Bottom-up Accountability in Uganda: Learning from People-centered, Multi-level Health Advocacy Campaigns
A new working paper explores lessons from Accountability Can Transform Health (ACT Health), a participatory health governance program in Uganda from 2014 to 2018. The paper—Bottom-Up Accountability in Uganda: Learning from People-centered, Multi-level Health Advocacy Campaigns—by Angela Bailey (@participangela) and Vincent Mujune (@VincentMujune) includes a preface by Prima Kazoora of HEPS-Uganda (@hepsuganda). The paper offers some insights into a randomized control trial (RCT) evaluation of the first phase of the ACT Health intervention that combined citizen report cards and CSO-facilitated dialogues between health workers and community members. ACT Health launched a second phase of the initiative (after the RCT), supporting multi-level, people-centered advocacy campaigns. Phase 2 of the ACT Health program was guided by a principle of people-centered advocacy, using this operational definition: “People-centered advocacy is a systematic process owned and led by those affected by an issue using evidence to influence people with power at different levels to make sustainable change in practices, policies, laws, programs, services, social norms and values for the betterment of those affected by the issues.” In Phase 2, almost 400 community advocates organized within districts to collaborate on advocacy campaigns. In 14 of 18 districts, networks of community advocates focused advocacy campaigns on the complex, power-laden issue of health worker absenteeism. Building from district campaigns, the ACT Health program helped community advocates reach multiple audiences at the national level including Parliamentarians and the Inspectorate General of Government in Kampala with their demands for closing the loopholes that enable health worker absenteeism. The paper analyzes process monitoring and empirical data to understand outcomes—for community advocates and state responses emerging from cycles of direct engagement between citizens and the state to improve health services.
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Relatoría del Seminario Internacional de Participación Ciudadana y Fiscalización – América Latina
ControlaTuGobeirno (@ControlaTuGob) ha publicado Relatoría del Seminario Internacional de Participación Ciudadana en la Fiscalización. Entre el 2 y 4 de septiembre de 2020 se llevó a cabo el Seminario Internacional de Participación Ciudadana y Fiscalización. Este evento regional reunió a funcionarias y funcionarios de diferentes Entidades Fiscalizadoras Superiores de América Latina con integrantes de Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil. Es un gusto enorme presentarles la Relatoría del Seminario Internacional, la cual fue escrita por Marcos Mendiburu (@mmendi69), autor también del diagnóstico regional sobre participación ciudadana y fiscalización, especialista en transparencia, rendición de cuentas y gobierno abierto. Las memorias del seminario se retoman las aportaciones más importantes de las discusiones que tuvieron lugar durante el seminario, estos elementos son claves para nutrir la agenda de participación ciudadana en la región. Próximamente se publicará la versión en inglés, ¡mire este espacio! (English version forthcoming, please watch this space).
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[OPINION] Citizens vs bosses in the time of COVID-19 – The Philippines
In this February 3, 2021 Rappler piece [OPINION] Citizens vs bosses in the time of COVID-19, Francis Isaac (@KikoIsaacPH) and Joy Aceron (@joyaceron_ph) argue for a thorough accounting of the Philippine government's COVID-19 funds and for greater transparency in its dealings with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. The article further points out that the country's vaccine politics reveal a far bigger problem of Philippine society. The Duterte administration's insistence that citizens have no choice but to accept whatever vaccine is given to them smacks of 'bossism,' wherein elected leaders do not see their constituents as citizens with full rights and entitlements, but as mere underlings who are expected to do as they're told. Fortunately, several citizens' action are now being undertaken to push back against bossism and patronage politics, which should be recognized, advanced and supported.
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12 Months into the Global Pandemic: Collection of 775 reports from 95 Countries
At almost a year to the date that COVID-19 was declared an international pandemic, the Health Worker Protest Project has now received 775 reports of health worker protests and proposals from 95 countries -- curated on the dedicated Twitter handle @HealthWorkerPro. Health workers are having to resort to desperate measures to get their voices heard, including our first report from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where health workers are threatening a hunger strike over a long-delayed collective bargaining deal. In China, hundreds of health workers took to the streets in Henan to protest not having received their salaries for several months. They later faced police retaliation, with 20 health workers arrested for their participation in the protest. In Myanmar, health workers were some of the first to start the anti-coup protests in early February, with thousands of doctors and other health workers participating in acts of civil disobedience such as strikes and protest marches, wearing red ribbons and adopting the 'hunger games' 3 fingered salute to show their support of the anti-coup movement. While vaccines are now available in some countries, that number is very small, and health workers in the United States and Mexico have protested delays and policies surrounding vaccinations. Around the world health workers are still at great risk, both from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other protest movements they bravely support. Help make health worker voices heard by sending health worker protest and proposal reports to @HealthWorkerPro on Twitter and healthworkerprotest@gmail.com.
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Love and Accountability in the Time of Pandemic in The Philippines
On February 14-15, 2021 G-Watch held its 4th Ako Ikaw Tayo May Pananagutan with the theme ‘Love and Accountability in the Time of Pandemic.’ Attended by hundreds G-Watchers and partners, the simultaneous efforts by ten G-Watch sites served as a collective platform to call for Safe and Quality Vaccine for All and Demand Accountability in the COVID-19 Funds. Despite the challenges of a pandemic, G-Watchers all over the country conducted a wide variety of activities to advance these collective calls and to remind everyone of the importance of accountability, especially today when the country is facing a global crisis. Watch this space for a forthcoming G-Watch report on this event.
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Webinar on Politics of Primary Education in Bangladesh
ARC research professor Naomi Hossain did a brown bag lunch/webinar at the World Bank on the politics of the primary education stipends project in Bangladesh on February 11, 2021. The webinar was based on the December 2020 University of Manchester Effective States (ESID) working paper The politics of distributing social protection in Bangladesh: Insights from the Primary Education Stipends Project (Phase 3). The paper examines why and how Bangladesh’s primary school stipends scheme went universal in 2016, and what that has meant for whether and how citizens can hold public authorities accountable, and the possibility of grievance redress when provision fails.
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Accountability Keywords Launching in March 2021!
Key terms in the accountability field often have different meanings, to different actors, in different contexts – and in different languages. This project addresses “what counts” as accountability, analyzing the meanings and usage of both widely used and proposed “accountability keywords” – drawing on dialogue with dozens of scholars and practitioners around the world. The project includes both an extensive Accountability Working Paper (a work in progress by Jonathan Fox) and more than 30 invited posts that reflect on meanings and usage of relevant keywords in their own contexts and languages. Watch this space and ARC social media platforms in the coming weeks!
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