Social Accountability

Social accountability is citizen-led action to hold public officials and service providers to account for the use of public resources and services delivered. It provides an avenue for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to participate in decisions and processes concerning their own development. Social accountability processes are critical in ensuring that government services are delivered as planned and budgeted are of quality and good value for money for citizens.

Social Accountability Mechanisms and Tools

These are some of the social accountability mechanisms and tools, They can be applied and adapted to serve different purposes and contexts

Community Score Cards	Social Audits	Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS)
Independent Budget Analysis	Gender Responsive Budget Analysis	Public Revenue Monitoring
Citizen Charters	Citizen Report Cards	Public Hearings

Resources

County Planning, County Budgeting and Social Accountability Handbook. Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), 2014

Participatory Budgeting, Community Score Card, Citizen Report Card Toolkit Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), 2015.

Expenditure tracking. International Budget Partnership (IBP)

Social accountability tools for county service delivery. Training for community mobilisers. AHADI. November 2018

Community Score Cards

A community score card is a tool applied in a participatory process to rate public services and performance of a service provider (for example, health, education facilities) using scores defined by the community. It aims at identifying failures and gaps in service delivery, and provide feedback to the provider in order to improve the quality, efficiency, accessibility, relevance and accountability in the delivery of public services.

The process brings together the users and providers of a service to identify problems, jointly develop solutions to resolve the service delivery problems identified. They can be particularly useful in monitoring the quality of local service delivery at service delivery points and for measuring the impacts of a project.

What is it about?

Why is it important?

Community score cards is a tool through which citizens monitor the quality of community based public It provides the opportunity for citizens to analyse any particular service they receive based on their personal feelings, to express dissatisfaction, to provide encouragement if good work is done and further suggest measures to be taken if flaws still remain.
The community score cards help both sides to identify the reasons for poor services and find out solutions for the problems identified. Community score cards allow people to make more efficient use of resources through the monitoring of a particular service or project.

Enables reforms in service provision as a result of feedback from the consumers of service.
Provides regular feedback on quality of service to service providers.
Links service providers to the community by empowering citizens to provide immediate feedback to service providers.

Benefits and Challenges of Community Score Cards

Benefit	Challenge	How to Address the Challenge
The community benefits because it presents an opportunity for users of services to voice their concerns about a service.	It requires time—holding service providers accountable might be a new concept and therefore a difficult concept to understand and get accepted by communities and service providers	Public offices need to be willing to participate and this requires building a relationship in the planning phase.
Service providers benefit because they are able to evaluate and make decisions about their efforts in service delivery based on feedback from the users. They can then monitor and improve service quality together with the community.	The process can lead to conflict—The interface meeting must be facilitated well.	Identify facilitators who can remain neutral and reduce any escalation that may arise. Make sure that service users, as well as service providers, are well prepared for this meeting and understand its purpose. Avoid personal confrontations.
Leads to a common understanding of existing problems and solutions in relation to service delivery.	‘Finger-pointing’—The Community Score Card process deals directly with issues of behaviour and personalities and can be uncomfortable for those on the receiving end.	Interface meeting must be facilitated well. Identify facilitators who can depersonalise comments and target issues, not individuals.
Builds trust and improves relations between service providers and service users.	Raising Expectations—Sometimes the process can create a demand which cannot be fulfilled by the service provider.	Need a facilitator who can balance between community demands and service providers’ ability to provide and work out how the two sides can support each other to improve services.

Community Score Card Success Story

In one of the AHADI project supported counties, a community score card process at a local dispensary identified the lack of nurses as a key challenge that affected service delivery at the facility. With support from a civil society organisation (CSO), the local community raised this concern through social media and on a FM radio talk show programme. Through the radio talk show programme with numerous callers raised the same challenge. During the programme the radio presenters called the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health Services, who promised to deploy a nurse to the facility. The community score card also identified difficulties in accessing information from the facility by the users. The institution’s administration responded by putting up a notice board and placing information on the board for public access.

Source: AHADI Monthly Report to USAID, January 2020

Resources

Download a quick guide to the Community Score Card process

Download a Community Score Card example and tool

Social Audits

What is it about?

Why is it important?

A social audit is an approach and process that relies on engagement of citizens and/or civil society organisations to check and directly and/or indirectly demand accountability and transparency in public policy and budget cycles.
Social audits are participatory and involve collecting information on public resources and their use in the delivery of public services. The information is analyzed and shared publicly in a participatory manner. The central concern of a social audit is how resources are used for social objectives.
Social audits may be used for investigating the work of government departments at all levels. They may also be used to manage a community project in one village at a given time.

Helps prevent corrupt practices.
Informs the government about the potential impact and consequences of public policies/programmes.
Keeps community informed about government policies and actions. Provides a means to articulate citizens’ demands and needs.
Measures consistency between the promises and the actual results of public policies.
Enhances governance through accountability and transparency—allows ordinary citizens to access information, voice their needs, evaluate performance, and demand greater accountability and transparency. It can help build trust between citizens and their governments.
Increases public policy effectiveness through improved public service delivery and more informed policy design and evaluation. A social audit can help assess the quality of key essential services to its citizens, resources management and how citizens’ demands are being articulated in the public policy and budget cycle processes.

Some tips for conducting a successful Social Audit

When planning social audits, it is important not to ‘spread too thinly’, as time and resources are often limited—prioritise which projects you want to audit.
If you are a civil society organisation (CSO) conducting a social audit, you should always feedback to the community with a report at the end of the process, as they provided the information initially.
You need collaborative approaches and good teamwork. Work with project committees who know the services and projects being audited and may be able to help with information and documents.
Documents you will need include: county development plans, budgets, project documents, procurement and contract documents, quarterly implementation reports.
Ensure the information is from a credible source.

Social Audit Success Story

In one of the AHADI supported counties, a social audit was conducted on a local early childhood development and education centre under construction in one of the ward to improve access to quality education in a safe environment. The social audit activity was organised by the local community. The community members scrutinised the project documents of the class under construction, and unanimously agreed that there was a discrepancy between the building works and the plan. The citizens raised their concerns with the County Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Director and the area Member of County Assembly (MCA). The county leadership in turn summoned the contractor to a public baraza to explain the discrepancy. The contractor accepted liability, demolished the defective works and reconstructed the class afresh as per the approved design and bill of quantities (BoQs) in the contract. The construction was completed with close supervision from the County Public Works Engineers and the school Board of Management.

Source: AHADI Monthly Report to USAID, January 2020

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS)

PETS are tools to track the flow of public resources i.e. human, financial or in-kind, from the any levels of government to the intended beneficiary at the point of frontline service delivery. It can be used by citizens, through civil society organisations (CSOs) and is also used by government. They enable citizens, participate in governance processes through the gathering of information and monitoring the flow of public funds and spending to deliver services. Their effective use can contribute towards ensuring that government budgets are being executed on the ground as intended, and that scarce public resources are being used effectively.

PETS aim at improving the quality of service delivery at the local level by generating knowledge among service users, i.e. citizens, and increasing their ability to analyse, monitor, hold their governments accountable and advocate for improvements. They strengthen the voice of citizens and can amplify attention on issues that may be micro-level in nature or specific to a particular region of a country. PETS are often routinely used for expenditure tracking of priority public service delivery sectors such education and health sectors.

Challenges of PETS Challenge	How to Address
Access to Information This can sometimes be problematic, as decision makers don’t always want to hand over information to others.	Use formal mechanisms, such as writing a letter. Apply to a higher institution if not successful. Outline why you need the information and provide documents to demonstrate. Citizens have the right to public documents. Counties are required to provide it.
Difficult Language Technical nature of documents i.e. budgets, can be difficult for lay people to understand.	PETS teams should be equipped i.e. receive training in advance. Teams should request for simplified citizen’s budget which counties are required to prepare. Teams should seek clarification and further information as needed.
Market Prices Change Sometimes the cost of materials does increase significantly between budget approval and implementation, and this can make it difficult to implement a project within budget.	Where this is encountered, the situation needs to be clearly explained to the community, if it results in materials not being delivered or buildings not finished.
No Reply from Officials This can happen in situations where local authorities see PETS teams as adversaries and do not want to engage with them.	PETS teams should communicate and build a working relationship with the local authorities in the planning stage to build trust and ensure that all are clear about the intentions of the PETS process.
Risk of Bribery PETS team members might be offered inducements or even threatened.	The PETS team needs to have strong relationships with the community and be trustworthy and transparent about its activities.
Follow Up Issues It can be difficult to follow up on PETS findings.	The outcome of the process is crucial and should be communicated clearly. Use public forums to highlight issues and work with the community to challenge the relevant authority.

PETS Success Story

In one of the AHADI supported counties, a ward water tank project was the focus of a PETS analysis conducted by a community-based women’s organisation. According to the county implementation reports, the contractor had been paid 75%, however, from the PETS analysis this was not consistent with the physical works on the ground. The women who conducted the PETS approached their MCA with the findings. A meeting arranged with the contractor, the women’s group and county officials where the contractor was confronted with the findings and asked to do the right thing. Despite the contractors resistance he acted to rectify the situation and delivered the project to the specified design, BOQ and cost under the supervision of the relevant county department. The use of the PETS tool, along with the budget document and quarterly implementation reports, enabled the community womens group compare what was in the budget and what was actually delivered. They were able to discern that the work was shoddy and not delivered to standard and to act on these findings to influence the delivery of the project to expected quality and standard.

Resources

Download an example PETS tool

Using PETS to monitor projects and small-scale programs: A Guidebook. World Bank, 2010

Independent Budget Analysis

What is it about?

Why is it important?

Independent budget analysis (IBA) is analytical and advocacy work aimed at making public budgets more transparent and at influencing the allocation of public funds through the budget.
It involves a review of budgets in order to assess whether allocations match the government’s announced social commitments. It may also involve analysing the impact and implication of budget allocations.

Improves information sharing and public understanding of the budget.
Demystifies the technical language of official budgets and increases transparency in the budgetary process.
Helps to inform citizens on the impact of budget allocations on their daily lives and to mobilise public opinion to pressure for greater equity in budget allocations.
Improves targeting of funds for vulnerable groups- can help empower vulnerable groups by giving voice to their concerns and ensuring that funds address their needs.
Can help improve effectiveness and efficiency of public spending by making trade-offs explicit, helping to optimize the use of scarce public resources.
By analysing the impact of taxes and tax reform on different groups in society, independent budget analysis can help ensure greater equity in revenue collection.

Gender Responsive Budget Analysis

What is it about?

Why is it important?

Gender responsive budgets are not separate budgets for women, but instead, they are general budgets that are planned, approved, executed, monitored and audited in a gender-sensitive way.
Gender responsive budgeting does not involve creating separate budgets for women and girls, or simply increasing specific budget allocations directed to these groups. Males and females have different needs, warranting differential allocations of expenditure.
The basic idea of gender responsive budgeting is to ensure that spending serves the needs and priorities of both women and men, with the aim of reducing gender inequalities.
Gender responsive budget analysis is a important component of social accountability processes.

It increases transparency and accountability in the budget process by focussing on where the budget goes and who benefits.
It helps in pushing the government to spend on critical sectors such as health, education, water and agriculture; where increased spending directly contributes to positive gender outcomes.
Gender Responsive Beneficiary Assessments can be incorporated into social accountability tools, by including a question in the data gathering process (of the social audits or PETS), that seek responses on how public spending meets beneficiaries’ priorities for that fiscal year. The priorities listed in the responses should then be matched to the spending areas in the budget. This should then be analysed and a conclusion drawn. Women, men, youth, PWDs, nomadic communities and ethnic minorities should be included in the data collection processes. In addition, there should be a balance on rural/urban respondents to get diverse views.

Public Revenue Monitoring

What is it about?

Why is it important?

The income government collects determines what kind of programs, projects and services it can conduct. County governments collect revenue using their authority and determine the local programs and service they can provide based on the amount of revenue they have collected. It is necessary for citizens to keep themselves informed about the size of their county budget. This knowledge enables citizens hold their governments accountable for the mobilisation and management of the public funds.
Revenue monitoring enables the citizens to know how much money is at the disposal of their government and how the revenue collected has been spent.

Helps citizens understand how the national and county executive have mobilised economic resources.
Has a positive effect on those who want to learn where and how the available public money is going to be spent for local development and for the greater benefit of the citizenry.
Enables effective monitoring of government expenditures.
Reduces chances of corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
Enhances accountability, improves governance, improves public service delivery and enhanced development effectiveness.

Citizen Charters or Service Charters

What is it about?

Why is it important?

A Citizen Charter is a public notice displayed by public institutions which provide public services for the information of the service receivers. The charter should mention:
- the types of services available
- the service charges or fee
- the responsible person providing the service
- the service quality or expected standards
- the duration for providing the service
- the terms and procedures of service delivery
- the remedy for non-adherence to standards, or if the service is not available.
A Citizen Charter also signifies a commitment expressed by the institution in the context of a particular service meant for targeted service receivers.
Separate charters are usually designed for distinct services and/or organizations and agencies.

Aims to improve the quality of services by publishing standards which users can expect for each service they receive from the government.
Simple medium for citizens to receive information about the services being provided.
Citizens are well informed about the process, money and time involved in making the service available to them.
Reduces the possibility of a situation where the staff of an office creates confusion about the services and poses unnecessary problems to those wishing to access services.
Helps ensure that the service is speedy and of good quality, that service providers are accountable and transparent.
It may help reduce corruption.

Citizen Report Cards

What is it about?

Why is it important?

Citizen Report Card is a powerful medium to express the opinions and voice of citizens about the services they receive.
It is a method of providing feedback to government offices after evaluating citizens’ direct experience, observation, and feelings through a participatory survey method.
It is a way for citizens to take their opinions and experience about the quality of a public service to the concerned office using an appropriate approach.
The information is obtained by directly asking questions to consumers of public services. It can also be managed simply by observation.It aims at disclosing the grievances of service receivers against the providers and assists in understanding the views of service receivers on irregularities in service provision.

Provides service providers with information about how public resources are being used and how the services are impacting on the citizens.
Ensures that information is received about the services being delivered and helping these services to be citizen and result oriented.
Policy makers can listen to citizens’ demands about alternatives and bring these to the policy making level.
Prompt and practical improvements in service delivery can be made by providing information about the effectiveness of service delivery.
Enables assessment of the impact of public policies and programs.
Feedback based on the achievements of the services can influence budget allocations.

Public Hearings

What is it about?

Why is it important?

These are formal meetings at the community level where local officials and citizens have the opportunity to exchange information and opinions on community affairs. It enables the citizens to raise their concerns in front of elected officials and bureaucrats on the one hand and an important feedback mechanism for the officials to gain a better understanding of the citizens’ experiences and views.
It is also an opportunity for citizens receiving local services and officials providing services to share on matters of public interest.
It provides citizens with the opportunity to put forward personal and community related problems to the service providing officials.
It helps make service providers accountable to citizens, and increases transparency in the service provider’s activities.

Makes those holding public positions and providing services accountable to stakeholders.
Increases transparency in public service delivery.
It is also an opportunity for citizens receiving local services and officials providing services to share on matters of public interest.
It provides citizens with the opportunity to put forward personal and community related problems to the service providing officials.
It helps make service providers accountable to citizens, and increases transparency in the service provider’s activities.

What are the Benefits of Social Accountability?

Social Accountability supports good governance and fosters better service delivery. Institutional accountability mechanisms alone are often not effective in promoting good governance, leaving room for opaque and corrupt practices in the management of public resources. When citizens get involved through social accountability mechanisms they can monitor and hold public officers and elected leaders to account for how public resources are spent and their performance in the delivery of services. Citizens also provide vital feedback on the quality and challenges faced in accessing public services. This helps to improve responsiveness and quality of services, and the rational and effectiveness use and value for money. The feedback loops ultimately lead to better informed policy design and outcomes.
Social accountability can safeguard against wastage, ‘leakage’ and corrupti When properly applied in monitoring implementation, evaluation and audit of services and projects social accountability mechanisms and tools can enhance transparency.
A key benefit of social accountability is that it strengthens the relationships and builds trust between the government and citizen, and between service providers and users. It enables citizens engage with the county executives and elected leaders, influence decisions concerning their development and hold them accountable between elections.
Social accountability promotes empowerment of social groups, social cohesion and inclusion particularly when marginalised, vulnerable and other socially excluded groups are involved and their concerns and interests get attention. It enables bringing all members of the community together around a common interest.

What does the Social Accountability process entail?

The process involves citizens, the county or other public officials and service providers. The following are some typical steps in the process:

Document collation from the county government authorities. Such documents include the county development plans, approved budget estimates, budget statement for the financial year, project implementation reports, project contracts, reports from the project implementation committee (PIC).
Desk review where analysis is done of the projects that have been started, ongoing, completed or stalled. This would help the social accountability team to list a sample of the projects they would like to assess.
Sampling and identification of the actual projects to be assessed or audited, sampled by thematic area (for example, health, education, transport, agriculture). The level of completion (or otherwise) of the project is another criterion applied in sampling.
Consultation process (for example, focus group discussions or key informant interviews) at community and county government level, where the social accountability team holds discussions with both the county executive or assembly, the beneficiaries (citizens), the contractors and other parties relevant for particular projects. Such consultations would seek explanatory views to the information gathered from the review of documents and physical observation of the projects.
Advocacy where CSOs use the findings and conclusions drawn from the social accountability process to engage the duty bearers in order to resolve the outstanding issues that emerged from the process.