Social Accountability in Practice: From Tools to Outcomes

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Social Accountability in Practice From Tools
to Outcomes

• By
• Parmesh Shah
• Lead Rural Development Specialist
• South Asia Sustainable Development Department
• 24th October, 2007

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Context

• Governance and Anti-Corruption Plan
• Learning from SAc initiatives in South Asia
• Social Audits (NREGA, India Andhra Pradesh,
  Orissa)
• Right to Information (India MKSS, Parivartan)
• Citizens Report Cards (Public Affairs
  Foundation)
• Other activities being taken up on local
  governance and social accountability within the
  South Asia Region
• Activities under Trust Fund for Environmentally
  and Socially Sustainable Development (TFESSD)
• Action Research Projects
• Community of Practice of Demand Side Approaches
  in Governance
• Knowledge Creation and Management

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Context A Framework for Accountability
Relationships
Making Services Work for the Poor (WDR 2004)
Demand Side Approaches
Supply Side Approaches
Voice
Service Compact
Client Power
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What is Social Accountability?

• SAc is an approach towards building
  accountability that relies on civic engagement
  for exacting accountability
• SAc mechanisms can be initiated and supported
  by the state, citizens or both, but very often
  they are demand-driven and operate from the
  bottom up
• SAc complement and strengthen formal
  accountability mechanisms

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Why Social Accountability?
Social Accountability
Empowerment
Good Governance
Development Effectiveness
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Social Accountability Initiatives in South Asia
under TFESSD

• Introducing/institutionalizing social
  accountability approaches in Community Driven
  Development (CDD) projects (Bangladesh Sri
  Lanka India - Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh)
• Improving local government service delivery
  outcomes through social accountability mechanisms
  (India - Maharashtra)
• Increasing developmental effectiveness of
  sectoral approaches by enhancing social
  accountability mechanisms (India - Andhra Pradesh
  health sector)
• Facilitating CSO oversight to improve outcomes of
  government programs (India Rajasthan Mid-Day
  Meal Scheme)
• Formulating Governance and Anti-Corruption Plans
  in projects (India Bihar)

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Social Accountability Tools Mechanisms
Participatory Budgeting Citizen Report Cards
(CRC) Community Score Cards (CSC) Public
Expenditure Tracking Surveys Right to Information
(RTI) Compliance Social Audits Project
Websites Community Radio
Increasing Transparency Access to Information
Enhancing Accountability Citizen Oversight
Grievance Redress
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Outcome Based Approaches to Accountability
State Government (e.g. Maharashtra)
Redesign Programs
Local Government (e.g. Zilla Parishad, Satara)
Reallocate Resources
Accountability
Improved Quality of Service Delivery
Feedback
Service Provider (e.g. Primary Health Center)
Feedback
Services
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SAc Tools Outcomes

• Development Outcomes
• Improved Quality of Service Delivery (reduction
  in mortality rates and malnutrition)
• Program Redesign and Resource Reallocation to
  Improve Program Effectiveness and Public
  Expenditure Efficiency (generation of innovative
  solutions to local problems through interaction
  of community and service providers
• Improved Governance through Demand Side
  Approaches in Governance (transformation of
  social capital to political capital for the poor
  and their organizations)

Citizen Report Cards (CRC) Community Score Cards
(CSC) Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys Right
to Information (RTI) Compliance Social Audits

• Institutional Outcomes
• Institutionalization of continuous user feedback
  mechanisms through demand side approaches in
  governance of institutions
• Creation of a cadre of community monitors managed
  by community institutions
• Formation of community-public-private
  partnerships for implementation of development
  programs
• Stronger linkages between local governments and
  CSOs

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Example 1 - Institutionalizing Social
Accountability Approaches in CDD Projects The
Gemidiriya Project, Sri Lanka

• Results
• Micro-planning, social audits and community
  assessment process (CAP) being used by
  communities to evaluate quality and effectiveness
  of local service providers in project villages
• Creation of a cadre of grassroots Community
  Professionals and a Community Professional
  Learning and Training Center to act as local
  community monitors on an ongoing basis
• Scale Up
• Government plans to scale up CAP to other
  non-project villages and local government
  services
• Service Delivery Context
• Numerous local, public and private service
  providers, such as - village savings and credit
  organizations, small infrastructure work
  committees, private contractors, public service
  providers and so forth

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Example 2 Improving Local Government Service
Delivery Outcomes through Social Accountability
Mechanisms Satara District, Maharashtra)

• Results
• Reduction in infant, child and maternal mortality
  rates and malnutrition
• Significant mobilization of community resources
• Creation of a cadre of community monitors which
  include NGOs, parents, teachers and children that
  assist in local problem solving and improved
  targeting (special pediatric camps for
  malnourished children)
• Transparent sharing of data with parents,
  children and communities
• Scale Up
• District Local Government scaling up
  micro-planning and community monitoring to 121
  villages in Phase 1 and eventually to all 1,500
  villages
• UNICEF is dovetailing micro-planning with CSC
  based community monitoring
• YASHADA designing training modules for other
  local governments
• Service Delivery Context
• Child and maternal health including
• nutrition education, water supply and
• panchayat services
• Being extended to other local government
• service delivery sectors

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Combating Malnutrition Locally Growth Charts in
Maharashtra
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Example 3 - Increasing Developmental
Effectiveness of Sectoral Approaches The Health
Sector in Andhra Pradesh

• Results
• Formation of public-private-community
  partnerships for innovative interventions such as
  - health insurance, nutrition centers, health
  risk fund, community managed ambulance services
  and drug depots
• Institutionalization of a user feedback mechanism
  by which over 5,000 villagers provide feedback
  through community score cards annually
• Cadre of community resource persons (CRPs) who
  facilitate application of social accountability
  mechanisms on an ongoing basis
• Scale-Up
• Community monitoring through community health
  score cards being rolled out in about 450
  villages in Phase I (1st pilot in 12 villages)
• Potential of gathering user feedback for program
  implementation in all 1,570 primary health
  centers covering a total rural population of 5.5
  million

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Example 4 - Facilitating CSO Oversight to Improve
Program Outcomes The Mid-Day Meal Scheme,
Rajasthan

• Context
• Mid-day meal scheme (10.2 million children in
  75,000 primary schools in Rajasthan)
• 211 schools in all 14 blocks of Chittorgarh
  District feedback from 422 teachers, 2210
  students, 2210 parents and 211 cooks
• PETS conducted by Consumer Unity and Trust
  Society International to provide third party
  feedback to improve implementation of government
  program
• Key PETS Findings
• 68 of teachers daily spend more than 1 hour (17
  of teaching time) on meal distribution
• Unutilized quantities of food grains have
  increased over the years
• 79 of schools received funds for cooking with
  delays ranging from 2 to 6 months
• 95 schools do not have a kitchen shed and 36 do
  not have separate storage space so they store
  grains in classrooms
• 85 of the Gram Panchayats and 84 of the parents
  are NOT involved in MDMS
• BUT EVEN THEN PARENTS WERE SATISFIED WITH THE
  MDMS!

Preparing and distributing the mid-day meal to
about 60-100 children each day is like managing a
wedding lunch every day - School
Teacher
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Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Rajasthan

• Results
• Dissemination of Expenditure Tracking Survey
  results in
• Advance transfer of funds for cooking meals
• Improvement in quality of food grains (increase
  in number of inspections, immediate redress of
  complaints)
• Improvement in basic infrastructure (School Grant
  Facility extended to construct kitchens, food
  grain storage rooms)
• Increased involvement of teachers and parents
  (teachers and children not involved in cooking
  and serving meals increased parent oversight)

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Example 5 - Governance and Accountability Plans
in New Projects Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project

• Transparency Information Dissemination
• Appointment of a nodal Right to Information (RTI)
  officer to adhere to statutory RTI requirements
• Public display of all information related to
  release of funds, physical and financial progress
  and expenditures
• Training of community organization members in
  financial/budget literacy
• Project website
• Grievance Redress and CSO/Citizens'
  Participation
• Dedicated grievance redress cell with an
  exclusive hotline for receiving calls and SMSs
  and a web interface
• Enhanced Public Oversight Accountability
• Community Score Cards
• Social Audits through sub-committees
• Institutional and Service Delivery Report Cards

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Progress so Far Social Accountability in South
Asia

• Current and Prospective Centers of Excellence
  CSOs, Universities and Government Training
  Institutions
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai
• Center for Good Governance (CGG), Hyderabad
• Society for Participatory Research in Asia
  (PRIA), New Delhi
• Yashwantrao Chavan Center for Development
  Administration (YASHADA), Pune
• CUTS International, Jaipur
• BRAC University Centre for Governance Studies,
  Bangladesh
• Institute for Participatory Interaction in
  Development, Sri Lanka
• South Asia Social Accountability Network
  (www.sasanet.org)
• Technical Advice to Bank Staff, Governments and
  CSOs
• Social Accountability Sourcebook
• Guidance Notes
• Action Research Projects through Government
  Agencies, CSOs and NGOs
• Knowledge Creation and Dissemination
• Stocktaking of Social Accountability Initiatives
• Case Studies
• Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy and
  Implementation Plan for South Asia

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South Asia Social Accountability Network (SASANET)

• Back

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Questions? Comments?
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• THANK YOU