2.4. Accountability and transparency mechanisms to support community participation
Ensuring that community voices influence decisions and that commitments are upheld requires robust accountability and transparency mechanisms. This area supports the development of participatory planning and monitoring systems that encourage continuous feedback, learning and adaptation. It highlights tools and practices that make service delivery and policy implementation more responsive to community priorities, while fostering motivation through visible progress and “quick wins”. These mechanisms also reinforce local governance by linking community expectations with tangible outcomes and institutional responsibility.
Examples from SIMASHE
Implementation of accountability Mechanisms in Tolosa, Philippines: In Tolosa, the Performance Accountability System includes health-related planning, action and audits in each barangay (district) in 60–90 day cycles. This allows for rapid feedback and adjustments to the implementation of local initiatives, encouraging community participation and motivation through a series of “quick wins” and accountability.
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Examples from related work and initiatives
Building consensus and prioritizing action through a community scorecard in Uganda: IDLO’s DREAMS project combined legal empowerment and social accountability approaches to promote accountability in relation to HIV health and justice services for adolescent girls and young women and their communities in the Gomba and Mukono districts of Uganda. A community scorecard system was implemented to provide access to information about HIV-related rights, and a forum in which to voice complaints and needs to service providers. By monitoring services and providing feedback that enabled providers to make services more responsive to users’ needs, the scorecard system helped improve decision-making about service delivery methods and priorities.
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Key intervention activities
SIMASHE is continuously seeking examples related to this area of work, including activities for:
- establishing participatory planning and audit cycles to track progress and gaps.
- supporting feedback loops that connect community inputs to policy adjustments.
- developing visual tools to monitor SDH action plan implementation at the local level.
- promoting transparency through regular public sharing of results and learning.
- using rapid-cycle learning models to support adaptive management.
- enhancing community motivation through visible results and engagement in accountability processes.