This report presents the findings, conclusions and recommendations of an independent evaluation conducted of the PBS I Social Accountability Program which was piloted across Ethiopia between January 2008 and June 2009 following comprehensive knowledge sharing and planning. The evidence gathered from selected woredas, towns and cities where the social accountability program was implemented, show how the activities, facilitated by civil society organizations (CSOs) in cooperation with citizen groups and local government officials, introduced selected tools such as Community Score Cards, Citizens Report Cards and Participatory Budgeting for assessing (a) access and quality of basic services and (b) effectiveness and efficiency of the use of public resources. The Government of Ethiopia recognizes that the program has enhanced the knowledge and understanding of relevant stakeholders regarding social accountability tools, mechanisms, approaches and best practices.

Based on their findings, the evaluators have also concluded that the social accountability activities have enhanced the quality of basic services where they were applied. Their basic premise is that the interface meetings between the service providers and service users that reviewed the status of specific services resulted in joint actions for service quality improvements. They further argue that interface meetings, seen as breakthrough platforms by citizens and service users, resulted in increased citizens’ awareness of their rights, entitlements and responsibilities as well as enhanced understanding among service providers of their accountability to citizens/service users.

However, the positive results of the Pilot Social Accountability Program did not take place in a vacuum: it’s my belief that the program would not have materialized without the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment and wider activities to enhance governance and accountability in the context of devolution and empowerment. These activities created an enabling environment for social accountability.

The evaluators had a challenge attributing the positive results to the exact interventions, with GOE governance reforms, including the public sector capacity building program, civil service reform and democratic institutions program, taking place in parallel with the PBS I social accountability activities. An important lesson to take away for the next phase of the PBS social accountability program, which will be rolled out in the first part of 2011, is therefore the need for a strong M&E component so we can more easily learn what type of accountability measures are effective in our country.

I hope the findings of the evaluation will serve as an inspiration to practitioners and policy-makers interested in effective and accountable service delivery.

Mekonnen Manyazewal
Former State Minister of Finance and Economic Development (now Minister of Industries)
Chairman of the PBS Social Accountability Steering Committee (2006-2010)