User-driven, innovative learning resources TOOLKIT
We have developed 4 online toolkits to help you create user-driven, innovative learning resources in new and emergent formats. While the concept building toolkit will help you create a concept from scratch, the other three toolkits will help you further develop your concept into a chatbot, immersive film or gamified experience.
Stakeholder participation for legitimate priority setting
This paper sets out a framework for ensuring legitimate priority setting in the health sector. The authors stress the point that fair, legitimate processes should reflect efforts of authorities to treat all stakeholders as moral equals in terms of providing all people with well-justified, reasonable reasons to endorse the decisions. They argue there is a special moral concern for being accountable to those who are potentially adversely affected by decisions. The paper operationalizes five key steps in doing so, in terms of (i) proactively identifying potentially adversely affected stakeholders; (ii) comprehensively including them in the decision-making process; (iii) ensuring meaningful participation; (iv) communication of recommendations or decisions; and (v) the organization of evaluation and appeal mechanisms.
The Story Behind the Story
Storytelling for advocacy is challenging, especially in transparency work. The Transparency and Accountability Initiative discovered that more than story tools and techniques, story processes – core activities of grantmaking, implementation, reporting and communications – enable or inhibit the creation of results stories. “The Story Behind the Story” explores the demands of story-making, which calls on organizations to seek and share information across gaps of power and distance, and through barriers of organizational habit and culture.
Fact Sheet: South African Local Government Budgeting and Planning
Municipalities are responsible for planning and budgeting at the local level. They are required by law to involve communities in these decisions. This fact sheet explains how these processes work. It will help you to participate in your community’s development and monitor the delivery of local government services. You can download the fact sheet here.
Making the Most of the Budget Cycle
This is a series looking at the budget cycle and how civil society can most effectively engage at each stage of it. These materials were developed by the International Budget Partnership, with the aim of helping civil society engage with key budget cycle processes: Budget Formation, Budget Approval, Budget Execution, and Budget Oversight.
eLearn-HealthCBM: An e-Resource for Accountability Practitioners in Health
This resource is for global practitioners of accountability in health, using the Community Based Monitoring (CBM) as a tool and strategy for accountability.
Open Development. Access to Information and the Sustainable Development Goals (published by Aritcle 19)
This report aims to provide understanding of RTI and its concrete implications on the daily life of citizens and the application of SDGs. It also aims to inform stakeholders on various experiences developed in this field, and the means at their disposal to exercise this right and advocate for its effective and measurable realization.
Improving the Role of Coalitions in Public Policy: Coalition Formation Lessons and Recommendations
This pamphlet provides key lessons of a year-long case study conducted on a coalition formed within the health care subsystem in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The aim is to provide other coalitions or those wanting to start coalitions with some recommendations based on the challenges and successes of the Eastern Cape Health Crisis Action Coalition (ECHCAC).
The study explored the conception and functionality of the ECHCAC and was able to assess the formation and structure of the coalition, the members’ beliefs that influence the performance of the coalition, and draw lessons for better achieving coalition outcomes. Some of the lessons include the importance of shared core and policy beliefs amongst members, and the shared strength in working as a collective.
Database of existing guides and tools for social accountability strategies
This document is intended to assist civil society organizations (CSOs); non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and government health program planners, managers and staff to identify and adapt existing guides and tools for effective social accountability strategies. This is part of a broader effort within the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) to promote civil society engagement in national health programs in countries where USAID supports health care development.
Toolkit for advancing Legislative Openness
The Open Government Partnership has released this Toolkit for Advancing Legislative Openness for use by government, civil society, and other actors in open government. This guide aims to enrich the efforts of parliaments and their civil society counterparts to engage in collaborative processes aimed at developing and implementing openness commitments, either as part of the OGP process or otherwise.
Litigation: Taking your Budget-based Advocacy to Court
This article provides insights into the considerations for strategic litigation, as well as providing detail of potential pitfalls of litigation, and eight tips for effective litigation. Click here to find out more about the risks, and the potential payoffs for civil society advocates and why the authors argue that the key is to be strategic in your strategic litigation.
South Africa: Annual Financial Statements
Click here to find the Annual Financial Statements for Metro’s, local and district municipalities across South Africa since the Financial Year 2002-2003. These include core spending and income review. They also include the notes to the annual financial statements which can sometimes allude to interesting events relevant to the finances of the municipality.
South African Budgets – draft and actually adopted
Click here to access a series of audited amounts for the previous three years across Metro’s, local and district municipalities, as well as the current year unaudited amounts, the budget for next year, and two further years of forecast.
South Africa: Audit Reports
Click here to access the AG reports for Metro’s, local and district municipalities since the financial year 2002-2003
South Africa: In-year management, monitoring and reporting oversight
Click here to access reports showing progress through the year and comparisons to budget and adjusted budget. These reports are available from the financial year 2006-2007.
South Africa: State of local finances
Click here for reports published by the SA National Treasury since 2011 on the State of local government finances and financial management. “The report reviews the state of municipal budgets and expenditure as well as municipal governance issues in order to obtain a balanced view of the state of municipal finances”.
South Africa: Municipal Finance Management Act Circular 71
This Circular describes key ratios and norms to help municipalities understand what state their finances should be in to be healthy. “This Circular aims to bring consistency in interpretation and application of certain financial information using standardised financial ratios. This Circular will also assist in municipalities being able to identify areas of financial management that need constant monitoring and improvement.”