Module 4 Taking Action

Session 4.1

Building accountability through citizens’ engagement

ACRA training workshop, Nov 2010

Strengthening transparency, integrity and accountability: preventing corruption in water and natural resources projects

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre

Accountability routesSource – “Making services work for poor people” the World Development Report, World Bank, 2004

Objectives

• To introduce a range of tools

• To highlight examples– Which can be used singly

or in combination

• Key point – there are many methods known but probably as many which are not

• Set scene for discussion

Raising citizens voice

• Low feedback: low performance

• Empowers citizens to give feedback and seek improvements

• Build capacity, analyse performance, understand entitlements, dialogue with providers

Objective: structured, institutionalised dialogue & engagement of communities and providers

Tools

Citizens voice– Report cards – Community scorecards– Access mapping– Expenditure/performance

tracking & monitoring– Participatory budgeting– Public hearings– Freedom of Information

(covered later today)

Citizens’ needs

Seeking Accountability

• Community wide picture of current service levels

• Understanding of what it should be

• Who is responsible?• Then – people are in

position to ask why, seek solutions

Information needs

• Regular reports and accounts• But often not produced, or

accessible• Key indicators e.g. no. of

connections, charges, response to complaints

• Simple summaries of key information can be more widely distributed

• Using utility bills, media...

Report cards

• Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore

• Rank performance of public service agencies (including water)

• Monitored through survey research (equiv: polling):– Satisfaction with staff, – Quality of service, – Information provision,– Corruption.

• Revealed:

Low levels of public satisfaction,

Agencies not citizen friendly, lacked customer orientation,

Corruption: serious problem.

Report cards (2)

• Report cards influenced key officials in understanding perceptions of ordinary citizens

• Public agencies launched reforms to improve the infrastructure and services

• Government agencies showed greater transparency and more responsiveness

• RCs acted as a catalyst in the transformation of services in Bangalore

• Role of strong media• Extractive data capture

Community scorecards

• Community members decide on service aspects to incorporate

• Input tracking matrix developed (understanding of entitlements, budgets, constraints etc)

• Discuss and then score aspects of service • Service providers encouraged to do the

same• “Interface meeting” held (District Forum?)• Low score items addressed and action

plan produced• Directness of approach valued, rural

setting more appropriate?

Mapping Access

• Valuable, visual tool:• Rural waterpoints

Unequal distribution –

skewed funding...– Officials confronted by

inequity, corruption

• Slum enumeration & mapping– Poor on the map for the first time– Corrupt reporting, – practices identified...

Public hearings/meetings

• A normal function of government

• Provide information and solicit views

• Flow of information• Enables scrutiny• Use collective power against

vested interest• Better relationships• People’s Juries one example –

from India• Locally generated info to plug

gaps• Basis for discussion, planning

Public expenditure tracking

• Tracks flow of funds• Do public funds end up where they are

supposed to?• Compare central disbursement of funds with

local expenditure• Requires:

– high level of literacy,

– independent research capacity

• Example in Bangladesh showed subsidy capture by elite

– Entailed diversion to “connected” people

• CBOs motivated to learn to do it themselves– Process developed to participatory budgeting

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Participatory budgeting

• A further step….giving communities specific control over some budgets

• Involve citizens in investment setting and oversight of expenditure

• In Belo Horizonte, 40% investment now spent this way– resulted in shift towards

sanitation and basic infrastructure (roads)

Thanks!

Participants’ experiences

• Participants – what are your experience(s)?

• This can be citizen or regulator led

• Experience from other sectors welcome too