FOSTERING SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY培养社会责任感.pdfVIP

FOSTERING SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY:  FROM PRINCIPLE TO PRACTICE  AUGUST 2010 Overview: The expansion of formal democracy systems has led to an increased focus on the accoun- tability of states to citizens, and the role of citizens in decision-making processes. Develop- ment actors and practitioners recognize that strengthening citizen voice and the engage- ment of civil society, along with traditional forms of support to develop state systems and institutions, is critical to responsive governance mechanisms, ultimately resulting in more efficient service delivery. Social accountability is at the heart of UNDP‟s understanding of democratic governance, and of human development more broadly. Both the UNDP Strategic Plan [2008-2013] and the Global Strategy to Strengthen Civil Society and Civic Engagement [2009] prioritize fostering inclusive participation and building responsive state institutions as means to strengthen democratic governance and accountability. This note seeks to provide staff with an understanding of how the principles of social accountability are already an integral part of UNDP‟s approach to human development. The first sections give an overview of definitions and the principles of social accountability. The later sections provide guidance on how to incorporate the practice of social accounta- bility into programming, illustrated by examples of how it is currently being operationalized in many contexts in different regions. FOSTERING SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY. A GUIDANCE NOTE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The primary author of this Guidance Note is Sarah Lister, Democratic Governance Advisor at the Oslo Go- vernance Centre, UNDP. The first draft of this Guidance Note was presented at the Global Meeting on Voice and Accountability in Bogota in December 2008, which brough