Forum Syd organises a Stakeholders's Social Accountability workshop in Dar

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   Mr Godfrey Wawa, the Forum Syd Tanzania country Manager
   By Nasser Kigwangallah
   FORUM SYD, in colaaboration with Policy Forum and MS-TCDC has launched a three year social accountability programme aimed at making an informed decision on which interventions to apply and how they should be prioritised.
   Speaking to journalists on the side line iof a one day Stakeholders' Social and Accountability Workshop held in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Godfrey Wawa, the Forum Syd country mamanger for Tanzania said they commissioned a baseline study in the districts in which the programme operates.
   He said the report focuses on the three pre-selected districts within the target regions and provides recommendations on appropriate interventions and benchmarks against which future progress can be measured and evaluated. 
   The report of a very innovative social accountability benchmarking process can be read not only for the input it makes into a developing programme but for lessons of replicability by agencies in other countries across Africa.
   "For a successful delivery of the programme,  it is important for Forum Syd to understand that they are entering districts where community members have low trust in their service providers, private sector companies and CSOs with regards to social accountability.," he said.
   He continued to say that a program that deals with accountability issues should have a carefully planned entry process.  In order to avoid continued dissatisfaction with the delivery of social accountability it is important to win the public’s confidence, emphasis should be placed on community sensitisation with the aim of changing peoples’ attitudes and perception to stakeholders. 
   After three years there should also be a planned exit strategy to enable sustainability of social accountability in the districts and avoid jeopardising the publics’ trust He called on Local Government Authorities, private sector and CSOs to work towards creating an enabling environment in which the communities contribute to public policies and plans. 
   According to him, this secures buy in from the people that will be affected by the decisions. This can be done through strengthening the capacities of CSOs and communities to increase transparency in the intervention.
   He added that another alternative can be through CSOs or community representatives attending working groups or stakeholder forums where public policy issues are debated.
   Forum Syd should secure buy in from all stakeholders to support the process in order to give the Program legitimacy. 
   This should be done through signing Memorandums of Understanding with Local Government Authorities and CSOs.
   Communities should be trained to become responsive local governance actors as active engagement is crucial for there to be a well functioning social accountability process.
   It is recommended that the social accountability mechanisms are used in the capacity building of communities, enabling members to understand their purpose and how best to use them. 
   To further enhance the communities’ currently weak understanding of how the CSOs’ can contribute to social accountability it is recommended for communities to be trained in the meaning of accountability. 
   Meanwhile, CSOs should receive training to strengthen their understanding on how best to work with accountability and receive guidance on how to best position themselves as valuable stakeholders. Social accountability should be mainstreamed in areas of interventions.
   As social accountability depends on active engagement from the communities it is important to drive behavioural change. It is therefore recommended that youth and as the next generation of voters, should be educated of their rights and obligations. Educating them will indirectly influence their families and by doing so reach a greater number of beneficiaries.
   Ccommunity participation numbers are important as benchmarks against which future participation can be measured. In a democratic process one should always strive for full and meaningful participation, which is not manageable or realistic in a three year period. 
   The number of participants should however increase on an annual basis as a result of social accountability interventions.