Building Accountability through Civic Engagementgopacnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GOPAC_Kedar-Khadk… · • Contract between the state and its citizens • Citizens have

7th Global Conference of the Parliamentarians against Corruption,Doha, QATAR

Building Accountability through Civic Engagement

Kedar KhadkaGoGo FoundationKathmandu, Nepal

9 December 2019

Everything

free

Our turn

Promotion without competition

Bidding without competition

I know more

Democracy

Free without

deserve

I’m

the

leader

Conflict of Interest

More benefits

DEMOCRACY DIVIDEND

We the winner

GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS

Poor Access to Public Services▪ Inefficiency

Indifference, Collusion with Vested Groups▪ Non Responsiveness to Public

Rampant Corruption, Extortion by Agents & Middlemen▪ Weak Accountability

Loose Systems & Weak Integrity▪ Abuse of Discretion

Kedar Khadka, GoGo Foundation

SERVICE DELIVERY PROBLEM

• Services do not benefit the poorest

• Resources not delivering results

• Increasing resources is not the only solution

POSSIBLE ROOTS OF PROBLEM

Budget Allocation Problem

• Governments spend on the wrong goods and people

Expenditure Tracking Problem

• Resources fail to reach service providers or users

Monitoring/Accountability Problem

• Weak incentives for effective service delivery

Participation/Awareness Problem

• Demand-side constraints


Volcanic anger against Poor Public Services

Unmate need

Emotions

Anger

Escalating

anger

Rage of

violence


Unmanaged Public Service Delivery

Corruption emerges

Side form

Position harder

Communication stops

Conflict goes outside the community

Perceptions become distorted

Sense of crisis emerges

Intensity of Anger

A B


Invisible citizen

Visible citizen (VC) &power brokers

Political leaders

GOVERNMENT

Invisible citizen

Visible citizen &power brokers

Bureaucracy

Accountability ‘Deficit’

Kedar Khakda© Kedar Khadka, GoGo Foundation

;/sf/GOVERNMENT

VC & Power Brokers

Political Leaders

Invisible Citizen

Invisible Citizen

Bureaucracy

VC & PowerBroker

Accountability

Kedar Khakda© Kedar Khadka, GoGo Foundation

Demand Side Approaches

Supply Side Approaches

Accountability Relationships Framework

Making Services Workable for the Poor

Changing Approaches

• From HIGH PITCHED to VOICES by Citizen

• From SHOUTING to COUNTING(Quantify voice and feedback)

• From REACTION (demonstration) to INFORMED ACTION

• From EPISODIC to ORGANIZED ACTION

• From CONFRONTATIONAL to WIN-WIN situation

Concept of Social Accountability

• Improve effectiveness of development work

• Ensure community participation, transparency, responsiveness, accountability & inclusion

• Examines pubic office's responsiveness, access to information

• Evaluate how well public resources are being used and how to improve further

• It aims to ensure maximum community participation as it values of poor people whose voices are rarely heard

• Enhance local governance, particularly for strengthening accountability and transparency of public organization


Basic Elements of SA

Citizen action

State action

Information

Interface

Civic mobilisation


• Identify achievement, gap and community suggestions

• Community observation through SA process

• Achievement/changes• Annual performance score• No. of people benefitted

from any scheme• Challenges, lesson learned• Recommendations

Issues for SA (some examples)

• Distribution of public goods and services

• Attitude of service providers

• Quality of education, health etc.

• Effective grievance handling mechanism

• Timely dissemination of annual program & budgets

• Quality of public infrastructure & services


SA Tools Approaches in NepalSupply side approaches Demand side approaches

• Social Audit (with CRC,

Exit Poll, FGD, PH)

• Citizen charter

• Public displays of free &

subsidized services

available

• Grievance handling

approaches/complaint

boxes

Social Audit

Public Audit

Public Hearing

CRC

CSC

PETS

Community Radio

Participatory Planning


Why Social Accountability ?

• Fundamental principle of democracy

• Contract between the state and its citizens

• Citizens have the right to demand accountability and public actors have an obligation to be accountable to their citizens

• Violation of contract and failure of existing mechanisms to

ensure accountability, resulted in emergence of social

accountability


SA Practices & Citizens’ Engagement

Issuesand

Challenges

SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

• Approaching power holders to extract accountability for their policies, actions, decisions & use of resources.

• Ordinary citizen to power holders accountable.

• It is demand-driven bottom up approach.

• Relies on civic engagement

• Complements to non-effectiveformal accountability systems


ACCOUNTABILITY

• Obligation of public office power- holders to account for or take responsibility for their action.

• Top-down & supply drivenapproach.

SA: Conceptual Framework

Accountability

Constitution; executive, judiciary and legislative branches of govt.; investigative journalism, auditing requirements, financial rules, corruption prevention agency

Social Accountability

Independent pro-accountability agencies such as vigilance commission, social watch, privatization of public institutions, contracting or outsourcing public service for market-based accountability;


SA: Conceptual Framework

Contemporary mechanisms

Participatory public policy-making,

budgeting, PETS, citizens’

monitoring, evaluation of public service

delivery…

Traditional mechanisms

Citizen or civil society led actions – public

demonstrations, protests, advocacy

campaigns, investigative

journalism, lawsuits, etc.


Issues and Challenges

Issues and Gaps

• Supply-driven & not demand-driven

• Poor engagement of right holders & duty bearers.

• Lack of strong organized citizens’ groups

• Weak CSOs and Media

Challenges

• Break barrier of political, social & cultural appropriateness.

• Engaging service providers, users & beneficiaries

• Champions for access to information.

• Institutionalization of SA mechanisms.


Causes & Fixes…

◼ Resources fail to reach service providers or users -PETS

◼ Service delivery gaps/problems – Lack of access to information - PH

◼ Poor transparency in use of public resources-Lack of

people's access to financial details- Public Audit

◼ Weak incentives for effective service delivery -monitoring/accountability Problem - CRC

◼ Demand-side constraints - participation/awareness

Problem – VOICE -CSCKedar Khadka, GoGo Foundation

Choosing Tools


Choosing tool & time frame…


Potential Benefits and Risks of SABenefits

• Improved governance & service delivery

• Enhanced transparency

• Reduced corruption

• Poverty reduction

• Strengthened public sector reforms & decentralization

Risks• Raised expectations• Lack of sustainability or

institutionalization of SA• Mechanisms may not result in

service improvements• Depth of citizen involvement may

be superficial• May involve a small group of

actors• Misunderstanding by citizens &

misused by state institutions & therefore treated with suspicion


Institutionalization of SA Mechanisms: Challenges & Possibilities

• Political will and accountability

• Bureaucratic commitment

• Enabling environment (genuine demand/recent uprising)

• Progressive law (RTI/Good Governance laws etc)

• Creation of independent mechanism for third party monitoring and funds required for the same.

• Capacity building of such institutions

• Need to create a pool of trained ‘SA Practitioners’

• Involvement of local administrative bodies

• Chances of being high jacked by the Govt. & loosing teeth in the process of institutionalization & making it ineffective.


HOW PARLIAMENTARIANS CAN ENHANCE ACCOUNTABILITY ?

Rules and Regulations– timely administrative procedures, audits

in place

Bring in Market Principles– privatization or contracting out to

private sector/CSOs

Independent Agencies– ombudsman, vigilance commissionsKedar Khadka, GoGo Foundation

Some observations ….

People are often check the accounts presented by the authorities at the PA. Often they argue for

long time for a small amount


Some observations ….

Stopped eating with community after PA disclosed cost on refreshment & meals – be

careful !

Do we need to think of the volume & quality of information & data that can be digested and used within the PA event ? (good facilitator)


Civic Engagement


Kedar KhadkaExecutive Director

GoGo Foundation/Coordinator, GOPAC NepalMobile: 9779851072225

Email: [email protected] Website: www.gogofoundation


http://www.gogofoundation/

Documents

Building Accountability through Civic Engagementgopacnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GOPAC_Kedar-Khadk… · • Contract between the state and its citizens • Citizens have