Helping citizens in developing countries lobby their governments for improved accountability and performance is at the cutting edge of international development. Since the establishment of dedicated multi-country donor facilities in 2012, social accountability, such as social audits, community scorecards and participatory budgeting, has moved from the periphery to mainstream practice. A macro-evaluation commissioned by the UK’s Department for International Development, found that there was now “compelling” evidence that social accountability “almost always” impacted service delivery.
Social accountability was initiated by donors and NGOs more than two decades ago to help the poor in developing countries get greater accountability from governments between elections.2 It has now expanded across many areas of development practice including water and sanitation, livelihoods, child protection and gender. It is also being used in urban contexts and with the private sector, including the extractive industries. Moreover, there is promise, through early findings, that social accountability can influence the legitimacy of state actors in fragile states and contexts.