Project profile

The "Supporting Meaningful Civic Engagement for Improved Accountability by Leveraging Digital Technologies" project (Ref. ISAF-II)

The social accountability framework aims to empower citizens, strengthen partnerships between sub-national administrations (SNAs) and citizens, and leverage enhanced accountability of SNAs to improve local service delivery. The program was introduced as a platform for coordinated action by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGoC) and Civil Society Organizations’ to operationalize the Strategic Plan on Social Accountability for Sub-National Democratic Development adopted on July 2013. The Strategic Plan and ISAF are important elements of the RGoC’s broader democratic development agenda, as implemented through the second (2015-2017) and third (2018-2020)  3-Year Implementation Plans (IP3).

The ISAF Phase II Implementation Plan (2019 to 2023) has been prepared through a consultative process with government and civil society. The goal of ISAF Phase II is to establish permanent systems, within both government and civil society, to ensure that this annual cycle of social accountability activities can be sustained in the long term.  

CARE, in partnership with API and InSTEDD, has received a grant from the European Union the contribute to the Implementation of Social Accountability Framework Phase II: “Supporting meaningful civic engagement for improved accountability by leveraging digital technologies”.

Objective

To develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels and ensure public access to information and fundamental freedoms.

Key activities

Project activities include:

 Develop digitized youth-friendly Information for Citizens (I4C) packs

• Prepare and update simplified audio visual budget information, disseminate digitized youth friendly I4C packs and CAF’s conduct outreach activities to raise citizen awareness

• Select local NGO’s and conduct tailor-made capacity-building in financial management

• Train local NGO’s in access to information, community-led monitoring and selection and capacity development of CAFs and local government and service providers on youth engagement, youth and women-friendly services and capacity self-assessment

• Develop a “digitized community score card (CSC)” including feedback collection mechanism, and dashboard for progress analysis and monitoring

• Train local NGO’s and CAF’s in digital storytelling and support community members in digital storytelling

• Facilitate citizen monitoring of services using digitized CSCs and hold targeted CSC/capacity self-assessment dialogues with youth and service providers

• Support the production and dissemination of inclusive Joint Accountability Action Plans (JAAPs) and form JAAP monitoring committees with quotas for youth, women and ethnic minorities.