews expessed hee ae t eessaily

thse DfID.

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EnABLInG THE IMPLEMEnTATIon

of THIS BUDGETInG APProAcH

To better understand this ground-breaking case, and to think

about how the lessons learned can be applied in other regions,

it is necessary to understand the underlying contextual and

enabling actors that impacted how the initiative was designed

and its successul implementation.

The government’s commitment to involve civil society in

decisions and to implement their recommendations proved to

be key. Overall, the GMC opened spaces or citizen participation

in decision making and was receptive to their proposals. In act,

the very recommendation to implement this new budgeting

methodology came rom a multi-stakeholder exercise involving

government and civil society.

The GMC also showed a willingness to ‘open’ the ormulation

stage o the budget cycle. Though the tools and criteria used or

allocating the budget are usually not shared with citizens, the

working group was able to adapt the ‘public policy ramework’

precisely because the GMC was transparent and willing to share

the budget tools and criteria.

In addition, the GMC has been eager to innovate and adopt

new models and approaches more generally. With regards to

budgeting, the city has also implemented gender-sensitive and

results-based budgeting approaches, as well as participatory

budgeting.

Sufcient nancial resources were designated to cover the

costs o implementing the initiative, such as the public ofcers

training and modiying the online platorm that ministries and

local municipalities use to prepare and submit their budgets.

The GMC showed the capacity to enact legal reorms and to

get legislators’ political support. The act that the executive

and legislative majority were rom the same political party

acilitated the lobbying process.

Finally, civil society’s technical expertise and interest in

participating and nurturing the process proved to be important.

The CSOs that participated had demonstrated know-how on

management, budget, and human rights issues, and this

expertise turned out to be crucial or the design o the budget

tools and during the implementation phase.

conTEXTUALfAcTorS

The Mexi city ase shws that the

appah a be a suessul stategy

esuig gemets implemet

specic actions to promote human

ights.

Gemets’ mmitmet t adae

huma ights, be taspaet, ad

gie ie t iil siety pes the

pssibility t desig ad udetake

iatie budgetig appahes that

hae t bee tested bee.

1

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    L    E    S    S    o    n    S

    L    E    A    r    n    E    D Ipatig a huma ights

appah it the budgetig

pess equies hages i

istitutial pesses ad

uties. These hages me

slwly ad it is eessay t

invest time, effort, and nancial

esues i tasmig publi

ofcials’ and legislators’ vision of

budgetig.

Eatig legal ems esues the

sustaiability el budgetig

pesses.

opeig spaes i t i e

patiipati ad eatig multi-

stakehlde wkig gups a

utue ad eih pliy em

pesses. I this ase, eah

membe the wkig gup

tibuted uique expetise ad

tehial kwledge t the pess.