Governance and Economic Growth: Focus Areas
Information for Accountability and Transparency
As governments decentralize services, the relevant model of accountability shifts from one based on bureaucratic supervision to one based on "voice" derived from citizen input and pressure. Governments need transparent systems that inform citizens about the quality of services and that gather input about service delivery, pricing, and other concerns. RTI helps local, provincial, and national governments develop and use information for accountability (IFA) systems and tools to
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Understand client preferences across services
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Identify specific improvement priorities within individual services
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Communicate to clients how their preferences and priorities are being addressed
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Determine whether and how to more closely link funding of service providers and subnational governments to performance.
RTI projects with an IFA emphasis include the open publication of school and local government budgets in Indonesia, the use of the Internet to disseminate school performance information in South Africa, and client satisfaction and priorities surveys for water utilities, solid waste and sanitation, schools, and community health centers in Indonesia.
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