Enhancing Social Accountability through Community Empowerment

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Enhancing Social Accountability through Community
Empowerment

• A Pilot Citizen Report Card (CRC) in Ethiopia
• by
• Eshetu Bekele
• Executive Director, PANE
• June 2008

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1. What is a Citizen Report Card?

• A simple but powerful tool to provide public
  agencies with feedback from their users, using a
  random sample and survey
• A voice for citizens to express their
  satisfaction or dissatisfaction in simple and
  unambiguous terms
• Views of the communities about the availability,
  adequacy, quality, and access to basic public
  services.

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2. Why use a Citizen Report Card?

• Gives detailed information, not just measures of
  satisfaction or approval
• Is credible and trusted, thanks to its
  methodology for sampling and analysis
• Can be used to reach informed policy decisions
  and reexamine conclusions from other analytical
  studies.

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3. The Pilot CRC in Ethiopia

• A part of the countrys approach to the
  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
• Fits well within the framework of Sustainable
  Development and Poverty Reduction Programs
  (SDPRP/PASDEP).
• Designed and implemented by PANE and its local
  member groups.

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4. Methodological stages

• 1. Assessment of the fit of CRC in the Ethiopian
  context
• 2.Selection of variables through Focus Group
  Discussions.
• 3. Design of the survey.
• 4. Sampling.
• 5. Training of trainers (supervisors
  enumerators).
• 6. Execution of the field survey.
• 7. Conduction of a process audit.
• 8. Data entry (using SPSS).
• 9. Analysis and interpretation of findings.
• 10. Drafting of the report.

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5. The Sample

• Oromiya, Tigray, and SNNPR surveyed among rural
  areas Dire Dawa surveyed among urban areas.
• 3,900 households surveyed in total.
• Woredas classified as either remote or non-remote
  from regional centers, and subsequently selected
  randomly from each category.
• The study covered 4 priority sectors
  Agricultural extension primary education health
  sanitation and drinking water services.

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6. Some demographic findings

• For all regions, the greatest proportion of
  people who have never attended school is found
  for those above the age of 60.
• In Dire Dawa the incidence of marriage is lower,
  but that of divorce is higher than in the rural
  regions.
• With regard to employment, women are most often
  engaged in household chores, while men are
  engaged in agriculture.
• Among public services, government primary schools
  are the most widely available (more than 80),
  while government health facilities are the least
  available (less than 20).

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7. Findings on Drinking Water

• Nearly three-fourths of rural Ethiopians depend
  on non-potable water sources.
• Roughly half of those in both rural and urban
  areas report water scarcity.
• Satisfaction scores for public water sources are
  high in terms of both adequacy and quality.
• 62 percent or rural respondents reported
  willingness to pay more for better drinking water
  services.

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Rates of Complete Satisfaction with Water Supply
Adequacy and Quality(in percent, rural total)
Note Numbers of observations are low in the
case of boreholes, water vendors, and in-house
taps.
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Policy Pointers for Drinking Water

• Lack of access to protected water supply sources,
  as well as the safety of unprotected sources,
  must be improved.
• Specific programs must be developed to support
  users during times of water scarcity.
• Regional disparities in access to and reliability
  of water supply must be addressed.
• Policymakers must analyze carefully respondents
  willingness to pay more for better drinking water
  services.

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8. Findings on Health Sanitation

• 84 percent of rural children have been
  vaccinated.
• Less than one-third of rural respondents use
  toilets, with custom of not using a toilet the
  most frequently cited reason.
• More than one-third of rural respondents travel a
  distance greater than ten miles to reach a health
  facility.
• Most rural respondents believe both health and
  sanitation services have improved over the last
  two years.

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Rates of Complete Satisfaction with Health
Sanitation Services(in percent)
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Policy Pointers for Health Sanitation

• The remoteness of health facilities must be
  addressed.
• Reports on the unavailability of drugs and the
  wide variation in cost begs a review of existing
  drug policies.
• Awareness campaigns on safe sanitation practices
  must be stepped up, and existing systems must be
  improved.

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9. Findings on Education

• Less than one-third of rural students report the
  availability of drinking water in school.
• The cost of education varies across regions.
• More than one-third of parents pay extra amounts
  to various school authorities 17 percent of
  these payments were demanded.
• Community involvement in school management is
  high, although few parents reported membership in
  parent-teacher committees.

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Rates of Complete Satisfaction with Educational
Servicesin percent)
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Policy Pointers for Education

• Essential infrastructure in schools and ensuring
  safe drinking water must be improved.
• The wide variation in the amount of monthly fees
  paid to government schools indicates a need to
  reexamine existing policies.
• Low membership in parent-teacher committees need
  to be examined, and alternative forums considered.

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10. Findings on Agriculture Extension Services

• Roughly one-fifth of farmers have borrowed money
  for agriculture and related activities.
• Formal marketing support is largely absent.
• More than half of farmers reported the loss of
  crops and cattle.

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Rates of Satisfaction with the Quality of
Agriculture Extension Services(in percent)
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Policy Pointers for Agriculture Extension Services

• Given the critical nature of agriculture in
  Ethiopia, the expansion of the network of agents
  should be considered.
• The present level of support for marketing and
  access to credit facilities is a concern.
• The high proportion of farmers reporting the loss
  of crops and cattle points to a need to introduce
  insurance schemes.

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The Final Scorecardby sector, rural regions only
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11. Conclusions and Lessons

• The PRSP process has brought an added opportunity
  for CSOs in Ethiopia
• CRC has enhanced SA in Ethiopia
• The CRC study strengthened CSOs partnership with
  government, donors and communities
• The CRC process has also empowered and
  strengthened PANE other CSOs, by developing
  confidence and capacity to conduct the CRCs

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Contd

• The CRC is also found to be very useful in the
  PRSP process (planning, implementation ME)
• Used as an input to the SDPRP/PASDEP (Ethiopian
  PRSP)
• Helped the process of citizens community groups
  empowerment and also enhanced social
  accountability,
• CRCs helped in creating capacities of communities
  by facilitating discussions among themselves and
  service providing agencies

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THANK YOU!