On April 21-22, Central European University (CEU) students participated in the workshop “Budgeting for Human Rights: Why Government Budgets are Important for Realizing Human Rights,” organized by the Human RightS Initiative (HRSI) in collaboration with the School of Public Policy (SPP) at CEU. Participants included Roxana Damian (MPA ’15) from SPP and Edi Sara (MA ’15) from the Department of Public Policy.
During the workshop that was led by Paolo de Renzio, senior research fellow at the International Budget Partnership (IBP) in Washington, D.C. and adjunct professor at the Institute for International Relations at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), students learned about key issues related to government budgets in the context of human rights through a series of case studies. While legal frameworks shape and define the rights of citizens, government budgets are an important implementation tool in ensuring that these rights are upheld and respected.
“Professor de Renzio made a great point about being savvy when it comes to the process of public budgeting,” noted Damian. “He taught us how we can leverage this knowledge for greater accountability and gain the upper hand in advocacy campaigns.”
Sara added, “Professor de Renzio did an excellent job of transmitting valuable information to us in a short amount of time. I’m very happy that I made time to attend this workshop in the middle of a busy spring term.”