© 2008 theIDLgroup

Accountability & voice for service delivery

Taylor Brown

Claire Hughes

Tim Midgley

© 2008 theIDLgroup

1. Why accountability and voice (A&V) matter?

2. Key terms and frameworks

3. Strengthening A&V in practice

4. Challenges

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1. Why A&V matter?

Enhanced A&V can:Empower citizens to claim their rights

Capacitate public officials to meet their obligations

Strengthen political will & state capacity for poverty reduction

Improve efficiency and effectiveness of services

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2. Key terms

Voice Capacity to express views and priorities,

and to demand action from those in power

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Accountability:

Duty bearers

account for and take responsibility for their actions

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Accountability:

Duty bearers

account for and take responsibility for their actions

Rights holders

able to hold duty bearers to account

© 2008 theIDLgroup

Accountability:

Duty bearers

account for and take responsibility for their actions

Rights holders

able to hold duty bearers to account

*Requires both answerability & enforceability

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Forms of accountability

HORIZONTAL

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Horizontal accountability

Checks & balances internal to a state.

State institutions and agencies oversee and sanction other state institutions.

e.g. Parliament, judiciary, anti-corruption and human rights commissions

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Vertical accountability

Citizens and other non-state actors hold representatives to account.

e.g. elections, lobbying, mass mobilisation etc.

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Social accountabilityCivic engagement to build accountabilityCitizens & CSOs hold service providers and govt officials accountablee.g. participatory planning and budgeting, public expenditure tracking, citizen monitoring of service delivery

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A&V in service provision: a framework

How to work on A&V in local level service provision? Who are the key actors?

What are the key relations?

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(source: World Bank 2003)

A Framework for understanding A&V relations in service delivery

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(source: World Bank 2003)

A Framework for understanding A&V relations in service delivery

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(source: World Bank 2003)

A Framework for understanding A&V relations in service delivery

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(source: World Bank 2003)

A Framework for understanding A&V relations in service delivery

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But, in parts of the Europe and CIS region….…Both short and long route to

accountability are weak or unbalancedVoice may be constrained (esp. for poor people)

Lack of information about providers, performance, policies & budgets

Limited ability to monitor & sanction decision makers or service providers

Formal institutions of govt under-capacitated

Few incentives for decision makers and providers to be answerable to citizens

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3. Strengthening A&V in practice

In this context:

Work on ‘traditional’ horizontal and vertical accountability systems & processes necessary, but not sufficient.

working on social accountability

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State

ProvidersCitizens/clients

A&V mechanisms

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A&V mechanisms

Improved information on performance & service delivery

Performance management

Public expenditure tracking

State

Providers

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A&V mechanisms

Information about services & providers

Feedback mechanisms: Citizen report cards & Community score cards

Community service planning & management committees (e.g. PTAs)

Formal complaints processes

ProvidersCitizens/clients

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A&V mechanisms

Information about policies & budgets

Advocacy & lobbying

Participatory planning

Participatory budget monitoring & auditing

ombudsman

State

Citizens/clients

© 2008 theIDLgroup

State

ProvidersCitizens/clients

Information about policies & budgetsAdvocacy & lobbyingParticipatory planningParticipatory budget monitoring & auditingombudsman

Information about services & providersFeedback mechanisms: Citizen report cards & Community score cardsCommunity service planning & management committees (e.g. PTAs)Formal complaints processes

Performance management Improved information on performance & service deliveryPETs

A&V mechanisms and A&V

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During the rest of the course, we will explore:

how can these mechanisms be applied to improve A&V in your country contexts?

How can the Capacity Development framework help you in your work on A&V?

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4. Key challenges

How can we work to address the informal ‘rules of the game’

How can we work to bridge A&V, to work on both sides of the equation?

How to work on A&V in especially constrained settings?

What does working on A&V entail for the way UNDP operates in country?

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End

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Participation, accountability and voice

Degree of influence

Presences & representation: regular access to certain groups to decision-making

Influence: citizen engagement tangible impact on policy-making & service delivery

Consultation: opening areas for dialogue & info sharing