ANSA-EAP is a networking facility for networks. It mainstreams the SAc approach among groups already involved in good governance work. Social accountability requires four conditions, also known as the Four Pillars of Social Accountability: organized and capable citizen groups; responsive government; sensitivity to context and culture; and, access to information.
One of the pillars—sensitivity to context and culture—is especially relevant in East Asia-Pacific. It provides a link with deeply held beliefs, practices, and norms. This respect for local sensibilities effectively localizes concepts of good governance and of the SAc approach. This accounts for ANSA-EAP’s mandate to build SAc practice on a foundation of cultural diversity.
Sensitivity to context and culture also guides ANSA-EAP when it establishes networks based on geography and theme. These networks reflect the region’s rich cultures; they allow for the formation of diverse communities of SAc practice. ANSA-EAP works to capture the local knowledge and experience of these communities. It then makes the know-how available to others in the country and to the rest of the region.
Unique to the ANSA-EAP approach is the intense partner relations it fosters with SAc practitioners and advocates in the region. The relationship is usually marked by an open, continuing connection with the partner. There is a high level of technical assistance, which is ANSA-EAP’s method of instilling in its partners a deep appreciation of the SAc approach.
Forming Partnerships through Networking of Networks
ANSA-EAP enhances and strengthens strong partnerships among citizen groups and between citizens and government. This is an important step toward building a community of social accountability practitioners. Through existing national, regional and global partners, the ANSA-EAP network helps develop the capability of citizen groups and government to engage constructively with each other. ANSA-EAP builds on what many groups and existing networks have accomplished and are already good at.
ANSA-EAP has facilitated the establishment of national Convenor Groups in Cambodia, Mongolia, Java-Indonesia, Southeast Sulawesi-Indonesia, Mongolia, Northern Luzon-Philippines, and Mindanao-Philippines. It also has helped to set-up sub-networks focusing on procurement monitoring, service delivery, extractive industries, and on youth. In all, through these Convenor Groups and sub-networks, ANSA-EAP maintains a regional network of over 40 SAc partner organizations.
Building Multi-Stakeholder Coalitions for Governance Reform
Capacity Building through Learning-in-Action
Learning-in-action marries predetermined frameworks with actual field visits and mentoring setups. The importance of this approach is that it gives partners the opportunity to validate and deepen the learning through actual, on-the-ground work.
Developing learning partnerships is complex and needs to be strategic so as to capture the most impact. While ANSA-EAP uses social accountability tools that assume a certain level of technical capacity or expertise, it also cannot discount the possibility of learning from others in building such capacities. Hence, the mutual learning-in-action approach is not an approach that relies on a one-way flow of knowledge from “experts” to learners. Symbiotic sharing and learning with others can further enrich the existing approach.
Learning-in-action uses a mix of structured and informal learning to increase knowledge as well as ownership of social accountability practices. This approach is what heavily informs the grant and technical assistance support strategy that ANSA-EAP provides. ANSA-EAP assistance—whether capacity building, technical assistance and sometimes fund provision—is always intended to promote partners’ initial appreciation of social accountability in the context of their actual work and, in the long term, institutionalizes social accountability in their way of thinking, feeling and doing.
Since 2008, ANSA-EAP has accomplished a significant amount of work in areas of networking, research, learning and capacity-building, information and awareness-raising, and resource mobilization for social accountability in the East Asia and the Pacific region. The Social Accountability School, in particular, has been instrumental in supporting the emerging practice of social accountability in Cambodia and in consolidating similar practices and experiences of other countries in East Asia and the Pacific. After having three successful runs of Social Accountability School in Cambodia, ANSA-EAP has accumulated a wide knowledge resource base from its pool of seasoned practitioners and participants who brought in new insights, lessons, and field-based experiences on social accountability.
Mentoring, Coaching, and Exposure Enhances SAc Knowledge and Capabilities of Cambodian Trainees
Promoting Access to SAc Resources by Generating Knowledge and Distilling Information
ANSA-EAP helps its partners access adequate, appropriate, and timely information. Disseminating information is an irrevocable part of mainstreaming SAc.
Partly because of its sensitivity to context and culture, ANSA-EAP avoids offering a standardized knowledge solution to its partners. Instead, it assists its partners to capture their information and then develop that information into knowledge products. The knowledge is drawn continuously from partners—and in many cases, delivered to other stakeholders by them. This makes knowledge generation and dissemination more sustainable, even without ANSA-EAP.
From print and online publications to multimedia, ANSA-EAP knowledge products have the flexibility of customization, improvement, adaptation, and appropriation.
Snapshot of Selected ANSA-EAP Knowledge Products
Country Portfolio | Thematic Portfolio | Service Portfolio | Partners | VOICES