1. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
hafkmb]lxtf ;|f]t–;fdu|L
o'jf tyf ljBfyL{ /fhgLltsdL{x¿sf nflu
This project has been funded with support
from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made
of the information contained therein.
3. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
hafkmb]lxtf ;|f]t–;fdu|L
o'jf tyf ljBfyL{ /fhgLltsdL{x¿sf nflu
4. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Acknowledgement
In many countries undergoing political transition, accountability gets ignored and still remains a buzzword.
Weaker institutional arrangement during the transitional period is a major threat to promoting a culture of
accountability. Referable to the changing power dynamics, fluid politics and want to protect self interest, those
in power, often, tend to do the given authority in a manner that can limit wider participation in the public affairs.
This can set precedent for others to follow and that results in gross negligence to the fundamental values of a
democratic state such as the accountability and transparency.
In an ideal and a sovereign democratic country, political parties serve as a bridge between citizen and the regime.
Both decides the fundamental value, character and functions of a state in terms of how best a state can serve to its
masters; the citizen. Political parties interact with their constituencies in various forms. One of the main and the
more regular variety is through its own wings and units. In Nepal, political youth and student organizations are
playing a central role in various democratic movements, both before the establishment of multiparty democracy
in 1990 and later. During the election, for example, the political youth and student organizations play a decisive
role in influencing public opinion in favor of their mother parties.
In the absence of elected representatives at the local level for over a decade, in Nepal, the issues genuine and more
important to the people often get ignored at the local bodies. The political vacuum at the local level has severely
deteriorated the quality of interaction between the citizen and the public institutions. Until the local election
takes place, political parties have a moral duty to find alternatives of filling this gap. Support from political parties
is a must and can empower public officials in improving the system. Considering the long-standing experience
of political youth and student organizations in reaching to civilians, there is also increasing demands that these
organizations should help improve accountability and transparency at the local level. It is of extreme importance
that local people can understand and feel democracy and this is entirely possible through improving service
delivery arrangements and establishing this process more transparent and accountable. That’s the theme of
democracy at grassroots level.
I would like to thank the political youth and student organizations in Nepal for the greater role they’re playing to
flourishing democratic values in the nation. This toolkit is aimed at complementing the efforts of political youth
and student organizations in advancing transparency and working public officials more accountable at the local
level. Eeva Maijala deserves a big appreciation for editing this toolkit. I’m certain this is not the ‘perfect’ toolkit
as such, but is based on the learning from our own work in Nepal and from various other actors and activities.
Comments and feedbacks are highly appreciated.
Rakesh Karna
Country Director
Demo Finland/Nepal
February 2015
6. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Introduction
Democracy begins with the citizen. The democratic culture is often formed at the local level, and it is at the local
level where Nepalis experience on a daily basis the outcomes of political choices and the impact of decision-
making on their lives. Citizens of Nepal have the right to demand the government to ensure equal rights and
freedoms to all and to deliver services according to the laws, plans, programs and budgets in place. Sustainable
democracy ultimately depends on paying attention and responding to the voice of the citizens and in ensuring
accountability and responsiveness of the political and government institutions.
In theory, the citizens of Nepal at the local level are represented through the elected members of district and
village councils. The citizens consent to be governed by the elected local leaders. The councils approve the
program and budgets drafted in a participatory way and thus play a major role in the service delivery and the
overall development process. The government agencies at local level are accountable to the elected councils who
in turn are accountable to the public. In addition, of course there are other accountability relationships in place
at local level.
However, the absence of elected representatives, since 2002, in the local bodies has minimized the scope of
downwards accountability to citizens. In this situation different mechanisms can play a role in ensuring that the
government of Nepal is accountable to the citizens. The political youth and students can act in a way that ensures
that the already existing accountability tools such as the citizen’s charters, right to information act, local bodies’
social audit, and public hearing are implemented. After the local elections are again held these mechanisms will
remain important to ensure accountability of the government to the citizens and to ensure that a collective and
ongoing discussion regarding the overall development process is continued.
Although often seen as a mechanism of asserting control, in this toolkit, accountability is seen as a process of
collective discussion to better understand dynamics and relationships, and to improve the responsiveness, and to
make the overall process of development more effective. Accountability should be improved in cooperation with
authorities, but in cases of clear corruption this is not always possible.
This toolkit explains what accountability is and provides tools for political youth and students at local level to
act in a way that increases accountability of the political parties and local government authorities towards the
citizens. The aim of the toolkit is to encourage the political youth and students to enhance democracy and good
governance for the benefit of the Nepali citizens.
The toolkit has three parts. The first introductory part gives a definition of accountability. In the second part of
the toolkit different tools to identify issues related with accountability at local level is presented. The third part
goes through a variety of official and legal ways of holding people and public authorities accountable.
8. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Contents
Aconowledgement 2
Introduction 4
What is Accountability 8
Obligations, commitments and standards – what are they? 14
And then– what happens if the commitments and standards are not met? 18
Planning for Accountability Work 20
Creating Change 30
Tool 1 Who are you accountable to? 12
Tool 2 Accountability in practice 12
Tool 3 Who has the responsibility and where does it come from? 14
Tool 4 From a problem tree to a tree of change 20
Tool 5 Stakeholder analysis 22
Tool 6 Identifying formal obligations 24
Tool 7 Linking obligations to stakeholders 26
Tool 8 Accountability in action – what is to be done? 28
Tool 9 Existing accountability mechanisms between citizens and state in Nepal 30
Tool 10 Basic social audit 34
Tool 11 Public hearing 36
Tool 12 Community radio 38
Tool 13 Street theatre 38
Tool 14 Raising awareness 38
Box 1 The separation of powers 10
Box 2 Accountability work is not about extracting favours 10
Box 3 Informal and formal institutions 16
Box 4 No right to information for decision-makers in the European Union 18
Box 5 Declaration of assets in Finland – holding ministers accountable 34
Annex I How can we all be accountable? 40
Annex II Resources used for the toolkit 41
10. TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
This toolkit is designed especially with political youth and students in mind. The first part of the toolkit gives an
understanding on what accountability means and should be read before proceeding to the other parts of the toolkit.
You are encouraged to think who you as a political youth or student are accountable to and who you can hold
accountable at the local level in Nepal. It is recommended that you read the first part together with a group of
friends so that you are able to make the best use of the tools presented.
Accountability can be used as a synonym for responsibility. To be accountable is to be held responsible for one’s
actions by somebody. When you are held accountable by someone it means that the other is making a judgement
on whether you have acted according to some previously agreed rules and standards. For accountability to work
there must also be the possibility to impose sanctions. An example of accountability would be that your party
promises to draft a new constitution within one year from the elections (agreed standard). The people vote
for your party thinking that it will deliver on its promises. If this does not happen, the voters are likely to feel
disappointed and think that your party has not delivered (judgement). They can then hold your party accountable
in the next elections by voting for another party or they may question your party when it is still in power through
for example media or by organising demonstrations (sanctions).
On a more abstract level accountability is a requirement for good governance and is closely linked with other
normative principles of good governance i.e. participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, effectiveness
and efficiency. Good governance assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into
account and that the voices of the most vulnerable are heard in the decision-making.
A formal definition of accountability is to define it as the obligation to (i) demonstrate that work has
been conducted in accordance with agreed rules and standards and (ii) report fairly and accurately on
performance results in relation to mandated roles and/or plans.
Accountability requires relationships. The relationship can be that of the relationship between citizens and
the state. For example a Nepali holding the Village Development Committee (VDC) accountable for the
use of the VDC funds. There are also accountability relationships within the state i.e. between the judiciary
(the law enforcing arm), the legislative (the law-making arm) and the executive (the implementing arm). At
local level an example of an accountability relationship within the state would be the relationship between
the local elected political representatives and government offices that are responsible for implementation of
development activities.
In this toolkit we are specifically interested in the accountability relationship between the citizens and the state.
Political youth and students are considered to be citizens that can hold the state institutions accountable and
demand greater responsiveness, effectiveness, participation, transparency and efficiency in the service delivery
while at the same time reinforcing the rule of law. However, if political youth and students are elected to become
members of ward, village, or district councils they become representatives of the citizens.
PART 1
12. 10
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
Box 1: The separation of powers
The separation of powers is one of the main principles democracies are built on. Ensuring that the legislative, the executive and
the judicial bodies work independently of each other guarantees that none of the bodies may become too powerful. In practice,
the way democracies apply the principle may vary but in general it dictates how power is divided between the parliament, the
government including the president, and the judiciary. The separation between the parliament and the government though, is not
always absolute. For instance, members of parliament often serve as ministers.
By keeping these three bodies apart and giving them the power to oversee the other two branches – in addition to taking care of
their respective duties – is an effective measure of accountability.
Violations of the separation do occur. In Finland, judges have, for instance acted as legal advisors in parliamentary issues. After
joining the European Union, Finland has gained criticism of not having truly independent courts since they administratively
function under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice.
In Nepal, there was an extensive discussion on the separation of powers when the judge of the supreme court without resigning
from his position as judge, served as the interim prime minister while the country was preparing for the second CA elections.
The balance of the three powers is not fixed in the long term, although defined in the constitution. For example in Finland, the power
of the president as the leader of the executive branch has been narrowed down remarkably during the last decades.
It is important to understand that political youth and students are members of political parties and that
accountability relationships concern with power. When accountability works properly it limits the discretion of
powerful stakeholders. This means that with accountability mechanisms in place individual politicians and some
political parties at local level may actually find their discretionary power over the service delivery of development
activities decreasing. And not all will like their power fading away!
Box 2: Accountability work is not about extracting favours
There is danger that accountability work is used inappropriately to extract favours from local government offices and/or for
the accountability work to disrupt the development work carried out by the local government officials. Sometimes government
officials give in to the pressure from political youth and students just to get them off their back even if the issue was not justified.
This can lead to resources being diverted to villages or services bypassing the participatory planning process of the government
that has been established to ensure the democratic principle of participation. Politicians should have a sense of responsibility to
ensure that existing accountability mechanisms are not bypassed, but in fact strengthened.
Another danger lies in an individual having great power over public money with no established accountability mechanisms
in place. In 2014, 327 CA members submitted their signatures to the Finance Minister demanding for NPR 50 million rupees
for each lawmaker to be used under a special Constituency Development Fund. A few days later the government budget was
passed with NPR 10 million rupees allocated for each lawmaker under the Constituency Development Fund. There were several
reports of embezzlement of funds of a similar Parliamentary Development Fund that was in the control of the lawmakers.
Such a fund is a good example of a fund with weak if not non-existent accountability mechanisms attached to it. The fund
bypasses the participatory planning mechanism of the government at local level and gives great discretionary power to an
individual lawmaker who is likely to feel accountable to his or her own voters or future voters and party instead of feeling
accountable towards the whole population of the constituency. The lawmaker may want to use the money for quick fix
projects with short-term results instead of using the money to sustainably develop the constituency. What do you think?
How will accountability work in the case of the Constituency Development Fund in Nepal?
14. 12
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
In general an organisation or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions.
Government institutions, private sector and civil society organisations must be accountable to the public. Who
is accountable to who varies depending on whether the decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an
organisation or institution.
Tool 1 Who are you accountable to?
• Form groups of 4-6
• By yourself think of a situation and different ways you felt at the same time accountable to your party leaders and to your
party cadres, and to the people in your village or city. To ensure overall development process who do you think you should
have been primarily accountable to, and why? Note down briefly the situations you came up with.
• Discuss these different situations in a group.
The normative principles of good governance and the definition of accountability help us in understanding what
accountability and its related concepts are. However, it does not help us in understanding how accountability
works in practice. When figuring out how accountability works in practice there are four easy questions to be
asked.
Who has the obligation?
What commitments or standards are supposed to be met?
What will show whether the commitments and standards have been met?
What are the consequences for misconduct or poor performance?
Where accountability is present: Where accountability is absent:
Someone has an obligation There is no clear obligation and/or
To meet certain commitments or standards No commitments or standards have been set and/or
If it is found that there have not been met There’s no way to tell whether these have been met and/or
There are consequences to face There are no consequences to face
All your accountability work can basically be conducted with guidance from these four basic questions. The tools
presented in the second part of this toolkit will dig deeper into the questions. However, before going into each
question in detail it is useful to answer the four questions based on your existing knowledge. This helps to orient
your mind to the accountability work.
Tool 2 Accountability in practice
• Form groups of 4-6 people.
• In your own district pick a public school without proper toilets and/or water for the students. Alternatively, choose a health
post without proper medicine or staff to treat patients.
• In your group ask the four questions and try to answer them in relation to the case study you chose
16. 14
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
Obligations, commitments and standards – what are they?
In order for you to make your judgement you need to understand who is accountable. In addition, you need to
have a clear understanding on the obligations, commitments and standards. Obligations for state actors can derive
from different sources. There are the international covenants and treaties that Nepal has ratified, for example, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ECOSOC). The (interim) constitution of Nepal and legislation oblige the state actors, and in
addition, officials of the state may take oaths of office and members of different departments and institutions of
government have employment contracts, which they are obliged to.
At local level the legislation is translated into the village and district plans. These plans are the commitments of the
government at the local level. The standards have to do with the extent and quality of the obligation.
As an example, the Government of Nepal has an obligation to provide safe drinking water to its citizens.
This obligation derives from the fact that water is recognized as a human right. Nepal has committed itself to
ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all in Nepal by 2017. At local level this commitment is
translated into the district specific plans. There are certain national standards that need to be met for a person
to be considered to be drinking safe water, for example per capita consumption of water should be at least 35
litres per day.
Engaginginaprocessofcollectivediscussionwiththegovernmentauthoritiesthroughaccountabilitymechanisms
can make the overall process of development more effective, and defer misuse beforehand, and stop and solve
it when it is discovered. However, this requires you to have an understanding on the different obligations,
commitments and standards government authorities have.
Tool 3 Who has the responsibility and where does it come from?
This tool will deepen your understanding on the responsibilities different people in various organisations have at local level.
Who should be accountable for what functions in Nepal, in the districts, or in your community?
1. Make cards with names of individuals who have some kind of power that affects your community. They can include the
following:
• The Local Police Chief
• Chief District Officer (CDO)
• A Public School
• Female Community Health Volunteer
• District Engineer
• Women’s Development Officer
• Water Users’ Group/Committee
• Village Development Committee (VDC) Secretary
• Local CA member(s)
• District Public Health Officer (DPHO)
• Local Development Officer (LDO)
• District Education Officer (DEO)
• Local NGOs’ Executive Director
• Mother’s group
18. 16
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
2. Shuffle the cards and start taking them out one by one. Discuss together, what kind of things these people (or their
organisations) are responsible of that affect your lives.
3. Once you have gone through all the cards and discussed them choose a real life organisation from your district and note
down the major responsibilities that the organisation has.
For example: Water Users’ Committee Chairperson: Makes sure regular maintenance of water supply system is done, Holds
general assembly annually, Collects fees from users.
4. Make an assessment, where these responsibilities derive from and whether they are being fulfilled or not. What is the
concrete commitment of the organisation and have there been any standards set?
5. If the obligations are not being fulfilled, think why this is so. Is it because of an individual person? Or are the circumstances
or some other persons hindering this person from fulfilling his obligations? What could be done to improve the situation?
In short, what is actually preventing the person from being responsible i.e. accountable, and who should the person be
accountable to?
6. Write down the main thoughts that come up in your discussion. If you are in a classroom setting then present your
thoughts to the other groups.
A good example of commitments and standards and the Government of Nepal informing the public of them are the
citizens’ charters. A citizens’ charter is a big signboard that gives information on the commitment and standards of
the services provided by the public bodies. It is mandatory for government offices to have a citizens’ charter at their
premises. You are welcome to check in your own district whether all the government offices have one. If they do not
have one you can demand for one to be set up.
Box 3 Informal and formal institutions
Institutions can be defined as the ‘rules of the game in a society’. Formal institutions can be defined as the ‘rules and procedures
that are created, communicated, and enforced through channels that are widely accepted as official. The formal institutions often
fail to explain many behaviours. Thus, in addition to understanding the formal institutions there is a need to understand the
informal institutions for your accountability work to have an effect. Informal institutions are the ‘unwritten codes of conduct that
underlie and supplement the formal rules’.
In Nepal the formal institutions have been going through a major change during the last two decades. These reforms have
transformedthelandscapeforgenderequality.Forexample,in2002thatParliamentpassedtheCountryCode(11thAmendment)
Act. The new law provided for equal inheritance rights for unmarried daughters and sons. Women’s property rights however
remained dependent on marital status and they were required to return their inherited property if they got married. In 2006, the
Gender Equality Act gave married women the right to keep inherited property, and entitled women to use property without the
consent of male family members and expanded divorce rights. The Act also extended the law to protect women, criminalizing
domestic and sexual violence.
However, the informal institution i.e. unwritten code of conduct that gave the right to ancestral property to the son only was not
changing and thus the equal inheritance rights were still not being practiced.
To drive the implementation of the laws on property and inheritance, in 2008, a 10 percent tax exemption was introduced for
land registered in a woman’s name. The exemption, aimed at incentivizing families to share their property with their daughters,
sisters and wives was subsequently increased to 25 percent in cities and 30 percent in rural areas. The impact of these measures
has been significant: while in the 2001 census, 11 percent of households reported that some land was owned by women, according
to data from 50 land revenue offices throughout Nepal, this figure had increased to 35 percent of households by 2009.
More information on UN WOMEN’s website: http://progress.unwomen.org/case-study-nepal
20. 18
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
Whatisaccountability?
If no commitments or standards are set it is not possible to hold an actor accountable!
There needs to be clear commitments and standards for accountability to work.
This is not enough.
The commitments and standards need to be known to all!
Even this is still not enough…
The commitments and standards need to be also followed!
And this is where accountability really kicks in.
Box 4 No right to information for decision-makers in the European Union
In the European Union, the Finnish Member of European Parliament (MEP) Heidi Hautala (Green Party) became famous for
fighting in the court for the MEPs’ right to get information. When the ministerial council of the EU refused in 1997 to give her
the proposal for guidelines of arms exports from the EU to other countries, she filed a complaint in the Court of the European
Communities. In 2001 (the court system is indeed way too slow in the EU!) Hautala won the case: the European Court of Justice
said that the ministers should have considered at least partial handover of the document, blanking only the most sensitive parts
of the documents. This famous ‘case Hautala’ has changed the general way in which the courts now interpret the law, and the
MEPs now have a much broader right to information. The Court of Justice referred to the fundamental Maastricht treaty, which
delineates basic principles and constitutive rules of the EU. The Treaty says that “transparency of the decision-making process
strengthens the democratic nature of the institutions and the public’s confidence on the administration.”
The Court of Justice pointed out that it is a fundamental principle of the European legal system, that the public has the right to
access documents. This principle had been violated by the European Ministerial Council. The court decision highlights not only
the importance of right to information by the public, but it also makes visible how important the division of powers is in holding
political decision-makers accountable: The court here forced the political decision-makers (ministers of the EU countries) to abide
to the law. The court, on the other hand, has no right to make or change laws.
And then– what happens if the commitments and standards are not met?
Many of the accountability mechanisms in place are based on the assumption that standards have been set. If
this in fact is the case, there needs to be some sanctions for misconduct or poor performance. Answerability and
enforceability are two important concepts to understand since they ensure the effectiveness of sanctions.
Answerability deals with the extent to which the ones who have the obligation bears the duty to explain and justify
their decisions. If something goes wrong there needs to be a binding duty to explain what went wrong. Otherwise it is
not possible to understand the full situation. In Nepal an important document that ensures answerability is the Right
to Information Act (2007) according to which citizens have the right to demand and receive information in regard to the
matters of public importance from public bodies.
Enforceability looks at formal or informal consequences that institution or actor being held accountable faces if it is found
not to have been fulfilling its commitments. It is not enough that sanctions exist in paper; they need to be also enforced.
In Nepal there has been a lot of talk on impunity. Impunity means that those who are known to have committed a crime
are not punished. The laws are not enforced and there are no consequences for committing a crime or not fulfilling one’s
commitments. How can Nepal ensure enforceability? It is also the political parties that need to be accountable, answerable
and to ensure laws are enforced.
22. 20
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
PlanningforAccountabilityWork
PLANNING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY WORK
This second part of the toolkit helps you to design your accountability work. It gives you tools that will enable
you to understand the issue in hand better. A good understanding is important so that you are able to hold
the concerned actors accountable against the existing obligations. If you are not clear on who the stakeholders
are, and what the existing obligations in place are, you run into danger of weakening accountability instead of
strengthening it. Like the first part, it is recommended that you read the part together with a group of friends
so that you are able to make the best use of the tools presented. You should choose an issue or a problem in
your community and work through all the tools presented. Later, once you have internalized the tools you may
choose to use just one or two of them.
There are always some problems in our community we want to solve, or there might be some improvements
we wish to see to the existing conditions. It is easy to start your accountability work when you have a clear goal
– a change that you want to see. Maybe there are no school books for the children, or the school does not have
sufficient number of teachers, or the mandatory accountability mechanisms are not in place and you want to
establish them.
Remember, when you work towards the change you want to see by strengthening accountability mechanisms you
will be also contributing towards:
Strengthened Democracy, Reduced Corruption,
Greater Government Legitimacy and Credibility, Improved Citizen-state Relations,
Greater Awareness of Citizens Rights, and Better Development
It is important to understand the problem and its causes and effects before setting ourselves to hold the decision
makers or the local government offices accountable.
Tool 4: From a problem tree to a tree of change
This tool helps you understand the causes and effects of a problem in your
community. It is not always easy to distinguish between causes and consequences.
However, in order to change things for the better, we first need to have clear picture
of a problem.
1. Form groups of 6-8 people
2. Choose together a problem in your community
Examples: No citizen charter in place in DDC office. No clarity at community
level on district annual budget and plan. No toilets at public school etc.
3. Now discuss together the following questions:
4. What exactly is the main problem? How do you know about it and is the
information correct? What kind of effects does it have on the lives of people?
What things are in the root of the problem, the causes of the problem? Each
time that someone comes up with a possible cause or possible effect write it
down on a metacard. One issue per one card.
Example: Effects in relation to sanitation: Girls don’t go to school during menstruation; Children drop out of school; No
cleanliness in the school: No willingness to construct toilet; No knowledge how to build toilet; No money to build toilets;
PART 2
24. 22
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
PlanningforAccountabilityWork
Education office does not know that the school has no toilets; Teachers do not know who to approach to construct toilet;
No VDC secretary in VDC; No proper planning done.
5. When you have come up with a lot of causes and effects place your main problem in the middle and start grouping the
causes and consequences. Causes underneath the problem and the consequences above the main problem. One cause
might be causing another cause, and another effect might be causing other effects. Place primary causes to the problem
right underneath it and the immediate effects write above the problem.
6. Now that you have the problem tree ready, flip the cards over and change the negatives to positives. What is the change you
want to see! Example in relation to sanitation: Toilets in the public school.
Let us go back to the basic questions that were presented in the beginning: We need to know who has the obligation;
and, What the standards and commitments to be met are.
Firstly, to know who has the obligation a stakeholder analysis will help us in mapping all the different actors that
may have a stake in the issues that we are concerned about. A stakeholder is a person or an organisation that has
something to gain or lose through the outcomes of a planning process or project.
Tool 5 Stakeholder analysis
This tool is meant to help you to identify the stakeholders using the problem identified in the previous tool. The first step in
Stakeholder Analysis is to identify who your stakeholders are. The next
step is to work out their power, influence and interest, so you know who
you should focus on. The final step is to develop a good understanding of
the most important stakeholders.
1. Form groups of 6-8 people
2. Brainstorm in your group who the stakeholders are. Think who
are the ones who have an obligation, the duty-bearers? These are
the people or organisations that have an obligation to bring about
change. They might be government offices or service providers.
Think also who are entitled to the change you want to see? And
who will benefit from the change? Would there be people who are
indirectly affected? Would there be groups of people who would
be otherwise interested in the issue, maybe for example local
politicians or the media? List all the stakeholders that you are able
to come up with.
3. Then it is time to investigate each stakeholder in more detail. Using the grid below, organise the stakeholders in different
matrices according to their interest and power. ‘Interest’ measures to what degree they are likely to be affected by change,
and what degree of interest or concern they have in or about it. ‘Power’ measures the influence they have over the project
or policy, and to what degree they can help achieve, or block, the desired change.
4. Now it is time for you to understand better the groups and people at the very top of the ‘power’ list. These are the ‘decision-
makers’, usually members of the government and actors that have an obligation. Those with high power but low interest
can be important to bring about the change. Together these two groups are the ones that should be held accountable for
the actions or inaction in relation to the problem you identified. There might be actors with high interest and high power
that formally do not have an obligation. Keep your eye on these people too.
Now you have figured out who has the obligation and who are the key actors that have the power to create
the change you want to see. Next, it is time for you to understand what the exact obligations, commitments
and standards in place are. Through this analysis you will be answering the questions: What commitments or
standards are supposed to be met?, and, What will show whether the commitments and standards have been
26. 24
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
PlanningforAccountabilityWork
met? In case you find out that no one is formally obligated in relation to the problem you have identified, you
should start by asking who could and should be accountable to formulate the obligations, and to start your work
by lobbying and advocating to create them. It could also be that the obligations exist, but are not well defined. In
this case you should work to clarify them.
Tool 6 Identifying formal obligations
There will probably be several obligations, standards and commitments in place in relation to the change you want to create.
Some might be higher level international commitments Nepal has made, whereas some might be pinpointed at the community
level through community action plans drafted together with the community and service providers. This tool will help you in
identifying the different obligations, standards, and commitments in place.
1. Form groups of 6-8 people.
2. Through brainstorming start writing down different existing obligations. What are the international commitments Nepal
has? What about the national level commitments? Are there any policies in place in relation to the problem? What are
the national acts, rules and regulations? At district level what are the commitments? Is there a longer multiannual district
development plan in place? What does the district annual plan say? What about VDC level, what are the plans in place
at VDC level? Is there any agreement made between a government agency and a service provider to deliver this specific
service or to solve this specific problem? What does the contract between the government and the service provider say?
3. Write down in metacards all the different obligations, standards and commitments you are able to come up with.
4. Once you have done this, split the group in two. The other group should conduct an internet search in all the government
websites and look for relevant obligations, be it plans, rules, laws, or regulations. The other group should visit the relevant
government and service provider offices to find out about the existing obligations. Talk also to the other stakeholders that
you have identified, they might be able to point out some obligations. If someone has told you about an obligation, it is
important that you obtain the obligation through an official channel in written form so that you can be sure it is true. When
you find out facts concerning your problem, remember to keep it in written form. You should have proof of the details if
needed.
5. Sit together as a group and start grouping the commitments to the following table. Examples are given in the table in
relation to sanitation and hygiene situation.
Level of
Obligation
Political Commitments
and Standards
Financial and Administrative
Commitments and Standards
Performance Commitments and Standards
International Millennium Development
Goals
National Water Supply and
Sanitation Policy
Public Procurement Act, Rules
and Regulations
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators for sanitation
facilities
District District Annual Plan
Local Self Governance
Act
District Annual Budget
Local Body Financial
Administration Rules
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators
Employment contracts of service providers
VDC VDC plan
Local Self Governance
Act
VDC budget
Local Body Financial
Administration Rules
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators for sanitation
facilities
Community or
ward
Community Action Plan,
School Management Plan
School budget, Water Supply
and Sanitation Committee’s
financial accounts
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators
Well done! It is worth the effort understanding the different obligations in place.
27. 25
hafkmb]lxtf ;|f]t–;fdu|L
o'jf tyf ljBfyL{ /fhgLltsdL{x¿sf nflu
hafkmb]xLsfo{sfnfluof]hgf
b]vfpF5 olb tkfO{++n] kQfnufpg' ePsf ;d:ofk|lt cf}krfl/s ¿kdf sf]xL klg pQ/bfoL kfpg' ePg eg], tkfO{+n] o;
lhDd]jf/Lsf nflu sf] hafkmb]xL x'g'kg]{ xf] egL ;f]Wg ;Sg'x'g]5 . tkfO{+ cfˆgf] sfo{ ;dx lgdf{0f ub}{ k/fdz{ / jsfnt
ug{ ;Sg'x'G5 . slxn]sflx+ lhDd]jf/L lbOPsf] eP tfklg :ki6¿kdf kl/eflift gu/]sf sf/0f cndn k/]sf] x'g;S5, o:
tf] kl/l:yltdf ljifonfO{ k|i6 kfg]{lt/ sfo{ ug'{kg]{ x'G5 .
pks/0f ^M cf}krfl/s lhDd]jf/L klxrfg
tkfO{+n] Nofpg vf]Hg'ePsf] kl/jt{gsf nflu ljleGg lsl;dsf lhDd]jf/L, dfkb08 / k|ltj4tfx¿sf] klxrfg ug'{kg]{ x'g;S5 . g]kfnn] u/]sf
pRr :t/Lo cGt/f{li6«o k|ltj4tfx¿ klg x]g'{kg]{ x'g;S5, hxfF s'g} ;fd'bflos dfkb08nfO{ s]lGb|t u/]/ ;d'bfo / ;]jfk|bfosnfO{ ;F+u}
ldnfP/ agfOPsf] ;fd'bflos sfo{–of]hgf x'g;S5 . o; pks/0fn] ljleGg lhDd]jf/L, dfkb08 / k|ltj4tfx¿ klxrfg ug{ d2t ub{5 .
!= ^—* hgfsf] ;dx agfpg'xf];
@= ljrf/–ljdz{sf ;fy ljBdfg ljleGg lhDd]jf/Lx¿ sfuhdf ptfg'{xf]; . g]kfnsf nflu cGt/f{li6«o lhDd]jf/Lx¿ s]–s] 5g /fli6«o :
t/sf k|ltj4tfx¿ s] s] x'g ;d:of ;dfwfgsf ;DaGwdf s'g} gLltx¿ 5g ls /fli6«o P]g–sfg'g / lgodfjnLx¿ s]–s] 5g
lhNnf:t/af6 s]–s:tf k|ltj4tf ;fj{hlgs ul/Psf 5g, ToxfF s'g} nfdf] calwsf jf w]/} jif{;Dd rNg] lhNnf ljsf; of]hgfx¿ 5g
ls lhNnfsf] jflif{s of]hgfn] s] eG5 uflj;sf] af/]df s] elgPsf] 5, uflj; :t/df s'g of]hgf 5g s'g} ljif]z ;]jf jf ;d:
of ;dfwfgsf nflu ;/sf/L lgsfo / ;]jfk|bfosaLr s'g} ;Demf}tf ul/Psf] 5 tL ;/sf/L lgsfo / ;]jf k|bfosaLrsf] s/f/n]
s] eG5
#= tkfO{+n] ;+sng ug{;Sg] ljleGg lhDd]jf/Lsf dfkb0b / k|ltj4tf d]6fsf8{df n]Vg'xf]; .
$= o;f] ul/;s]kl5, ;dxnfO{ b'O{ efudf ljefhg ug'{xf]; . Pp6f ;dxn] ;/sf/L j]a;fO6x¿df ;DalGwt lhDd]jf/L, of]hgf, lgod–
sfg'gx¿sf] vf]hL ug]{5 / csf]{n] ;DalGwt ;/sf/L lgsfo / ;]jf k|bfosx¿sf] sfof{ondf tTsfnLg lhDd]jf/Lsf nflu e|d0f ug{]5 .
tkfO{+n] klxrfg ug'{ePsf cGo ;/f]sf/jfnf;Fu klg s'/f ug'{xf];, pgLx¿n] klg s'g} lhDd]jf/L cf}Nofpg ;S5g . olb tkfO{+nfO{ s;}n]
lhDd]jf/Lsf ;DaGwdf atfpF5g eg] o:tf ;rgfx¿ ;DalGwt lgsfoaf6 lnlvt ¿kdf lng' cfjZos x'G5, o;n] tkfO{+nfO{ ;rgf
;fFrf] xf] egL ;'lglZrt u/fpF5 . olb tYox¿ tkfO{+sf] ;d:of;Fu ;DalGwt 5g eg] lnlvt¿kdf ;+sng ug'{xf];, of] cfjZos k/]sf]
v08df k|df0f x'g;S5 .
%= ;dxdf a:g'xf]; / lbOPsf] tflnsfdf ;dx 5'6ofpFb} nfg''xf];, kmf]x/ Joj:yfkg / :jf:Yo ca:yfaf/] tflnsfdf pbfx/0f lbOPsf] 5 .
Level of
Obligation
Political Commitments
and Standards
Financial and Administrative
Commitments and Standards
Performance Commitments and Standards
International Millennium Development
Goals
National Water Supply and
Sanitation Policy
Public Procurement Act, Rules
and Regulations
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators for sanitation
facilities
District District Annual Plan
Local Self Governance
Act
District Annual Budget
Local Body Financial
Administration Rules
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators
Employment contracts of service providers
VDC VDC plan
Local Self Governance
Act
VDC budget
Local Body Financial
Administration Rules
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators for sanitation
facilities
Community or
ward
Community Action Plan,
School Management Plan
School budget, Water Supply
and Sanitation Committee’s
financial accounts
Nepal Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan
sets standard indicators
28. 26
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
PlanningforAccountabilityWork
Now it is time to link the obligations and stakeholders to each other. You may want to choose a scope for your
accountability work. For example you may wish to just work at the district level or at the community level.
However, you should be aware of the international and national obligations.
Tool 7 Linking obligations to stakeholders
This tool helps you in linking together the details from the two previous tools. Thus, you should refer to the two previous tools when
using this tool.
1. Form groups of 6-8 people
2. Using the stakeholder analysis and the exercise you conducted to identify different obligations fill in the table below. You
may have dig a little bit more into the obligations you mentioned before. For example, instead of writing down ‘national
development goal in sanitation’, write down ‘achieve 100% coverage in sanitation by 2017’. To do this you will need to go
through the most important laws, rules, regulations, budgets, employment contracts and plans in detail if you haven’t
already done so.
As an example if the change you want to bring is to do with citizenship rights, you could note that The obligation to
‘make sure children can claim citizenship through their mothers (The Nepal Citizenship Act)’. The District Administration
Officer would be the one obligated.
Category Obligation to Who is obligated
Political obligations
Financial and Administrative obligations
Performance obligations
It may be a complicated task to map all the different obligations and stakeholders. However, this exercise will be extremely useful for you in
the long run. It should leave you with clarity on what the different obligations of the government are and who are the obligated stakeholders
who can ensure the change you want to see. If you are finding it difficult to understand what is the difference between political obligation
and performance obligation you may group these together. The most important thing is to have all the major obligations noted down.
Now that you know what the change you want to see is and what the causes for it are (problem tree), who has
the obligation (stakeholder analysis), and what the exact obligations are (identifying obligations), you should you
should come up with a clear action plan in relation to the change you want to see. This is the part about ensuring
that people are answerable and that the obligations in place are enforced. You with your accountability work can
contribute towards greater enforceability and answerability. The concepts were first presented in the first part of
this toolkit.
30. 28
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
PlanningforAccountabilityWork
Tool 8 Accountability in action – what is to be done?
Start your action planning by being clear on the following points:
1) What exactly do you want to be done? What is exactly the change you want to see?
2) Based on which major obligation are you making your demand? If it is not directly the authority / person responsible for
the situation, who should make that authority act according to your demands?
3) When do you expect the change to have happened?
Then discuss with you friends and write down a clear answer on a paper to the questions. It should be short and clear enough
for you to be able to use it to explain to others what you are trying to achieve.
Then for more detailed planning use the table below. In the first column you should write down the major causes to the problem
you identified. The assumption is that once you solve these causes your problem will be solved and turn into the change you
wanted to see. Then start listing in detail what needs to be done, who is responsible, and what are the existing accountability
mechanism. To know what the existing accountability mechanisms are you may need to again gather more information. Reading
third part of this toolkit will also help you. Then come up with accountability mechanisms that are yet not being used or in place,
but that you could establish. Finally, come up with a detailed timeline for your action.
Cause to be
addressed
What should
exactly be done,
refer to an
obligation if such
exists
Who is
responsible
What are
the existing
accountability
mechanisms
What are the
accountability
mechanism you
could create
Timeline for the
action
32. 30
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
CreatingChange
CREATING CHANGE
This third and last part of the toolkit gives ideas on the accountability mechanisms there are to create the change
you want to see. The tools in the second part of the toolkit helped you gain an understanding on the stakeholders,
and obligations in place. You also drafted an action plan for your accountability work. After reading this third
part of the toolkit, you may want to revisit your action plan since it is expected that you will have gained a better
understanding on the different accountability mechanisms in place.
Accountability work requires you to be an active citizen. As a citizen you have certain rights and you are entitled
to demand that these rights are fulfilled by the government and service providers contracted by the government.
There are several tools you can use to be active in creating greater accountability in Nepal and to create the
change you want to see.
The following is a list of the accountability tools already in place in Nepal. You should familiarize yourself
with these tools and mechanisms and aim to strengthen them to develop sustainable social accountability
mechanisms in the country. In addition, you should understand what the existing laws, policies, regulations
that affect your life are, and what your rights and entitlements are through different government bodies of
the government. You should also be aware of the standards and indicators to measure the obligations of the
government.
Tool 9 Existing accountability mechanisms between citizens and state in Nepal
This tool presents a list of the accountability tools already in place in Nepal. You should familiarize yourself with each of these
tools that are aimed to strengthen sustainable social accountability mechanisms in Nepal. You can go through each of the tools
by yourself, but discussing them with your friends will help you develop a better understanding on them. More information on
the tools can be found for example from the website of the Program for Accountability in Nepal.
1. Citizen Charter: A citizens’ charter provides the commitment to the services which will be provided by the public bodies.
The Good Governance Regulation 2065 says that every government office providing services to citizens has to maintain a
citizen’s charter in its premises so that it is visible to everybody. Among other details, the citizen charter must show:
• the post and name of the official designated to hear complaints,
• the telephone number of the service providing office and its sub-ordinate offices,
• the priority list for service delivery,
• whether there is fee to be paid for the service delivered
2. Declaration of Assets: It is mandatory for government officials to declare their assets. Every public official, immediately
after entering the service, and every year subsequently, has to submit assets details to the concerned bodies.
3. Hello Sarkar (Hello Government): In order to hear the grievances and complaints of citizens related to service delivery,
the Hello Sarkar Room Operation Procedure 2068 was set up and put into operation. This room remains open 24 hours
a day and is located inside the office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. Citizens can put forward their
grievances, suggest ways of improving matters, or complain against absurdities, anomalies and irregularities seen in the
government offices. The complaints received in this room are categorised as most urgent (to be addressed within 2
hours), urgent (to be addressed within 3 days) and ordinary (to be addressed within 7 days). Action is taken according
to the nature of the complaint as mentioned above.
4. Other complaint hearing structures at national level are the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority
(CIAA), and the National Vigilance Centre (NVC)
PART 3
34. 32
TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
CreatingChange
5. Right to Information (RTI): Citizens have the right to demand and receive information in regard to the matters of public
importance from public bodies. This would include Budgets of Local Bodies (VDC, DDC Municipality). The Good
GovernanceRegulation2065ofNepalmadeitmandatorytodeclareanofficialtobetheInformationOfficer(spokesperson)
in every ministry, department and office to handle complaints. The government office has to arrange a free telephone,
online service or any other appropriate medium to hear complaints. The official has to present the complaint including
his/her opinion on it, to the office head within 24 hours of receiving the complaint. The office head has immediately to
deliver an instruction concerning the complaint received. If such an instruction is made, it is the duty of the Information
Officer to inform the concerned citizen.
6. Minimum Conditions Performance Measure (MCPM): a system of measuring the performance of local bodies on the
basis of certain set standards set up by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Developmen in line with the Local Self-
Governance Regulation. It ties up the block grants and revenue sharing with the performance of local bodies. MCPM
encourages the local bodies to improve their performance by recognizing their good undertakings and on the other hand
helps to tie up grants with their capacity.
7. Public Hearing: a direct question and answer sessions between the service providing officials and service receiving
individuals that can make public service delivery more effective. Rule 19 of the Good Governance Regulation of Nepal
provides for a public hearing every 4 months. Service providing offices have to listen to the people's problems, grievances
and complaints related to service delivery. The regulation further says that the service providing offices have to give
updated information to citizens about their annual program and budget, disclose the evaluation of their program's positive
and negative impacts, and the status of the actions arising from citizens' complaints in previous public hearings.
8. Public Audit: Local people can seek transparency and accountability in regard to investment in local development projects
and local services during public audit. It is mandatory for a public audit to be carried out after every development project
has been completed. The final payment cannot be made until public audit is carried out. When a public notice about a
public audit is announced the venue of the public audit, as well as the time and the date must be clearly mentioned and
widely publicised.
9. Social Audits (sometimes used interchangeably with Public Audit): government officials responsible for projects or
programs are required to submit to an audit of their work by the people affected by it, and have to respond to the queries
that come up.
10. Public Revenue Monitoring: Citizens can monitor the income that is being received by government bodies and how it is
used. The Right to Information Act 2064 has, given every citizen the right to demand and receive information.
11. Participatory Planning: The Government of Nepal’s annual planning process. Great benefits can be achieved if citizens of
targetgroupsparticipateintheplanningprocessinameaningfulway.AspertheLocalSelfGovernanceActandRegulation,
it is mandatory to ensure participation of local citizens in activities related to local development and construction. For
achieving the objectives of the above mentioned Act, the local bodies (VDCs, DDCs and Municipalities) have to complete
14 phases of participatory planning annually.
12. Participatory Budgeting: Citizens can participate in the process of formulating a budget. The participatory budgeting like
the participatory planning is conducted according to the Local Self Governance Act following a 14-step process.
13. Community Led Procurement: The role that citizens have in procuring goods and services for the community within local
development and construction work. In the spirit of Local Self Government Act citizens can promote for community-
led procurement. In some cases procurement directly by the communities is practices. There are several good examples
for example from small-scale water projects. In any case, the local bodies have the responsibility to ensure citizen’s
participation.
14. Multi-stakeholder Groups: Organised for example at VDC or District level to bring together stakeholders to move ahead
together to achieve common objectives and needs.
15. Community Score Card (CSC): Service providers and service receivers can use this tool to increase the effectiveness of
publicservices.Governmentserviceprovidersscoretheirperformanceinthedeliveryofservices.Whereas,thecommunity
members who receive these services score the performance of the service deliverers, and they exchange this information,
seeking to find ways in which both sides see what needs to be improved.
16. Citizen Report Card (CRC): Can be used to measure whether the people benefiting from the services are satisfied or
dissatisfied with the services. Citizens can collectively write reports on the services they have received from government
departments, send the scores they have given them to the government departments and demand an improvement in the
services shown by low scores.
![TOOLKIT ON ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR YOUTH AND STUDENT POLITICIANS
hafkmb]lxtf ;|f]t–;fdu|L
o'jf tyf ljBfyL{ /fhgLltsdL{x¿sf nflu
This project has been funded with support
from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made
of the information contained therein.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/9b8ce292-7fba-45bd-a184-6b6f1eeaa321-151005161306-lva1-app6891/85/accountability-toolkit-1-320.jpg)
