The Arab World’s Social Accountability - From Shouting to Counting

By Sarah Khan
Original Copy

Global Arab Network - Through social accountability, citizens in the Arab world are moving from "shouting to counting" in a bid to hold public institutions accountable for delivering public services and improving the welfare of citizens. This approach enables citizens to work with governments in a productive, meaningful way by using evidence-based analysis and advocacy. When the World Bank held the first regional workshop about social accountability in October last year, the concept itself, its tools and mechanisms were still new to the Middle East and North Africa region. But with the Arab Spring, transparency and social accountability has shot to the top of the region’s priority agenda.  In a policy address titled "The Middle East and North Africa: A New Social Contract for Development" at Washington’s Peterson Institute on April 6, World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick says: “I suggest it is now time for the World Bank to examine, with its Board and shareholders, whether the Bank needs new capabilities or facilities that could leverage support from countries, foundations, and others to strengthen the capacity of CSOs working on accountability and transparency in service delivery. We could give priority to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In a follow-up to the October meeting, the World Bank and CARE Egypt co-organized the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA)-Arab World Regional Strategic Planning and Social Accountability Workshop in Amman, Jordan from June 5-9, 2011. ANSA-Arab World is a regional network of practitioners focused on participatory governance and social accountability aimed at supporting active citizen participation in policy formulation, implementation and monitoring of public programs. The network fosters the exchange of ideas and raises awareness about the importance of participatory governance and social accountability for improved development results.  In addition to building capacity by helping development stakeholders learn more about social accountability mechanisms, it will serve as a platform for constructive engagement and dialogue between civil society organizations, government, the media, and the private sector.  Inviting government and private sector players to the table is an initiative of the Arab World organization of ANSA as their participation is considered critical to building a network that can have long-lasting impact on development in the region. The five-day workshop in Jordan brought together over 40 representatives from government, CSOs, media, and private sector from seven Arab countries – Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, West Bank and Gaza, Morocco and Tunisia.  The aim was twofold: to introduce key social accountability topics and to lead a discussion on strategic planning for the establishment of the network, governance structure options, membership criteria, as well as possible programmatic areas of engagement, at both the country and regional level. “Active citizen participation and a strengthened civil society is crucial to ensuring accountability and development effectiveness,” says Franck Bousquet, World Bank Social/Urban Sector Manager for the Middle East and North Africa region. “ANSA-Arab World will help CSOs build constructive partnerships, scale up demand-side initiatives at the country level, and foster networks of practitioners enhancing peer-to-peer learning among an array of development stakeholders.” Social Accountability Tools and ANSA-Arab World Social accountability tools range from simple "social audits" in which a government independently evaluates its performance by monitoring the views of its constituents, to more formal mechanisms such as citizen report cards on public service delivery and formal budget reviews and analyses led by civil society organizations. "The workshop was a valuable opportunity to build a common understanding among participants about the importance of social accountability in the Arab region,” says Mariana T. Felicio, Social Development Specialist and Task Team Leader of ANSA-Arab World at the World Bank. “It helped the 40 or so people attending identify challenges and opportunities and begin building trust between government and non-government stakeholders.” ANSA-Arab World joins a global network of other Affiliated Networks for Social Accountability supported by the World Bank Institute to promote, strengthen and sustain social accountability knowledge and praxis both regionally and globally. ANSA-Africa, created in 2006, was the first in a network which has since grown to include ANSA-East Asia Pacific and ANSA-South Asia. "The World Bank can share international best practices, coordinate with other donors for the financial sustainability of the network, and bring together senior government officials and CSOs to address governance challenges and how they affect service delivery," says Amr Lashin, Governance and Civic Engagement Program Director at CARE Egypt.  Budget Transparency and Access to Information: Key elements for constructive partnerships  The workshop gave participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and build a consensus on the network’s vision, mission and action plan.   The group declared its vision to be: “A leading network in the Arab world in the field of social accountability with the objectives of achieving social justice and transparency”.  And its mission as: “A regional network that will mobilize resources and efforts for capacity building, enhance partnerships between various development stakeholders with the goal to build social accountability to affect real change and facilitate transitions.” A consensus also emerged around two priorities for the new network, namely Budget Transparency and Access to Information. Participants from Mashreq and Maghreb countries alike listed several challenges including the absence of legislative frameworks to ensure access to information; inability of CSOs to advocate for budget transparency; limited citizen awareness/understanding of budget transparency; weak communication channels between citizens and government; non-existence of a budget transparency culture within  government institutions; implementation gaps even when  regulatory framework is in place; and, weak channels through which budget information is disseminated. Participants underlined the need to guarantee budget transparency through laws and legislation for free information flows and exchange. They also listed citizen participation in budget preparation and monitoring to measure budget transparency. As only Jordan and Tunisia having passed Freedom of Information Laws, participants from other countries underlined the urgent need for drafting such laws elsewhere as a first step towards greater access to information.  In addition, participants recognized the importance of right to information movements to stimulate greater dialogue between governments and civil society and to scale up outreach to citizens which would raise awareness about freedom of information.  ANSA-Arab World Voices on Social Accountability and Current Transitions in the Arab Region “Social accountability helps improve the performance of government in service delivery provision and also helps to reduce malpractices and corruption. We consider an efficient civil society as a valuable partner to the government in service delivery provision and in suggesting ways to improve government services.” Ibrahim Al-Tamimy, a director at the Ministry of Social Development, Jordan. “Increasing awareness and empowering communities with social accountability tools and mechanisms is of utmost significance in Egypt’s democratic transition. Through voice and transparency, we will guarantee the responsiveness of the government to citizen’s needs, thus, influencing public policy and service delivery.” Hani Ismail, Youth Association for Development and Environment, Egypt. “In post-revolution Tunisia, we are shocked with the unprecedented volume of corruption everywhere in the country. Citizens were absent back then. Now, all citizens should be responsible in holding their government accountable. Thus, it is high time in Tunisia to streamline social accountability across the society and the different stakeholders.” Zina Mliki, Journalist, Tunisia “In Lebanon, CSOs have been key partners in transparency and anti-corruptions efforts. Given the common culture and specific environment of the region, the creation of the ANSA-Arab World will help share lessons learnt from across the Arab world, thus, enriching our knowledge about various approaches and tools used in the region.” Dr. Said Issa, Grassroots Manager at the Lebanese Transparency Association. (World Bank)