In the failure of the formal accountability channels, social accountability is slowly becoming an effective response to governance deficit. Understanding good governance is a prerequisite to understand social accountability. Social Accountability is an approach towards enforcing & building accountability that relies on civic engagement in which citizens participate directly or indirectly in demanding accountability from service providers and public officials.
Accountability is no longer between the state only and citizens. Non state, national and transnational actors are now, heavily involved in all stages of the production of public goods.
The influence of corporate interests in the provision of public goods and services, as well as the entry of several unregulated providers poses a big threat to accountability and inclusion.
The strategies below represent the practical ways in which CSOs have applied the notion of social accountability to the context and issues of concern to their members, constituents and beneficiaries.
Strategic Litigation
Participatory Budgeting
Mobilisation and Networking
Social Audit, Monitoring and Evaluation
Information Communication Technology
Participatory Planning and Decision-making
Consultations and Stakeholder Participation
Accountability Reporting/Investigative Journalism
Participatory Procurement and Financial Management
Social Accountability is a journey.
The work of social accountability is not a sprint but marathon.
Session for State Resource Centres for Women to understand and identify entry points for doing Gender Budgeting in the changed fiscal scenario in India
Objectives are notions about future desired conditions and are usually embedded in a set of ideas organizations have about their plight and what can be done about it.
Gender-Responsiveness and Social Inclusion (GESI) at the Subnational Level to...NAP Global Network
Presentation given by Aurélie Ceinos, Policy Advisor, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, NAP Global Network, IISD, as part of the NAP Global Network's Peer Learning Summit on Vertical Integration in the NAP Processes, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 11 to 13, 2023.
Session for State Resource Centres for Women to understand and identify entry points for doing Gender Budgeting in the changed fiscal scenario in India
Objectives are notions about future desired conditions and are usually embedded in a set of ideas organizations have about their plight and what can be done about it.
Gender-Responsiveness and Social Inclusion (GESI) at the Subnational Level to...NAP Global Network
Presentation given by Aurélie Ceinos, Policy Advisor, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, NAP Global Network, IISD, as part of the NAP Global Network's Peer Learning Summit on Vertical Integration in the NAP Processes, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 11 to 13, 2023.
Presentation by Jemimah Njuki at the FAO-ILRI Workshop on Integrating Gender in Livestock Projects and Programs, ILRI, Addis Ababa, 22-25 November 2011.
The session presents gender analysis tools that can be used during project design, implementation and evaluation. The gender analysis tools will help to make the development intervention gender sensitive, so that the benefits of project reach both women and men.
Partnerships Working in Health and Social CareLiz Louw
The College of Social Work on the implications of the NHS Care Act for 'integration, cooperation and partnerships".
Read more: http://www.bridgesupport.org/bridge-blog/Introduction-to-Partnership-Working-in-Health-and-Social-Care
Presentation by Mr. Antonio Canamas Catala, Policy Analyst, OECD
The 2nd OECD Roundtable on Cities and Regions for the SDGs was held at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, on 9 December 2019, within the scope of the OECD programme on A Territorial Approach to the SDGs. The Roundtable brought together cities, regions, national governments, international organisations, private sector and other key stakeholders to identify trends and challenges in the localisation of the SDGs, including the experiences and key findings from the pilots of the programme.
Important Political Accountability and Citizen Building effort of IDEG GHANAAmos Anyimadu
Operation of the Institute of Democratic Governance, Ghana. www.ideg.org https://www.facebook.com/IDEGGhana https://twitter.com/IDEGGhana
Led by Commonwelath Eminent Person Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey.
Important Political Accountability and Citizen Building effort of IDEG GHANAIDEGGhana
Operation of the Institute of Democratic Governance, Ghana. www.ideg.org https://www.facebook.com/IDEGGhana https://twitter.com/IDEGGhana
Led by Commonwelath Eminent Person Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey.
Presentation by Jemimah Njuki at the FAO-ILRI Workshop on Integrating Gender in Livestock Projects and Programs, ILRI, Addis Ababa, 22-25 November 2011.
The session presents gender analysis tools that can be used during project design, implementation and evaluation. The gender analysis tools will help to make the development intervention gender sensitive, so that the benefits of project reach both women and men.
Partnerships Working in Health and Social CareLiz Louw
The College of Social Work on the implications of the NHS Care Act for 'integration, cooperation and partnerships".
Read more: http://www.bridgesupport.org/bridge-blog/Introduction-to-Partnership-Working-in-Health-and-Social-Care
Presentation by Mr. Antonio Canamas Catala, Policy Analyst, OECD
The 2nd OECD Roundtable on Cities and Regions for the SDGs was held at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, on 9 December 2019, within the scope of the OECD programme on A Territorial Approach to the SDGs. The Roundtable brought together cities, regions, national governments, international organisations, private sector and other key stakeholders to identify trends and challenges in the localisation of the SDGs, including the experiences and key findings from the pilots of the programme.
Important Political Accountability and Citizen Building effort of IDEG GHANAAmos Anyimadu
Operation of the Institute of Democratic Governance, Ghana. www.ideg.org https://www.facebook.com/IDEGGhana https://twitter.com/IDEGGhana
Led by Commonwelath Eminent Person Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey.
Important Political Accountability and Citizen Building effort of IDEG GHANAIDEGGhana
Operation of the Institute of Democratic Governance, Ghana. www.ideg.org https://www.facebook.com/IDEGGhana https://twitter.com/IDEGGhana
Led by Commonwelath Eminent Person Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey.
Ensuring Citizen-led Accountability of the Sustainable Development Goals.Humentum
Community members stand to gain or lose the most from SDG's, but do they have the tools to be active participants in the process? Hear practical examples of how others have empowered citizens to raise their voices concerning SDGs and accountability. Walk away with insights, methods, and tools including exposure to an online tool sharing platform available to all.
Citizen participation is also sometimes seen as a solution to a quite different problem: shoring up the democratic legitimacy of governance processes. Representative democratic governance now faces several critical legitimating problems
Public participation in fiscal policy: principles, mechanisms and country pra...OECD Governance
This presentation was made by Murray Petrie, GIFT, at the 12th Annual Meeting of OECD-CESEE Senior Budget Officials held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 28-29 June 2016
Dans cette présentation interactive, découvrez des initiatives inspirantes qui boostent la culture du livre en Afrique par et pour les Africains. Entre exemples concrets et réflexions futures, plongez dans la réalité éditoriale d’écrivains défendant notre patrimoine linguistique.
Du Nigeria au Sénégal en passant par Madagascar, voyez comment associations, crowdfunding et soutien public dynamisent ce domaine porteur. Des micro-projets aux résidences d'auteurs, apprenez comment de petites structures relancent l’écrit en haoussa, bambara ou malgache.
Vous y découvrirez également des idées novatrices pour produire davantage d’ouvrages bilingues et de traductions. Car au-delà des frontières, la connaissance n’a pas de langue !
Cette présentation riche en illustrations sonores et visuelles vous convaincra que livres et langues vont de pair pour l’avenir de millions d’Africains. N’hésitez plus à la consulter et à la partager avec vos réseaux pour encourager ce combat culturel essentiel.
Alors laissez-vous inspirer par ces initiatives qui font entendre la voix de l’Afrique dans toute sa diversité. Car c’est en lisant dans nos langues maternelles que le continent se révèle à lui-même !
Why do you want to fund your research idea?
Does your research idea deserve to be funded? If yes, do you really need money? Have you considered in-king resources?
Have you previously applied for a research grant? If yes, what were the lessons learned?
What are the common limitations you encounter when seeking funding for your research project in Africa?
How do you currently secure funding for your research project in Ghana?
This presentations share interesting approaches to mobilize funding for your research project in Ghana or Africa
Currently, investments in research and development in Africa are about 0.6% of the global total of R&D investment, significantly lower than other regions. One of the foremost strategies to address this knowledge imbalance would be the packaging of African knowledge products in such a way that they are available and accessible on the internet. There is no doubt that Africans are producing lots of knowledge in their informal conversation as in formal engagements of varying types. This knowledge is being produced daily in villages and urban spaces, by African government officials and businesses, by students and researchers. Traditional healers are also applying indigenous knowledge to offer cures for COVID-19. Thus, the problem from an African perspective is less that of knowledge production and more one of the gathering, packaging and dissemination of the knowledge.
This training present practical tools, platforms and strategies to effectively disseminate your research results to various stakeholders. It would help you make your research visible beyond academia and create more impact in society.
As a training professional, how do you stay on top of the deluge of information related to your job and professional development? How do you make sense of this information, apply it to achieve your goals, and share it with others?
Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a process of gathering, organizing, saving, and using the knowledge that supports one’s work activities. PKM routines vary from person to person, yet all share a commitment to ongoing information gathering, sense-making, and sharing that not only fuel professional development but can foster organizational growth and economic competitiveness.
This webinar will empower training professionals, consultants, and executives with practical tools to enhance personal and corporate knowledge management praxis. Specifically, during this webinar, participants will:
Evaluate the effectiveness of their current learning practices and tools.
Improve their personal learning habits and organizational learning strategies.
Minimize the loss of institutional memory and the reduction of organizational performance when a key staff member leaves the organization.
Increase their economic performance and team productivity through effective knowledge management strategies and tools.
Presenter: Christian Elongué
Managing Director, Christian Elongué Consulting (CEC)
Independent eLearning consultant, instructional designer, and innovative educational leader.
My Keynote Speech at the 37th Congress of the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) in Russia
I debunked some myths about reading culture in Africa and presented the key pillars of the Children books industry. Explored the existing challenges, progress achieved so far and possibilities.
Also presented the work and impact of Muna Kalati, in advancing development and peace in Africa through Children books.
I do more work in my web browser now than I do in desktop apps, and I’d wager a guess that you might be in the same boat. Today, we’re going to focus on making the browser itself more useful by rounding many great Chrome extensions for productivity, including tools for organizing tabs, keeping you on-task, saving highlights, and more.
We’re going to focus on Google Chrome, as it’s the most popular browser and the one that I use. However, a lot of these extensions are also on other browsers. In this training presentation, you will find extensions and other automation tools that you can use to increase your productivity.
Find more interesting resources here: www.christianelongue.com
Succession planning is the ongoing process of systematically identifying, assessing, and developing talent to ensure leadership continuity for all key positions (for example, Executive Director, Head of Finance, Head of Administration, among others).
Succession planning is a long-term planning that affects every aspect of an organisation and the process should be undertaken by the leadership of organisations.
Effective succession is acute in the civil society sector. According to BoardSource's research, only 27% of nonprofits surveyed globally reported that they had a written succession plan in place.
Many CSOs do not have systematic and clear approaches to succession planning. It limit leaders’ abilities to maintain organisational sustainability and achieve the organisation’s mandate.
Most CSOs in West Africa, do not have a clear and written succession plan policyQuite often, CSOs develop their “emergency plan” when the Executive Director or a key staff member, especially one in a management position, leaves the organisation"
Daily, your organization is increasingly building valuable knowledge and experience. But how well are you capturing, documenting and sharing it? As your information and knowledge capitals grows, so does the importance of developing a knowledge management strategy. The first step as you begin to execute your strategy is to take inventory of how knowledge is used and stored. A knowledge audit is an incredibly valuable exercise for a number of reasons. So in this presentation, I want to share some of the key things to observe in doing so.
Dans cette présentation, j'expliquer comment:
Découvrir les différentes solutions tech pour les réunions et conférences en lignes.
Analyser les facteurs influençant le choix d’un outil de réunion en ligne
Découvrir les fonctions usuelles et avancées de Zoom et Microsoft Teams
Découvir les meilleures pratiques dans l’animation à distance.
COVID-19 has seriously tested the resiliency and sustainability of organisations, especially those in the nonprofit sector. The pandemic has further exacerbated their already precarious state and many Civil society organisations (CSOs) are under immense pressure to operate, survive, and thrive, while maintaining independence and continually generating funds to pursue planned operations and command strong recognition and influence.
They have been forced to adapt or to abandon the game, to face adversity through innovation or to fail while trying. Organisational and individual preparedness to manage change was tested also and many had to unlearn and relearn, to find new ways of working and developing resilience amidst the pandemic.
Since financing is a key pillar of organizational sustainability, I was invited to strengthen participants understanding, knowledge and practice in mobilizing resources more creatively. Aside the traditional channel of funding, there are 12 proven models of mobilizing resources for any civil society organisations in Africa, no matter its size, staff or strength.
Below are key essentials for networking:
1. Know your worth: Identity is key. Knowing yourself helps to better connect with others.
2. Be People Oriented: Value people for who they are first, not only what they have.
3. Networking is a lifestyle. Don't wait events or meetings to switch on your "networking mode". Be on it always. Your neighbors, colleagues, people you meet in the street, are your network. Don't minimize people for you don' know the future.
4. Adopting a servant attitude will always influence your altitude. Always look out for a way to help others everyday. This servant attitude not only contribute to your happiness but brings fulfilment. We earn and learn more by sharing and giving.
5. Always be grateful. Learn to say "Thank you" and appreciate those who are caring and helping you achieve your goals. It motivates them to do more for you.
6. Be patient: As you give, don't expect the harvest to come fast. It may happen but it would usually come when you expect it the less.
Mentoring programs have become mainstream. About 70% of Fortune 500 companies have one. A Harvard Business Review study of 30 professional firms found that, in a hypercompetitive world, it is easy for mentoring programs to become stale and bureaucratic. Mentoring can have positive impacts in terms of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and even career progression. In this presentation, I explain how mentoring mentoring influences both career progression and salary. Of course many of these findings depend on the specific type of mentoring and institution, but positive effects are clear. Kindly contact me (WA: +233550157572 ) if need support to design a mentoring initiative in your workplace.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The impression you give a potential employer via your resume or an interview is usually your only opportunity to communicate that you're the right person for the job - so make it count. While all resumes should employ a best practices approach to formatting and presentation, what you include in your resume should be customized to address the unique aspects of your career field.
While a CV is typically your first impression to a hiring manager or prospective employer, it's your interview that really counts. It your interview that convinces an employer that you truly are the right person for the job.
In this presentation, I'm sharing more about how to effectively search for a job, how to develop a resume for specific career fields and how to prepare for an interview.
Billy Graham once said that "The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.” In this presentation, I'm following this truth by presenting the relevance and need of mentoring for Career, Leadership and Business Growth. No matter where you are in your leadership journey, you need a mentor to advance more wisely. Even though we can learn from our failures, there are some failures that could have been avoided with the help and guidance of a mentor. Read this presentation to understand how and why.
― Billy Graham
Mentoring is a universal practice present in almost every culture. In Africa, mentoring is mostly informal than formal. A youth can regularly receive guidance, words of wisdom from his parents, family members or an elder in the society. However, when mentoring is being informal and unstructured, it's very difficult to assess and measure its effectiveness. I therefore believe that there is a need for more structured mentoring programs in Africa. These formalised mentoring program could be holistically integrated into high school and university curriculum so that no student can end his learning journey without being mentored.
Mentoring is a key missing component in most of the higher institutions of learning and even in the workplace. Developing a culture of mentoring will definitely contribute to leadership develop in Africa
Do you want to build your business or personal visibility on LinkedIn?
Wondering which LinkedIn features can help?
LinkedIn can help you build a professional presence that showcases your work to the people you most want to connect with.
In this presentation, you’ll discover free ways to help you build a personal brand on LinkedIn. In many of the latest social media industry reports, LinkedIn ranks among the top places for enhancing brand recognition, especially among Business to Business (B2B) specialists. Business entrepreneurs and professionals recognize LinkedIn’s strategic marketing value in this respect, as well as in other aspects of branding. And timing is everything.
Here are key ways you can use LinkedIn to build your personal and business brand.
En Afrique, les pratiques de lecture, assez régulières durant les années scolaires, se raréfient au fur et à mesure que les enfants grandissent. Ils développent néanmoins un engouement croissant pour les nouvelles technologies et le numérique. Nous pensons, justement, que le numérique et les nouveaux médias pourraient jouer un rôle important dans la promotion et la valorisation du livre auprès des jeunes et des adultes, aux niveaux du politique, du culturel, de l’enseignement, de la vie familiale… C’est pourquoi nous travaillons, dans le cadre de nos études à l’Université Senghor d’Alexandrie (Égypte), sur un projet de conception d’un site web autour du livre de jeunesse camerounais.
Notre volonté est, d’une part, de lutter contre la représentation essentialiste selon laquelle les Africains n’aimeraient point la lecture et le livre serait un lieu idéal pour occulter un trésor de la vue des Noirs. D’autre part, nous voulons contribuer à la (re)connaissance du poids économique et symbolique de la littérature pour la jeunesse en Afrique noire francophone. Enfin, nous avons la volonté d’employer le numérique et les nouveaux médias de manière efficiente et optimale pour accroitre la visibilité du livre camerounais pour la jeunesse à l’ère d’une mondialisation culturelle. Ce site web camerounais – mais aussi africain et international – a pour but de mettre en valeur le livre de jeunesse, de sensibiliser et informer les acteurs culturels et le grand public, de proposer des médiations diverses. Nous souhaitons à moyen terme mettre sur pied une équipe spécialisée pour l’étude et la veille critique sur le livre, la lecture et l’enfance au Cameroun. Enfin, ce site permettra à long terme d’établir la littérature jeunesse comme champ de recherche scientifique au sein des programmes universitaires camerounais.
Have you ever spend a few minutes in the children’s section of a library and see how long it takes you to pick up a book with a black child as the main character.
Have you ever wondered where to buy an illustration/story book which positively reflect your son or daughter ?
What was your favourite folktale and why?
Can you name the title of 3 children books from your childhood?
Can you name the name of 3 children books authors? Illustrators? Editors?
What do your observe from your answers to the two last questions? If you have found it difficult to QUICKLY answer these questions, then this presentation is for you.
Here are the key objectives: Share some considerations about the global (re)presentation of Blacks in Children Literature (CL)
Share the research findings on the children book industry in Cameroon
Demonstrate how Muna Kalati is changing the narrative on CL in Africa
Did you know that Cameroon is one of the most prolific African nations producing children's books? Did you know that the first children's book from Cameroon was published in 1958 by Claire Matip? Why is it that most of the illustrators and children's book authors from Cameroon are residing in France and not in their home country? All this questions were discussed during the presentation of my research findings on the Children book industry in Cameroon, during the Year of Return Conference, celebrating the 400 years of memory after the beginning of slave trade from Africa.
Savoir communiquer est une double compétence : il faut être capable de faire passer un message et d'écouter et de comprendre ce que les autres veulent dire c'est la seule façon de donner aux autres ce qu'ils demandent et d'obtenir les informations dont on a besoin.
Au commencement, était l’apprentissage en présentiel. Le numérique vint, révolutionna les pratiques et approches pédagogiques. On assista à l’émergence du e-learning dont la fièvre se répand encore avec le phénomène des MOOCs, webinaires, classes virtuelles… La fièvre ne s’est point encore estompée que nous apprenons l’apparition et l’expansion fulgurante d’un nouveau virus dénommé « blended-learning ». Mais qu’est ce qui se cache au juste derrière cette nouvelle méthode pédagogique combinant le présentiel et le distanciel ?Quel proportion ou ajustement doit être réalisé entre ces deux modes? Comment cela fonctionne-t-il ? Qui en sont les principaux acteurs sur le marché de formation 2.0 ? Quels principes et pratiques gouvernent ce « nouveau » modèle hybride de formation ? Quel en est l’impact sur la formation professionnelle et académique ainsi que les perspectives ?
Many ways to support street children.pptxSERUDS INDIA
By raising awareness, providing support, advocating for change, and offering assistance to children in need, individuals can play a crucial role in improving the lives of street children and helping them realize their full potential
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-individuals-can-support-street-children-in-india/
#donatefororphan, #donateforhomelesschildren, #childeducation, #ngochildeducation, #donateforeducation, #donationforchildeducation, #sponsorforpoorchild, #sponsororphanage #sponsororphanchild, #donation, #education, #charity, #educationforchild, #seruds, #kurnool, #joyhome
A process server is a authorized person for delivering legal documents, such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, and other court papers, to peoples involved in legal proceedings.
ZGB - The Role of Generative AI in Government transformation.pdfSaeed Al Dhaheri
This keynote was presented during the the 7th edition of the UAE Hackathon 2024. It highlights the role of AI and Generative AI in addressing government transformation to achieve zero government bureaucracy
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
Presentation by Jared Jageler, David Adler, Noelia Duchovny, and Evan Herrnstadt, analysts in CBO’s Microeconomic Studies and Health Analysis Divisions, at the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Summer Conference.
What is the point of small housing associations.pptxPaul Smith
Given the small scale of housing associations and their relative high cost per home what is the point of them and how do we justify their continued existance
Russian anarchist and anti-war movement in the third year of full-scale warAntti Rautiainen
Anarchist group ANA Regensburg hosted my online-presentation on 16th of May 2024, in which I discussed tactics of anti-war activism in Russia, and reasons why the anti-war movement has not been able to make an impact to change the course of events yet. Cases of anarchists repressed for anti-war activities are presented, as well as strategies of support for political prisoners, and modest successes in supporting their struggles.
Thumbnail picture is by MediaZona, you may read their report on anti-war arson attacks in Russia here: https://en.zona.media/article/2022/10/13/burn-map
Links:
Autonomous Action
http://Avtonom.org
Anarchist Black Cross Moscow
http://Avtonom.org/abc
Solidarity Zone
https://t.me/solidarity_zone
Memorial
https://memopzk.org/, https://t.me/pzk_memorial
OVD-Info
https://en.ovdinfo.org/antiwar-ovd-info-guide
RosUznik
https://rosuznik.org/
Uznik Online
http://uznikonline.tilda.ws/
Russian Reader
https://therussianreader.com/
ABC Irkutsk
https://abc38.noblogs.org/
Send mail to prisoners from abroad:
http://Prisonmail.online
YouTube: https://youtu.be/c5nSOdU48O8
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/libertarianlifecoach/episodes/Russian-anarchist-and-anti-war-movement-in-the-third-year-of-full-scale-war-e2k8ai4
Lessons Learnt from social accountability initiatives in West Africa
1. Africa Innovation Festival 2021
Lessons Learnt from social
accountability initiatives
and civil society
contribution to anti-
corruption efforts in in
West Africa
Speaker:
Christian Elongué,
Civic Space Expert & eLearning Consultant
hello@christianelongue.com +233550157572 (WA)
2. Plan
• Preamble
• Governance Challenges in Africa
• Understanding Accountability
• 4 Pillars of Accountability
• 4 Elements of Social Accountability
• 10 Forms of Social Accountability
• Social Accountability Champions in WA
• Social Accountability Methods
• Lessons Learned from SA Initiatives in WA
• Challenges to Sustain SA in WA
• Reflections
• Conclusion
3. Preamble
• Accountability is a central pillar of Good
Governance and democracy.
• Across West Africa, public officials and
service providers have not really
delivered on the promises.
• In the failure of the formal
accountability channels, social
accountability is slowly becoming an
effective response to governance deficit.
• Understanding good governance is a
prerequisite to understand social
accountability.
4. 5 Key Governance Challenges in Africa
1. Dismal State of Press Freedom
• Authoritarian governments continue to use legal pressure, imprisonment, and other
forms of harassment to suppress independent reporting (MFWA)
2. Proliferation of Restrictive Laws
• Explosion of NGO, public order, and counterterrorism laws that are used to harass
and persecute democracy groups and human rights defenders.
3. Entrenched Leaders and the Abuse of Term Limits
4. Weak Regional Human Rights Mechanisms
5. Weak Economic Competitiveness
• 7 of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa.
• 15 out of the 20 least competitive also (WEF)
• High level of Corruption and government inefficiency
• Recommendation: The African Union, REC, Civil Society Groups & development
partners should include efforts to strengthen democracy and accountability systems.
5. Understanding Accountability: from rhetoric to reality
• Accountability, transparency, participation and inclusion are 4 principles and universal
features for national & international development.
• These principles are well-known. But Effective and Consistent Practice is problematic and
need to be enforced.
• Hence the need to move from rhetoric to reality.
• Social Accountability is an approach towards enforcing & building accountability that relies
on civic engagement in which citizens participate directly or indirectly in demanding
accountability from service providers and public officials.
• Accountability is no longer between the state only and citizens. Non state, national and
transnational actors are now, heavily involved in all stages of the production of public goods.
• The influence of corporate interests in the provision of public goods and services, as well as the
entry of several unregulated providers poses a big threat to accountability and inclusion.
7. 4 Key Elements Of Social Accountability
1. Information
• Citizens must have the necessary facts to make an informed decision.
2. Education
• Citizens need a certain level of awareness to understand their role in promoting
accountability. Most communities view the services provided by the government as a
favour and not as a result or a right established by law.
3. Organising
• When citizens are well informed and educated on their rights and role, they would
naturally act upon it by organizing, mobilizing and networking to push key issues.
4. Engagement for change
• The only way to create or influence change is by engaging government or service
providers. This can be done through meetings, petitions, social Medias or other informal
interactions (see next).
8. 10 Forms of Social Accountability
1. Meaningful participation in public policy making & constitutional review process
2. Participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking and fiscal responsibility
3. Freedom of information, petitions and procurement monitoring
4. Grassroots organising and project impact assessment
5. Citizen’s monitoring of political campaign promises
6.Community monitoring of public service delivery
7. Citizen report cards and community score cards
8.Public commissions and hearings
9. Citizen advisory boards
10.Citizen Charters
9. Few Social Accountability Champions in West Africa
• Social Watch Benin
• ABLOGUI (Guinea)
• Accountability Lab (Liberia)
• Send Ghana
• FAWE Benin
• Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition
• Penplusbytes
• Voice Ghana
• SOS Civisme (Niger)
• BudgIT (Nigeria)
• Imani Ghana
• Reboot (Nigeria)
• Forum Civil Senegal
• International Centre for Investigative
Reporting (Nigeria)
• Network Movement for Democracy and
Human Rights (NMDHR)
• Ghana Centre for Democratic Development
(CDD Ghana)
10. 9 Social Accountability Methods
• The strategies below represent the practical ways in which CSOs have applied the
notion of social accountability to the context and issues of concern to their members,
constituents and beneficiaries.
1. Strategic Litigation
2. Participatory Budgeting
3. Mobilisation and Networking
4. Social Audit, Monitoring and Evaluation
5. Information Communication Technology
6. Participatory Planning and Decision-making
7. Consultations and Stakeholder Participation
8. Accountability Reporting/Investigative Journalism
9. Participatory Procurement and Financial Management
Place box copy here
11. Participatory Planning and Decision-making
Place box copy here
VOICE Ghana
VOICE-Ghana’s civic engagement process is
aimed at enabling Persons With Disability
(PWD) to participate in the decision-making
processes involved in the preparation of
medium term development planning.
Engagement with PWD groups in local communities
Gathering PWD priorities
Development of position paper
Interface meeting
Development of MOU
The poor and vulnerable groups themselves
approach the local assembly with their priority
needs towards the planning process.
Request for facilities that will benefit not only the
unique needs of a section of the community, but
also the wider community.
Forum Civil Senegal
Fostering citizen participation by rewarding
district assemblies that exhibit high levels of
participation, transparency and inclusion of
citizens in governance.
Development of good governance principles
handbook.
Assessing and rating of selected district’s
governance through indicators in the handbook.
Advocate for an increase in incentive from the central
government to the districts with high scores.
Increased good governance
Citizen involved in the development of their districts
Accountability Lab, Liberia
Accountability Lab, Liberia developed the
integrity Idol concept to inspire new generation
of public servants that struggle with high levels
of corruption. The most honest government’s
officials are identified, honored and celebrated.
Nomination of integrity idol
Scrutiny by independent panel
CDD-Ghana
Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-
Ghana) project on Promoting Social
Accountability through Citizen Participation in
Local Governance in Ghana aims at
strengthening transparency, participation and
feedback around local government budgeting
and planning systems.
Setting up the Project Advisory Committee
Gathering of baseline Information
Partnership with CSOs/CBOs
Citizens’ education through community durbars
Policy Dialogue and Information Sharing Seminars.
It’s essential to build capacity of Community Based
Organisations (CBOs) as key intermediaries for
facilitating citizens-local government interface and
mobilisation and ensure community ownership of
projects to increase the rate of sustainability of the
project.
FAWE Benin
FAWE works to engage grassroots actors for
advocacy with government authorities to
address certain obstacles hampering the
quality of secondary and technical education
Advocacy directed at the ministerial authorities
Discussion forums
Vision workshop (Capacity building)
Popularisation of the regulation
Design and posting of posters
12. Consultations and Stakeholder Engagement
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1Ghana Anti-corruption Local Accountability Networks
(LANet)
The goal of the LANet is to promote transparency and
accountability by increasing citizens’ participation in
local level governance to improve service delivery and
development.
Identify and visit citizen representatives
Selection and orientation of LANet members
Contract-signing and Capacity-building
Selection of project for monitoring and conduct of baseline
Media and stakeholders engagement
Periodic monitoring
Civil engagement transpires more successfully
Dialogue meeting used to commend progress of project
implementation
No political affiliation to cure partisanship
3D NGO (Democracy,Human Rights and Local
Development)
For transparency, participation and accountability in the
management of public affairs
Organising citizens
Training committee members.
Gathering and processing of information collected by the
Committee.
Generation of alternative investment monitoring reports and
Advocacy
The intervention made by the 3D NGO has had an impact at
the administrative level where budgets are now published
officially.
Human Rights Protection NGO (PDH)
Addressing the lack of space for dialogue between
social components to promote dialogue and social
consultation through traditional mechanisms of conflict
prevention and resolution.
Identifying problems
Analysing the various constraints and priorities;
Programming actions to be undertaken.
Commit to a three-year time frame for similar projects in the
future.
Adopt an inclusive approach from the onset and integrate all
key actors for the success of the project
SOS-Civism/Niger NGO
Remobilising citizens at the community and village level
and strengthening their capacities to hold local
authorities accountable for their management.
Capacity building
Strengthening the transparency and accountability of
communal bodies
Adoption of a differentiated approach with the marginalised.
A strong commitment from the different actors,
Adoption of the project by the local authorities and the State
in order to extend the initiative to other communes in the
country;
Support from technical and financial partners.
A realistic and not overly ambitious action plan.
Social Justice
The Social Justice initiative is based on the monitoring
and improvement of public policies at the local level
through the sensitisation of people and local authorities
for a mutual and active participation in public policies.
The setting up monitoring committees
Training
Senstisation
Advocacy
Courage and patience
Identify committed and willing local actors;
Continue monitoring the community projects and budgets
Institutionalise and publicise
Promote more modern tools
Mali Health NGO
Mali Health NGO empower poor per-urban communities
in Mali and Africa to achieve sustainable transformation
in maternal health and child health.
Involve community
Data collection of community real needs
Adoption of projects
Implementation tools and approaches
Focus on the three stakeholders that are: the ASACO, the
technical staff and the users' representatives.
Involve the supervisory structures from the beginning of the
project implementation.
13. Social Audit, Monitoring and Evaluation
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VOICE Ghana
VOICE Ghana has developed a process to
enable auditing of community
development projects for their adherence
to the accessibility rights of persons with
disability (PWDs).
Request a checklist of disability standards
Listing of community development projects
Physical audit of community development
projects
Prepares reports and reports findings
IMANI Africa
A set of advocacy and research tools used
to analyse campaign promises made by
political parties during election campaigns
to ascertain the extent to which they have
been fulfilled by the government of the
winning political party.
Research
Engagement with citizens through the media
Direct engagement with citizens
Communication with government
Kids Educational Engagement Project
(KEEP), Liberia
KEEP contributes towards improving
service delivery and participation of
women as marginalised groups affected
by deficiencies in then primary service
delivery sector.
Formation of Women Action Groups (WAG)
Capacity building of WAG.
Annual learning Events, spousal meetings
Initial planning should be done in consultation
with the community.
Add livelihood components for sustainability
and to work with anti-graft agencies and the
judiciary.
Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa,
Ghana
Seeks to hold the government of Ghana
accountable to its constitutional mandate
of providing free compulsory basic
education to all as well as its promise of
providing Free SHS for all senior high
school students.
Advocacy and interface meetings
Media to sensitise and educate citizens
Hotline to receive feedback through voice and
Short Message Service (SMS) from citizens
Management information system (MIS) and
geographic information system (GIS) to monitor
key deliverable of the Free SHS Policy.
Term visits to selected schools in project
implementation areas.
The intervention should be including multi
stakeholders and partners.
Intervention beneficiaries must be highly
involved in the intervention to ensure
sustainability.
Measurable impact must be the end focus for
the intervention
Developing multiple funding streams is key for
the intervention’ sustainability
14. Participatory Budgeting
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Movement for Resettlement and
rural development (MoRRD)
Stimulating demand from citizens
and putting pressure on service
providers to meet their obligation to
provide quality services in local
communities.
Community score cards,
Participatory budgeting and public
expenditure tracking,
Access to information through ICT and
social audits.
The network of organisations for
Budget Transparency and Analysis
(ROTAB)
ROTAB monitor budget
implementation in key sectors such
as education, environment, livestock,
health, agriculture, etc.
Collecting information from the official
gazette and government
Process and analyse this information and
post it on social networks
Sensitise actors before setting up the
committees;
Compare budgets from previous years
in order to provide data evidence.
Develop more digital applications for
governance and administration,
Involve civil society organisations in the
preparation of state budget.
15. Information Communication Technology
Penplusbytes Ghana
• A case study of best practices, challenges and lessons in
employing ICTs for civic engagement towards social
accountability
• Establishing community concerns
• Facilitating the development of community ownership of the project
• Provision of information to community members
• Establishment and maintenance of on-line platform.
• Communication of community concerns to national duty-
bearers.
• Feedback to community members on responses from
national duty-bearers.
• Lesson Learned: ICTs can break barriers and make
governance more inclusive as citizens are not
constrained by time, distance and cost to partake in the
monitoring and evaluation of social protection policies.
International Centre for Investigative
Reporting (ICIR), Nigeria
• The ICIR’s mission is to promote good
governance and entrench democratic
values by reporting, exposing and
combating corruption
• Strong collaborative relationships with
CSOs strengthen journalists’ capacity to
raise issues of corruption.
16. Challenges to Social Accountability Initiatives
1. Lack of information
• Many African governments are still steeped in opacity, seeing information dissemination as an exception to the rule
• Budget figures, project profiles and development plans often have limited dissemination.
• When freedom of Information exist, they are tied down by bureaucratic challenges.
2.Citizen’s apathy
• Many citizens have given up on government after years of failure in service delivery
• There is then no incentive for a lot of citizens to join or encourage efforts around social accountability.
• People do not want to waste their time engaging a government they believe have no interest in providing services.
• The Middle class developed their own survival strategy in investing in private spaces (i.e private school, clinics…) and in
informal sector.
3.Funds and time
• Organising is expensive and requires time and resources.
• For example, building social movement is a long-term investment
• Yet, many funders keen on quick wins to submit their annual reports ☺ and are not enthused to provide long-term
support. This denies citizens the needed long-term support necessary for their efforts to take root.
4.Closing of civic spaces by governments afraid of citizen voice (CIVICUS Monitor)
5.Lack of Civic Awareness and lack of formal education
17. Challenges to Social Accountability Initiatives
• Absence of sanctions
• What happens when citizens are unhappy with government or service providers? They
often wait for elections within the electoral calendar. There is limited avenue for
sanctions against duty bearers in-between.
• Increasingly, the absence of immediate sanctions allows government or service
providers the leeway to ignore legitimate citizens concern or to cooperate with citizens
led effort.
• Social fractures and politics
• Often, legitimate citizens effort is unjustly viewed from the narrow prism of ethnic or
religious lens.
• This limits the ability of citizens to come together across ethnic and religious lines to
make demand on government. Politicians often spin the religious and ethnic
sentiments to undermine citizen’s demand.
• Even at the grassroots level, there is always an identity sentiment that can be exploited
to damage citizen’s unity of purpose.
18. Opportunities and recommendations
1. Building on existing social and traditional structures
• Build on existing social structures like town unions, village councils, women’s groups and
religious groups that are already collectively dealing with issues affecting them.
• Efforts at organising should start from what interests a community and can then extend to
other issues. That way, there is adequate buy-in and ownership by the communities that
are being engaged.
• Understanding the characteristics of different societies is essential to optimise the
success of social accountability initiatives.
2.Social Accountability is a journey.
• The work of social accountability is not a sprint but marathon. i
3.Civic Education
• Civic education must be embedded in the everyday events and realities
• E.g: The Bible and Quran have huge lessons on civic education and social accountability.
It will be easier to use those holy books to engage adherents.
• Folklores, music and arts can be use. The point being made here is that creativity is
needed to make issues of civic appealing to citizens.
19. Opportunities and recommendations
• Creating networks to amplify impact and encourage peer learning across countries.
• Provide avenue for network building so that people can learn from each other and engage in joint
activities. Social accountability requires number and critical mass of enthusiast.
• By building network, citizens’ voices are amplified; efforts are celebrated and critical mass is built
around common issues. Peer learning must be encouraged and sustainable framework provided
to facilitate such learning.
• WACSI, can provide such services in the region
• Encourage improved collaboration between government institutions and CSOs.
• Eg: OSIWA supported Nigeria’s Ministry of Solid Minerals. A component of that grant must do with
government engaging with artisan female miners.
• OSIWA also provided a grant to CSO to work with communities to provide skills on how they can negotiate
agreement with mining companies and government. These grants provided resources for government/CSO
collaboration.
• Expanding knowledge on gains
• Documenting success stories across the region to build a knowledge bank for practitioners.
• This will be helpful in providing academics, activists and government documented lessons on what
works and serve as a basis for intellectual enquiry and ideas that can be further tested in the field.
• Celebrating and appreciating government when they are well performing and integrating
citizen’s feedback.
• Civil Society groups are complementing and supporting local government, not fighting them.
• Social accountability is a shared responsibility. The end is not just to criticize but to do it constructively, collaboratively and
comprehensively, which imply that civil society must also be humble to celebrate positive results from duty-bearers.
20. Continuing the conversation
• How can processes of accountability building emerge and be sustained?
• How do we know whether accountability work has any impact (on poverty, inequality and
sustainability)?
• How do we go beyond the improvements in services to track and value other important
outcomes such as outcomes of empowerment, (increases in awareness, collective
capacity to claim rights), as well as any changes in levels of trust, legitimacy and political
commitment on the part of relevant institutions.
• Need to continue thinking more on where power lies, the interests and incentives behind
public action.
• What are the interests and incentives public officials face?
• How might they come around to a more reformist mind set?
• Where do politicians electoral calculations align with the inclusion and accountability agenda?
21. Conclusion
• Although accountability might be the key concept of the 21st century, building it is going to
be a slow and long term process…
• but there is hope…
• Social accountability’s relevance is not in doubt. However, it requires a lot of investment to
sustain it and expand its appeal around communities.
• As an evolving concept, it must be subjected to constant scrutiny and modifications.
• It is necessary to provide a framework for documentation, learning and collaboration
amongst practitioners.
• Building knowledge around this concept is a good investment that allows communities to
adapt strategies that can work in their local communities.
• We need to develop network of practitioners and see ways to increase collaboration.
• We can leverage on citizen’s increased interest to play a more integral role in how they
are governed by helping them understand their role and rights in a democracy and by
investing in efforts that make information readily available to them.
22. Further References
1. WACSI, Social Accountability Guidebook: 2nd Edition, 2020
2. Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA)
3. Overcoming Development Aid Fatigue, Deciding Together and Shifting Power to
Communities in Africa: link
4. Guidebook on Alternative Funding Models for CSOs in Africa, Innovation 4 Change
5. Planning and Managing Leadership Transitions among CSOs in West Africa. Link
6. Advancing financial sustainability of Civil Society in Africa: http://bit.ly/2UEo6lX
7. Strengthening Stakeholders’ Collaboration to Expand Civic Space in West Africa
8. Exploring Faith-based Giving as an Alternative Funding Model for CSOs,
9. Social Movement: A Vital Instrument for Social Accountability in Africa
10. Social Movements & Social Change in Africa: http://bit.ly/2LaW2Cv
11. The Journey to Sustainability of Selected CSOs in Ghana. Link
12. 7 Feasible Ways to Expand Civic Space in West Africa in 2020
13. Enhancing Digital Security Awareness for CSOs in Africa