Report: Social Accountability Mechanisms and Access to Public Service Delivery in Rural Africa

What is ‘Social accountability’?

Social accountability focuses on the demand-side of good governance by aiming to strengthen the voices of citizens to demand greater accountability and responsiveness directly from public officials and service providers.

As such, social accountability can be broadly defined as citizen-led action to demand accountability for providers. It can be understood as institutional arrangements that aim to ‘facilitate the participation of ordinary citizens in the public policy processes’.

Donor support and experiences

Support for social accountability mechanisms in rural Sub-Saharan Africa has increased over the past decade and is becoming firmly anchored in government policies and donor and NGO strategies.

In this DIIS report, Esbern Friis-Hansen and Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde review the experience of donor support for five forms of social accountability mechanisms in rural Africa:

• Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS)
• Participatory budgeting
• Community-based monitoring
• Participatory planning and priority setting
• and Deepening democracy

Not simply a technical issue – consider the political context

This study argues that social accountability is not simply a technical issue.

Technical social accountability initiatives often ignore the political context and power politics in which they take place.

However, invited political space can enhance access to and the quality of service. New intermediary political spaces, created by local associations and social movements that are involved in democratic mediation, emerge as a source of change and are viewed as having democratic potential. However, this requires political support and technical collaboration from local government.

This DIIS report and policy brief were written as part of the ReCom programme that is researching and communicating what works and what can be achieved through development assistance.