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Citizens, Accountability and Public Expenditure: A Rapid Review of DFID Support

Author: J Bosworth
Date: 2005
Size: 36 pages (359 KB)

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Summary

What is DFID doing to strengthen domestic accountability on public expenditure in the countries it supports? Joanne Bosworth reviews DFID work supporting the targeting of accountability on public expenditure, drawing on 87 interventions, operational since 2000, in 28 countries. Building accountability is a gradual process and it is difficult to ascertain clear impact, although intermediate changes are often noticeable.

Monitoring of public expenditure is the first part of a chain of accountability without which accountability for service delivery or poverty reduction cannot be enforced. Transparency, participation and capacity building are critical for public expenditure accountability. Transparency initiatives include ensuring a good supply of accessible information on public expenditure processes. Citizen involvement in public expenditure management can be promoted by building civil society capacity to participate at various stages of the budget process.

As the first step in a major evaluation on Voice and Accountability, the review draws largely on DFID’s internal management information and knowledge sharing systems. This includes Country and Regional Assistance Plans, the PRISM database and other documents. Programmes are concentrated in Africa, although they also exist in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

DFID’s interventions have focused on both demand and supply side issues, and include a range of projects in different countries.

• The total value of DFID programmes in this area is £505 million, but only a proportion of this targets citizen accountability. Frequently work is part of much larger financial accountability programmes concentrated on financial systems in government.
• There is a danger in some programmes that domestic accountability issues are neglected as increasing amounts of money are disbursed through government budgets.
• DFID works at both national and sub-national levels on supply-side issues; on the demand side it focuses more on developing local level accountability around decentralised or devolved budgets and services. This largely involves NGOs and CBOs, sometimes as coalitions or networks. Little support is given to media, private sector or political parties in this area.

While this is a preliminary review, the following key lessons were noted:

• Civil society action and demands can be catalysts for change and governments are sensitive to public demands.
• Interventions to enhance accountability in sectors such as education or health often encounter problems given the absence of decentralisation of authority and financial devolution to local bodies.
• Developing greater accountability is time consuming and slow, requiring attitudinal change by both officials and citizens. Political will and sincere government engagement are important.
• Meaningful participation can be misinterpreted as notional consultation, limiting the development of real accountability.
• Representation of the poor and vulnerable by civil society organisations can be hampered by issues of legitimacy, representativeness and accountability. Development agencies need to better coordinate their support to civil society to engage with public expenditure processes.
• Further investigation is required into DFID interventions in this area.

Access full text: available online

Source: Bosworth, J, 2005, ‘Citizens, Accountability and Public Expenditure: A Rapid Review of DFID Support’, Working Paper 17, Department for International Development, London