Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa

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 world...

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Main Authors:	McNeil, Mary, Malena, Carmen
Format:	Publication
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank 2012
Subjects:	CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CIVIL SOCIETY GOOD GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE REFORMS NATURAL RESOURCES ALLOCATION SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000334955_20100706051828 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2478

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spelling	okr-10986-24782021-04-23T14:02:02Z Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa McNeil, Mary Malena, Carmen CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CIVIL SOCIETY GOOD GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE REFORMS NATURAL RESOURCES ALLOCATION SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS 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. 2012-03-19T09:34:33Z 2012-03-19T09:34:33Z 2010 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000334955_20100706051828 978-0-8213-8380-3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2478 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research :: Publication Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Senegal Tanzania Ghana Zimbabwe Nigeria Benin
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CIVIL SOCIETY GOOD GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE REFORMS NATURAL RESOURCES ALLOCATION SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS
spellingShingle	CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT CIVIL SOCIETY GOOD GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE REFORMS NATURAL RESOURCES ALLOCATION SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS McNeil, Mary Malena, Carmen Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
geographic_facet	Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Senegal Tanzania Ghana Zimbabwe Nigeria Benin
description	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.
format	Publications & Research :: Publication
author	McNeil, Mary Malena, Carmen
author_facet	McNeil, Mary Malena, Carmen
author_sort	McNeil, Mary
title	Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
title_short	Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
title_full	Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
title_fullStr	Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa
title_sort	demanding good governance : lessons from social accountability initiatives in africa
publisher	World Bank
publishDate	2012
url	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000334955_20100706051828 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2478
_version_	1764385522307825664

Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa

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