Demanding Good Governance : Lessons From Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa

Social accountability refers to the wide range of citizen actions to hold the state to account, as well as actions on the part of government, media, and other actors that promote or facilitate these efforts. Social accountability strategies and tools help empower ordinary citizens to exercise their inherent rights to hold governments accountable for the use of public funds and how they exercise authority. This book explains what social accountability means in the African context, distilling some common success factors and lessons that can help other practitioners and innovators in the field. Demanding Good Governance: Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa presents case studies from a cross-section of countries, drawing on initiatives launched and implemented both by civil society groups and by local and national governments in countries with a wide range of political contexts and cultures. The case studies demonstrate that although social accountability approaches are strongly influenced by many underlying legal, social, cultural, and economic factors, they can still be implemented in difficult political environments (for example, in Zimbabwe). They point to the overriding problem of access to information (Ghana, Malawi, and Zimbabwe) and the low readability of information when it is available (Benin). They demonstrate what can happen when governments and civil society work together to institute accountability measures (Nigeria) and the implementation challenges they face in environments ranging from decentralized (Tanzania) to more centralized (Senegal).

This is a challenging time for Africa. The combined effects of the global economic crisis, the need for equitable allocation of natural resource assets, and the ever-changing balance of influence and power between the developed and developing worlds are requiring African countries to re-evaluate their governance structures. "Social accountability," as defined in this book, is an approach to enhancing government accountability and transparency. It refers to the wide range of citizen actions to hold the state to account, as well as actions on the part of government, media, and other actors that promote or facilitate these efforts. Social accountability strategies and tools help empower ordinary citizens to exercise their inherent rights and to hold governments accountable for the use of public funds and how they exercise authority. Global experience has shown that such initiatives can be catalytic and that they increasingly play a critical role in securing and sustaining governance reforms that strengthen transparency and accountability. The case studies presented in this book represent a cross-section of African countries, drawing on initiatives launched and implemented both by civil society groups and by local and national governments in countries with different political contexts and cultures. Over the past decade, a wide range of social accountability practices- such as participatory budgeting, independent budget analysis, participatory monitoring of public expenditures and citizen evaluation of public services-have been developed and tested in countries such as Brazil, India, the Philippines, and South Africa. In less developed Sub-Saharan African countries, civil society and government actors are also actively creating and experimenting with social accountability approaches (and tools), but these experiences, their outcomes, and lessons have received less attention and been less documented, studied, and shared. This volume aims to help fill this gap by describing and analyzing a selection of social accountability initiatives from seven Sub-Saharan countries: Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Accountability is the cornerstone of good governance. Unless public officials can be held to account, then critical benefits associated with good governance, such as social justice, poverty reduction and development remain elusive. The impacts of non-responsive and unaccountable governance are perhaps most harshly felt by the citizens of Africa, where corruption and governance failures are broadly acknowledged as a principal obstacle to the achievement Over the past decade, a range of social accountability practices—such as participatory budgeting, independent budget analysis, participatory monitoring of public expenditure and citizen evaluation of public services have been experimented with in many Africa countries. Their outcomes and lessons have, thus far, received little attend and documentation. This volume aims to make a contribution towards filling this gap by describing and analyzing a selection of social accountability initiatives from seven Sub-Saharan countries. Social accountability in Africa : an introduction / Carmen Malena and Mary McNeil Participatory budgeting in Fissel, Senegal / Bara Gueye Civic participation in policy and budgetary processes in Ilala municipal council, Tanzania / Renatus Kihongo and John Lubuva Tracking the Ghana district assemblies common fund / Charles Abbey, Vitus Azeen, and Cuthbert Baba Kuupiel Enhancing civil society capacity for advocacy and monitoring : Malawi's poverty reduction strategy budget / Dalitso Kingsley Kubalasa and Limbani Bartholomew Elia Nsapato Gender-sensitive and child-friendly budgeting in Zimbabwe / Bob Libert Muchabaiwa The Nigeria extractive industries transparency initiative and publish what you pay in Nigeria / Dauda S. Garuba and John G. Ikubaje Citizen control of public action : the social watch network in Benin / Cyrille Chabi Eteka and Anne Floquet Social accountability in Africa : an analysis / Mary McNeil and Carmen Malena.