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Accountability : Essential Readings
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Theisohn, T. (2007) Using accountability relationships to support capacity, in Capacity.org issue 31
Making the case that effective accountability mechanisms induce public sector organisations to remain responsive to people's needs, this article reviews various definitions and elements of accountability including: horizontal, vertical, social and mutual accountability. Theisohn suggests eight practical ways in which accountability principles can serve as an entry points in building a capacity development strategy.
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Rakesh Rajani (2010) "Capacity is Political, Not Technical: The Case of HakiElimu in Promoting Accountability in Education in Tanzania" in Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 157-166
In this chapter, Rakesh Rajani sketches various ways in which a Tanzanian NGO deploys information and public media to boost citizens’ demand for accountability in the provision of education and other public services. These experiences have interesting implications for expanding a practitioner’s repertoire of capacity development beyond discrete organizations. They also stimulate thinking about how capacity development is connected to activism.
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Asian Development Bank (2007) Improving Local Governance and Service Delivery: Citizen Report Card Learning Tool Kit
The Citizen Report Card (CRC) is a simple but powerful tool to provide public agencies with systematic feedback from users of public services, enabling communities, civil society organizations or local governments to proactively engage in a dialogue with service providers to improve service delivery. Designed for self-learning, this toolkit helps users develop the basic knowledge and skills to implement CRCs in their localities.
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World Bank (2004) Making services work for poor people
The World Development Report (WDR) 2004 focused on those services that have the most direct link with human development - education, health, water, sanitation, and electricity. The report discusses the design and implementation of social accountability mechanisms as a key strategy for ensuring that poor people benefit from basic services. The website “The social accountability source book” which is a spin oof of this WDR.
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“Our Money, Our Responsibility: A Citizens’ Guide to Monitoring Government Expenditures” The International Budget Project (IBP) 2008
This Guide offers an overview of government budget implementation processes and provides practical, tested tools that can be used by civil society organizations interested in monitoring government expenditures. It is the third publication in a series developed by the IBP . It follows A Guide to Budget Work for NGOs (published in 2001) and A Guide to Tax Work for NGOs (published in 2006). This Guide complements the previous two Guides by focusing on the budget implementation process, especially on civil society efforts to monitor and influence the quality of government expenditures.
