Promoting social accountability for Public finances

ABOUT PROJECT

According to the World Bank, the development community has recognized that both government institutions and private players in the developing world far too often tend to overlook the poor in the delivery of various goods and services. Such oversight results in either low quality good/service delivery or at times no delivery at all, and as such the consequence is continued deprivation of goods and services to citizens, dilapidated or poor infrastructure, and a lack of representation in important decision-making processes.

As a result of these deficiencies, social accountability has emerged as an important weapon in the fight for better governance and service delivery. While issues of poor public services affect entire societies, according to the World Bank (2009), unlike wealthier classes, the poor tend to be more affected as they are unable to compensate by switching to better-quality private services.

Public services can either be provided by the state directly, or through sub-contracted private service providers, however regardless of the channel, their effective delivery is crucial for poverty reduction and the attainment of critical development goals. Experiences around the world have demonstrated that generating and using information on the performance of service providers by both government and those contracted by government can lead to foster adherence to higher quality standards in service delivery.

Increasingly, the use of social accountability as a governance tool for political, economic and social purposes is becoming more prevalent around the world. The objective of this project is therefore to increase transparency on allocation and spending of resources in selected states in Zambia. It is the right of every citizen to understand the utility of the funds against the welfare gains of the targeted beneficiaries.