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Community Media, Accountability and Policy Development

To The Media Development Network within The Communication Initiative network

...failure to significantly impact the country’s poverty reduction agenda ... active participation in informed policy debates and dialogue ... community radio listening and discussion groups ...

Nervious Siantombo, Panos Southern Africa Regional Programme Manager for Environment and Natural Resources Management on accountability, policy development, citizen participation and media. To respond, ask your questions and share your perspectives on this post below please either just reply by email or click the Read More link below to review the full contribution and comment online. This post can also be reviewed, rated and commented at this link.

In matters of policy and service delivery, citizen involvement makes duty bearers more accountable for their decisions and actions. This ensures that there is inclusivity and accountability in the processes, and that policies are responsive to citizens’ service needs and development aspirations. To do this, citizens must be empowered with the right information, skill and platforms for policy monitoring.

The livelihoods of the majority Zambians in peri-urban and rural communities rely on the agricultural sector. Numerous sources indicate that the sector absorbs approximately 85 percent of the country’s labour force as subsistence farmers.

Citizen Participation Key in Management of Public Funds

To: The Soul Beat Africa Democracy and Governance Network

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One of the fundamental tenets of good governance is active citizen participation in processes such as policy and development programme formulation and implementation.

Citizen involvement in governance ensures that the governed, especially those regarded as poor and marginalised in society, have access to adequate space to speak out and be heard in decision-making and implementation which would otherwise be highly centralised.

This creates a strong link between duty-bearers, service providers and citizens, thereby promoting effective, transparent and accountable use of public resources.

In Zambia, lack of transparency and accountability in the management of public resources, most of which are reflected in the Auditor General’s report and the national budget, has been cited for underdevelopment across social and economic sectors. Successive annual audits of public resources have continued to reveal glaring mismanagement of colossal sums of money resulting in poor service delivery to citizens.

Part of the reason this problem continues unabated lies in the fact that most of the targeted beneficiaries for all these public resources are least positioned to actively monitor the flow and utilisation of the resources, and ensuring that they are used for the intended purpose. A holistic approach that includes active involvement of citizens in implementing and monitoring of the use of public resources is therefore cardinal to ensure transparency and accountability, as well as improved service delivery.

Soul Beat Africa: Democracy and Governance Network