The National Treasury has called on stakeholders and provinces to collaborate with it in hosting events to educate the public on the budget process.

This comes after the National Treasury hosted, for the first time, a successful post-Budget engagement during Youth Month that involved unpacking the national budget to children.

The engagement was in collaboration with the Western Cape Commissioner for Children (WCCC).

The main objective of the outreach programme was to raise awareness about national budget information that is readily available, outline the budget process and to develop a child-centred budget document titled the Coolkid’s Guide to the Budget.

‘Public participation in the budget process is essential for transparent and accountable governance. In February, the Minister of Finance tables the National Budget, which includes allocations for children and the youth across various national and provincial departments.

‘By involving the public, especially young people, the government fosters inclusiv
e development, builds trust in its resource allocation, and ensures that the budget process is accessible and understandable,’ National Treasury said on Friday.

The Children’s Budget Engagement targeted children between the ages of 13 to 17 (Grade 8 – 12 learners).

The engagement took place virtually on Wednesday 26 June 2024 while the nation commemorated the month of the African Child as well as Youth Month.

National Treasury officials presented to the children, who in turn engaged and asked questions that were responded to.

Key focus areas included: how the National Treasury makes sure that the budget is spent effectively on realising child rights, the focus of children’s involvement in the decision-making process, and the prioritisation of children regarding Early Childhood Development (ECD), social welfare, health care, and quality education.

‘The National Treasury discussed these topics using creative and colourful infographics and mind-maps that made budget education fun and interactive. The WCCC a
lso developed products displaying their understanding of the budget process; these included a budget recipe poster, and a budget story in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, and South African sign language.

‘The Commissioner for Children commended the National Treasury for making the efforts to make budget information available in a child-centred and child-friendly manner. One of the child government monitors said that they love the layout of the pages of the Children’s Budget, they love that it is easy to understand, entertaining, and makes them look forward to learning about the budget.

‘The National Treasury invites other stakeholders and provinces to collaborate in hosting similar engagement events to reach groups that are not necessarily aware of or catered for in the budget documents.

The children’s products can be found on all National Treasury and WCCC social media platforms. The Coolkid’s Guide to the Budget is also available on the National Treasury website (www.treasury.gov.za).

Source: South African
Government News Agency