This Reader-Learner List provides a menu of reading materials on social accountability with focus on the public procurement process. It is intended for public procurement practitioners who want to make the public procurement process transparent and accountable with the end of meeting its development objective. The list provides reading materials that help one to understand the underlying concepts of procurement monitoring. There are reading materials that look into value for money, cost management, design quality and supply chain management. The list also gives leads to questions like “When do you disclose the budget in the course of the procurement?”, “How do you pre-qualify bidders (candidate contractors)?”, and “How do you debrief losing bidders?” The list also provides a model “Code of Good Practice” for customers (government) and suppliers (bidders or contactors).

This study looks at the meaning of social accountability in Cambodia by reviewing Cambodia’s history, political culture and institutions, citizen-state relations, and the nature of civil society in the country; exploring Khmer vocabulary on social accountability; and interviewing key informants from civil society organizations, the government, and the private sector in Phnom Penh, Kompong Speu, Siem Reap, and Battambang provinces.  The study includes a partial list of current SAc practices and tools used by civil society organizations, donors, the private sector, and the government.

  • Thoughts on ‘Public Service Accountability”—Highlights of Focus Group Discussions with Government and Citizen Groups in Cambodia

This reports on the findings of several focus group discussions (FGDs) that ANSA-EAP organized in Phnom Penh in early 2009.  The FGDs probed beliefs, concepts, attitudes, and perceptions about social accountability as an approach to good governance among Cambodian government workers and citizen groups. Topics covered were:
* Public Service Delivery
* Citizen Participation
* Establishing and Enhancing Social Accountability Implementation
* Habit, Culture and Value
* Rights to Information
* Practicing and Supporting Social Accountability
* Practitioner Communities of Social Accountability and Advocacy
* Using Knowledge, Skill and Experience of Social Accountability.

This study builds on a number of earlier research on social accountability mechanisms in the Philippines and in the region. The study does a more in-depth analysis of these research and explores the following: (1) a social accountability framework containing a set of principles and indicators of performance; (2) environmental factors that enable civil society to play the role of informing and engaging citizens in exacting accountability from government; (3) approaches, tools and techniques used to ensure significant outcomes from SA interventions; (4) significant outcomes of SAc mechanisms in governance, sustainable development and citizen empowerment; and (5) challenges facing civil society and strategies to address these challenges.

This paper examines the concept of social accountability as it applies to environmental management in extractive industries—specifically oil, gas, and mining—in Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. The study is divided into two parts. Part 1 discusses accountability, separates some ideas related to social accountability, and suggests a draft framework with respect to flow and processes related to “social accountability” and the civil society sector.  Part 2 identifies some key research themes and subthemes emerging from the study.  Within the presentation of these themes, there are insights on various environmental management issues and concerns related to the operations of extractive industries in the East Asia-Pacific region.

This manual supports ANSA-EAP’s goal of building a community of competent and empowered social accountability practitioners, advocates, and champions in the region. This is an introductory learning material aimed at promoting appreciation and understanding of social accountability for those who will encounter it for the first time. They are future training organizers, resource persons, and training facilitators from citizen groups and government agencies who are interested to learn about the scope, basic concepts, and applications of social accountability to promote good governance. The training manual adheres to the following principles that define ANSA-EAP’s Social Accountability School: learner-centered, learning-in-action, and localizing the learning process.

This is an ANSA-EAP case study of Bantay Lansangan (Road Watch), a 30-month project in the Philippines of the nongovernment organization, Transparency and Accountability Network.  Bantay Lansangan sought to monitor and advocate for reforms in the Philippine road sector. ANSA-EAP looked at the project’s conceptual design, operational framework, relationship between its secretariat and local partners, modes of partnership, and terms of engagement among partners, among others.  The case study includes stories that describe the model and the experiences of local Bantay Lansangan partners in Iloilo, Kalinga, and Abra provinces.

  • G-Watch Guide – Your Partner in Monitoring Government Programs

Written by the Government Watch (G-Watch) program of the Ateneo School of Government in the Philippines and published with the support of ANSA-EAP, this publication is a user-friendly sourcebook for citizen groups that wish to engage with government to monitor government activities and outcomes. The guidebook is divided into separate sets, each discussing a particular step or component in setting up and implementing a monitoring program similar to that of G-Watch. Dividing the guidebook into separate sets gives the reader freedom to go straight to a specific set of tools and practices, depending on the information needed.