This document presents a set of principles and general guidelines for designing and monitoring social accountability processes, paying particular attention to the importance of context-specific Theories of Change (and therefore of context analysis). The information gathered here mostly derives from real day-to-day experiences confronted in programming in the SONAP region, mirrored by learning from other relevant and recent large-scale programmes. It derived from a learning journey on social accountability in the SONAP region, led by the Regional Governance Advisor with support from the collaboration between IDS and the SDC Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance Network (DDLGN) with colleagues and partners working in the SDC Governance domains in Tanzania and Mozambique. The findings of this process are set out in the learning journey report (Shankland et al. 2018).
This document is divided into six sections. Following this introduction, Section Two presents an overview of key concepts which underpin the assumptions behind social accountability programming. Section Three summarises key elements and principles for designing a social accountability strategy, while Section Four focuses on questions and elements to consider when conducting contextual analysis. Section Five goes on to review how context analysis can be used to inform the development of Theories of Change, Theories of Action, and the choice of tools for social accountability interventions. The final section provides guidance and indicates some practical tools for monitoring and measuring results.
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