Child Rights Governance In-Depth Analysis

Questionnaire /Data collection guide 1: Investment in Children1

Introduction
Save the Children is carrying out an In-Depth Analysis of the Child Rights Governance situation in the
country. A key component of this is economic governance analysis to ascertain challenges and
opportunities for improved investment in children. Investment in Children (IiC) work focuses on increased
mobilization and allocation as well as effective utilization of private and public resources in order to realize
immediate and long term needs of children. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC), Article 4 places an obligation on the part of all governments to invest in children to the
maximum extent of their available resources in order to realize the objectives of the Convention. The
purpose of the analysis is to inform planning and programming by Save the Children.
Section A: Macro-economic context
1) What are the trends and characteristics of economic performance (Gross Domestic Product and
Gross National Income, employment, fiscal outlook and inflation)? Generally, how stable is the
economy? (Ministry of Finance, IMF, World Bank)
2) What is the trend regarding the child poverty situation (looking at the multi-dimensional poverty index
and key child rights development indicators) in view of economic performance? Any discrepancies
amongst the geographic regions and demographic groups of the country and why? (Ministry of
Finance, IMF, World Bank)
3) What are the trends in employment and household income in general? Any other sources of livelihood
such as informal trade? (Ministry of Finance, IMF, UNDP, Central Statistics Office, Ministry of
Trade, World Bank)
4) What is the level of inequality and how does it manifest? Any geographic, gender or other
demographic dynamics to it? (Ministry of Finance, IMF, UNDP, World Bank)
5) Are there any major shocks such as HIV and AIDS, disasters, change in oil prices, wars etc that may
be impacting on economic performance? How have children been affected? (Ministry of Finance/
Planning IMF, World Bank)
Section B: Fiscal and Monetary policy framework
6) Briefly describe the policies and laws in place governing public spending e.g. National Constitution,
Public Finance Management Act, Budget Law etc? Any challenges and opportunities for improved
investment in children? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in local government, think tanks)

This is meant to be both a guide for secondary and primary data collection. It is supposed
to be self-administered. The institutions in bold and italics are the potential sources of
information. The researcher is generally encouraged to triangulate data with various
sources.

7) Is public finance management or budgeting in general decentralized? If so describe the policy and
legislative framework governing the decentralization process. Any challenges and opportunities to
enhance the quality of spending on children? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in local
government, citizens, think tanks)
8) What is the approach or method of budgeting employed by the government? (i.e. Results based
budgeting; Incremental Budgeting, Cash Budgeting and or programme/activity based budgeting?).
Any opportunities for improving the quality of public spending on children? (Ministry of Finance/
Treasuries in local government, think tanks).
9) What is the overall fiscal thrust of government (Is it contractionary, expansionary or constant and
why? How has this impacted on investment in children? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in local
government, IMF, World Bank, research institutes/ economic think tanks)
10) What is the current government policy on social spending on children? (Ministry of Finance/
Treasuries in local government, Ministry of Social Development, UNDP).
11) Are there any aspects of the fiscal policy framework that may affect household income, prices of
goods and general public and private investment in children? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in
local government, think tanks, CSOs and citizens including children)
12) Are there any aspects of the monetary policy that may have a bearing on public spending on child
rights such as foreign currency challenges, cash shortages etc? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in
local government, think tanks, citizens and CSOs).
13) Has there been any child rights impact assessment of any aspect of fiscal or monetary policies? Any
interesting findings for Save the Children? (Ministry of Finance/ Treasuries in local government,
think tanks, citizens and CSOs).
Section C: Revenue architecture and trends
14) What are the main sources of local and central government revenue and trends over the past 5
years? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in Local Government, IMF and
World Bank)
15) What are the projected revenues in the next 3-5 years? How realistic are the assumptions
underpinning revenue projections? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in
Local Government, IMF and World Bank)
16) What is the contribution of tax to Gross Domestic Product? Any missed taxation opportunities at local
and national level? Any evidence of tax avoidance and evasion? How effective and progressive is
taxation? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in Local Government, IMF and
World Bank, Economic think tanks and CSOs)
17) What is the level and composition of the countrys debt? Any positive or negative impacts on children?
Who are the major lenders to the country? Is the country participating in any debt management
initiative such as debt relief? How is the child rights sector affected? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue
Authorities, Treasuries in Local Government, IMF and World Bank)
18) Is the country dependent on natural resources? What is the proportion of natural resources to total
government revenue? What is the level of transparency and accountability in the extraction and

sharing of natural resources? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in Local

Government, IMF and World Bank)
19) How is revenue sharing conducted between central and local government? Are there regions that are
under/over resourced compared to others? Any challenges and opportunities to improve efficiency
and effectiveness in revenue sharing? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in
Local Government, Legislatures at local and national level)
20) What are the trends in overseas development assistance over the years in terms of amounts and
sector focus? How much of this goes to the child rights sector? Which regions in the country are the
major recipients of aid and why? Who are the major donors? Is development assistance in the child
rights sector being delivered in line with BUSAN and PARIS principles? (Ministry of Finance,
Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in Local Government, UNDP World Bank, research institutes
and CSOs)
21) Any earmarked resources for children at local and national level, including proceeds from innovative
financing mechanisms? (Ministry of Finance, Revenue Authorities, Treasuries in Local
Government, UNDP World Bank, research institutes and CSOs)
22) Overall, is fiscal space to increase public spending on children improving or worsening?
Section D: Child Rights Expenditure trends
23) Do childrens issues feature clearly in national and local development plans? (Ministry of Planning ,
UNDP, Local Government, and World Bank; Local and National Development plans)
24) What is the level of compliance with regional and international commitments on public expenditure
norms to which the government is a signatory to? Examples include Abuja declaration and Dakar
Framework of action. How is the government faring in relation to its neighbors? (Ministry of Finance:
Budget Books, Research institutes, WHO, UNESCO, GSW)
25) What is the level and trends (over the past 5 years) in public expenditure on children particularly in
education, health, social protection, emergencies and national child rights infrastructure (Including
coordination mechanisms). Consider the following:
a) Ministerial expenditure as a percentage of the total budget / GDP (Pick key child focused
ministries).
b) Programme spending as a percentage of ministerial budget, total budget and GDP (Pick specific
child focused programmes of interest in selected ministries).
c) Per capita spending where possible (Using domestic and or international currency).
d) Variance between actual spending on specific child sectors and international commitments.
e) Variance between allocations to specific programmes and actual spending.
f)

Proportion of development vs non-development: operational vs administration budget for a given

year and overtime. (Ministry of Finance: Budget Books)

26) Is public spending addressing inequality and the specific needs of the most poor and vulnerable?
(Ministry of Finance: Budget Books; Line Ministries; Local government)

27) What is the reach and possible impact on children of any existing social protection spending
programmes such as cash transfer programmes? Any barriers to access by some deserving children?
Any operation challenges? (Ministry of Finance: Budget Books; Line Ministries; Local
government, Citizens including children, CSOs, UNDP and World Bank)
28) Is there any evidence of inefficiencies, corruption of other leakages in public spending? (Line
Ministries, Local government, citizens)
29) Is public spending on children informed by analysis, research and child sensitive data including
evidence from programmes that achieve results for children at scale? (Ministry of Finance; Line
Ministries; Local government, CSOs)
30) Are there any observed spending challenges within the prioritized child rights sectors such as delayed
disbursement, weak spending and reporting capacity? (Line Ministries, Local government,
citizens, Ministry of Finance and CSOs).
31) What budget allocation and expenditure monitoring mechanisms exists at local and national level
such as Public Expenditure Tracking Survey? What is their coverage? How effective are they? What
are the challenges and opportunities for Save the Children to engage with these mechanisms? (Line
Ministries, Local government, citizens)
32) Any readily noticeable correlation between public spending and specific situations of children?
(Demographic Health Survey, Budget Books, National statics, UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO etc)
33) How often are public audits carried out? Any recent evaluations, social or other audits on child
specific programmes? Any interesting findings for Save the Children? (Line Ministries, Local
government, CSOs and Ministry of Finance)
Section E: Fiscal transparency and accountability
34) How available and accessible are the key budget documents using the Open Budget Survey guide?
Any glaring gaps and or opportunities for adequate and effective spending on children. Are there any
specific recommendations noted in the Open Budget Index that are relevant to Save the Children.
(International Budget Partnership, OBS)
35) How effective are the public expenditure oversight and accountability mechanisms at local and
national level? Any good or bad practices especially on public expenditure on children? (Parliament,
Ministry of Finance, Local Government, Oversight bodies, Citizens)
36) What is the level of corruption using various indices such as Anti-Corruption index; Bribery index etc?
Any specific reports/ verified incidences on corruption in the child rights sector. (Parliament, Ministry
of Finance, Local Government, Oversight bodies, Citizens)
37) What is the level of secrecy in revenue collection and sharing and also in the financial sector in
general? Does it favor capital flight, tax evasion and avoidance? (Parliament, Ministry of Finance,
Local Government, Oversight bodies, Citizens).
38) Is public spending on children covered in State Party Reporting? If yes are there any specific
Concluding Observations made that Save the Children can follow up?. (Parliament, Ministry of
Finance, Local Government, Oversight bodies, Citizens).

39) What mechanisms are in place to control corruption in the child rights sector? (Parliament, Ministry
of Finance, Local Government, Oversight bodies, Citizens).
Section F: Child and civil society participation in fiscal processes
40) What is the level of child and civil society participation in budgeting processes? (Ministry of Finance,
Local government, citizens)
41) Which CSOs including child led organizations are involved in investment in children issues? How
strong and effective are they? Which CSOs are possible partners of Save the Children?(Ministry of
Finance, Local government, citizens)
42) What are the participation frameworks in place? How inclusive and effective are they? (Ministry of
Finance, Local government, citizens and CSOs)
43) Are there clear roles and responsibilities in the budget making process? (Ministry of Finance, Local
government, citizens)
44) How predictable are time lines in the budget cycle (Ministry of Finance, Local government,
citizens)
45) To what extent is participation open to the marginalized and vulnerable children and young people
and to broad civil society? (Ministry of Finance, Local government, citizens)
46) What are the most effective entry points for Save the Children and its partners to influence public
spending on children? (Parliament, Ministry of Finance, Local Government, Oversight bodies,
Citizens and CSOs).
47) What investment in children issues are covered by CSOs (revenue, expenditure, transparency,
consumption etc?) (CSOs and citizens, including children)
Section G: Role of private sector and other actors
48) How developed is the private sector? (Chambers of Commerce, Ministry of Trade, World Bank)
49) Are there any reports of tax evasion and avoidance? If so by which companies? Are there any missed
taxation opportunities (Revenue authority, Ministry of Finance, World Bank, Citizens)
50) What is the potential of private sector to scale up corporate social responsibility towards childrens
issues? (Chambers of Commerce, Citizens, Local Government)
51) In general are companies respecting child rights and business principles? Is business activity
generally monitored? (Chambers of Commerce, Citizens, Local Government)
52) Which private sector and how involved is it in corporate social responsibility in the child rights sector?
(Chambers of Commerce, Citizens, Local Government)
53) Any harmful and or positive tax incentives within the private sector? (Chambers of Commerce,
Citizens, Local Government)
54) Are there any examples of public-private partnerships for improved investment in children?
(Chambers of Commerce, Citizens, Local Government)

55) How influential is private sector on the fiscal direction of the country? (Chambers of Commerce,
Ministry of Finance, Local Government)
Section H: Conclusions, Policy and programming recommendation. Overall:56) Is there fiscal space for improved investment in children
57) Is there evidence of under-spending on children? What are the reasons for this?
58) Is there evidence of leakages and ineffectiveness in public spending on children?
59) Are there any good practices in public spending on children?
60) What are the key challenges to improve investment in children?
61) What are the key opportunities for Save the Children programming in Investment in Children?
62) What are the recommended actions for Save the Children in terms of:
a) Strategic direction on economic governance
b) Programming priorities (covering research, capacity building, advocacy etc)
c) Policy recommendations to government
d) Child participation
e) Resource mobilization
63) Any development policy goals that should be prioritized in public spending.
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