For improved performance as well as realise the
rights and entitlements of citizens to public goods such as health, improving
the accountability of institutions and systems is essential. Social
accountability approaches at the micro or meso level may mitigate the effects
of poor service organisation and governance. It may also provide the means to
address corruption. In the health sector a variety of public-representation or
“social accountability” mechanisms have been developed including public
hearings and community monitoring of health facilities. As a social
accountability tool, public hearings aim at promoting transparency and
accountability of public authorities in addressing the needs of the citizens. It
can be thought of as a way of removing asymmetric information and thereby,
empowering citizens with information, who can be expected to be in a better
bargaining position than before. Also, presence of a large number of citizens
in the public hearing creates a collective pressure on the public officials,
who respond to the grievances expressed by the citizens and try to address these.
In the public hearings, usually a Corruption
Prevention Committees (CPCs) invites public officials of a few government
agencies and the citizens of the same locality and allows the citizens to express
grievances regarding public service delivery to the concerned government
officials, and service providers take necessary measures to resolve it. The
committee consists of people from across the society including teachers,
religious leaders and former government officials. However, there is almost no
empirical research on the reach, process, and consequences of the hearings for
evidence-informed evaluation.
The combination of these two analyses is expected
to chart a clear pathway towards accountability and good governance in the
delivery of UZ health services and reduce/alleviate corruption in its various
forms.
2 comments:
good post
good.
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