Citizen-Led Accountability: Strategies and Tools

Citizens have the right and responsibility to hold government and other power holders accountable for public decisions and actions that affect their lives. This program explores how citizens can make their governments more open, transparent and responsive to their needs and concerns. Through case studies from around the world, participants will learn innovative practices to monitor government actions, seek accountability, prevent corruption, and improve essential public services such as health care and education. They will also learn to design pro-accountability strategies and get hands-on experience applying practical tools such as community scorecards, to foster a culture of accountability in their societies.

Personal benefits

• Learn the history of social accountability, principles and rationale.
• Build practical skills in the use of social accountability tools and methods such as participatory planning and budgeting, gender budgeting, social audits, citizen report cards, community scorecards and other performance monitoring tools.
• Identify the characteristics of an enabling environment for citizen-led accountability.
• Identify ways to use citizen-led accountability tools in advocacy to make the case for change.

Organizational benefits

• Increase organizational capacity to build accountability into future projects and programs;
• Develop the ability to assess government programs and services to ensure the quality of public service delivery to all citizens.

Who should take the program?

This certificate course is designed for practitioners from civil so­ciety organizations and social movements, as well as staff from government, development agencies or the private sector, who are engaged in governance, public services, human rights, advocacy and/or accountability work.

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Fees

Total fees for the course are $2,650.00 CAD with scholarships worth $1,650.00 CAD available to in limited numbers. Remaining fees for individual participants are $1,000.00 CAD, and include:

• Tuition;
• Transportation for learning activities during the course (e.g., field visits) and to select accommodations;
• All course materials: course manual, handouts, access to all online resources and additional reading materials;
• Lunches and tea breaks during the course; and
• Access to Coady Connects online network of over 4,000 graduates.