V. >> F ramework in Practice - Implementing and Monitoring Rights >> Using indicators for human rights Budget process and human rights To make the budget process sensitive to human rights, sometimes also described as rights-based budgeting, it must be participative, transparent, objective and characterized by accountability: 1 Participative to allow stakeholders to take 2 Transparent, conducted with access to information on the content of the budget and its process; 3 Objective, concrete and institutionalized, with ad hoc and subjective influences having only a limited role in resource mobilization and allocation, if any; part in national, regional or local budget processes;16 Box 34 4 Accountable both ex ante and ex post, i.e., in the process leading up to the preparation and the approval of the budget, as well as in the actual spending. As the budget process is anchored in the larger ones of policymaking, development and governance (fig. XV), human rights budgeting requires that the entire process (from stage I to stage VI) conforms to the criteria listed above. Moreover, using appropriate indicators for human rights strengthens each stage of the development and budget cycle, making the process more amenable to stakeholder engagement, transparency, objectivity and accountability (box 34). The role of civil society is crucial in this regard (box 35).17 Checking the budget process from a human rights perspective Is there a system of institutionalized participation for the preparation and implementation of the budget (programme) with stakeholders? Are  the budget documents published in the public domain or available on demand? Is  the schedule for budget preparation and implementation institutionalized? Are  the budget accounts subjected to legislative and independent oversight? Is  the procedure for budget preparation periodically reviewed to improve stakeholder participation and transparency, and to place information in the public domain? What is the proportion of budget allocations (by sector or subject) for targeted population groups  actually spent in line with the programme’s objectives? and In which sectors does actual spending fall short of the budgeted allocations? 16. See, for example, Participation and Civic Engagement Group of the World Bank, “Case study 2-Porto Alegre, Brazil: Participatory approaches in budgeting and public expenditure management”, Social Development Notes, No. 71 (March 2003), available from www.worldbank.org/participation. 17. For examples of civil society work on human rights budgeting, see FUNDAR Centre for Analysis and Research, International Human Rights Internship Program and International Budget Project, Dignity Counts: A guide to using budget analysis to advance human rights (2004) and IDASA, An African Democracy Institute, Imali Ye Mwana (the children’s money). Available from www.idasa.org/our_work/programme/imali_ye_mwana/outputs/ (accessed 26 June 2011). Human Rights Indicators 123