Supporting Domestic Accountability in Africa

The SNV Regional Office for East and Southern Africa is proud to present the Supporting Domestic Accountability Practice Brief. The first in a new series prepared by practitioners working with the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, the Practice Brief aims to shed some light on what support organisations can do to amplify the voice of local stakeholders in demanding greater accountability from governments and service providers.

The Brief is based on 21 case studies documented by the Domestic Accountability Partnership, a joint programme of the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation and SNV implemented in Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Benin. The cases show that approaching domestic accountability from the bottom up entails working on an wide range of issues: from supporting local communities to get a non-functional cattle dip working again, to negotiating with traditional leaders, or finding innovative ways to fund small-scale business enterprises.
From an immediate focus on achieving practical results, there is a gradual expansion of the democratic space as local communities become more confident about asking critical questions and demanding better governance - first from local leaders, and then from higher-level institutions as well.