Beyond Checks and Balances: The Role of Social Accountability Monitoring in Systems Strengthening
Social accountability monitoring is a process that relies on civic engagement to monitor public officials and civil servants to hold them accountable for their actions. It is a way for ordinary citizens to ensure that the government is working in the best interest of the people they serve. This accountability measure includes various activities such as participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking, monitoring of public service delivery, public commissions and citizen advisory boards.
Participatory budgeting is a process where citizens are allowed to participate in the budgeting process of their government. This process allows citizens to provide input into the budgeting process and suggest how the government should allocate resources to meet their needs. It is a way for citizens to ensure that their voices are heard and that their needs are represented in the budget.
Public expenditure tracking is another social accountability measure that involves the monitoring of government spending. This process allows citizens to monitor government spending to ensure that it is aligned with the budget and that funds are used for their intended purpose. It also helps to identify corruption and fraud cases, which can be reported to the authorities.
Monitoring of public service delivery is another important aspect of social accountability monitoring. This process involves monitoring public service delivery to ensure that citizens receive quality services. It is a way for citizens to provide feedback on the services they receive and to hold public servants accountable for their actions.
Public commissions and citizen advisory boards are other forms of social accountability monitoring. These commissions and boards are created to investigate corruption and misconduct cases and provide recommendations on how to address them. They also provide a platform for citizens to voice their concerns and hold public officials accountable for their actions.
Social accountability monitoring complements and reinforces conventional mechanisms of accountability such as political checks and balances, accounting and auditing systems, administrative rules and legal procedures. It is a way for citizens to ensure that their government is working in the best interest of the people they serve. By monitoring government officials and public servants, citizens can identify cases of corruption and misconduct and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. This helps to build trust between citizens and their government and to ensure that the government is working to meet the needs of its citizens.
The Kuyenda Collective seeks to contribute to systems strengthening in the education sectors of four African countries, namely, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The desired impact of this project is to strengthen the local systems whilst connecting civil society organisations (CSO’s), Rural Youth Collectives (RYC’s) and Non-Traditional Actors (NTA’s) in the countries with transnational bodies and platforms that influence education policy on the continent, enabling multi-level advocacy to drive sustainable outcomes.