„Maybe – I would say surely – until systematic accountability is built into government, no management improvements will do the job.“
John Brandl, 1994 (U.S. politician)
Can transparency really reduce corruption in development aid? A very well known study by Reinikka and Svensson about the public funding of primary schools in Uganda suggests that the publication of budget details contributed to reducing leakage (money lost in the system) from about 80% to 20%. The system, that was actually used in Uganda was Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS). A study published by the Anti-Corruption Resource Centre U4 highlights the conditions for budget tracking to reduce corruption. Read more »
To increase accountability it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of civil society to understand, monitor and improve budget processes and outcomes in developing countries. An excellent example of social accountability is given in the following video published by the International Budget Partnership: In Kenya, members of parliament receive approximately one million dollars per year to spend on development projects in their constituencies through a scheme called the Constituency Development Fund. The MPs are able to spend this money with no meaningful Independent oversight. Citizen oversight was one the mechanism employed by Kenyan NGO Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI)to track and monitor the reality and quality of CDF community projects. Read more »
How do you get civil society engaged in public online monitoring of your project? Even if you design a killer website for interaction among stakeholders, it will be of absolutely no value without visitors. And chances are that unless you're a seasoned search engine optimizer or have a very large budget at your disposal, nobody will ever find your website. This is where social networks enter the picture.
Public Online Monitoring is an approach to allow local project beneficiaries to interact with other project stakeholders using the Internet. It is conceived as an online platform where project management and donors can publish project information. At the same time local stakeholders will be able to provide feedback, voice concern about project implementation and possible misuse of funds, ask question and engage in discussion.
Public Online Monitoring has four key elements:
- Detailed online information about individual development projects
- Sector specific online guidance for civil society stakeholders
- Online forum for stakeholders to meet, exchange information, voice concerns, defend interests, and to discuss policy
- Integration of online monitoring to off-line communication: radio, newspapers, community meetings
