Citizens Fighting Corruption: Roles and Challenges for Civic Media

By: Vinay BhargavaChief Technical Adviser, PTF

At MIT Media Lab17th May 2012

My focus today is -

How , many of the World’s poorest billion are being deprived of delivery of public services due to corruption and poor

governance?

Why and How Citizens Are Fighting Such Corruption?

How the civic media is helping, and can further help, the Bottom Billion of citizens in this fight?

Let us start with.. -

How many of the World’s poorest billion are being deprived of delivery of public services due to corruption

and poor governance?

Many of the World’s Bottom Billion Often Victimized Twice

30-60% Of subsidized food grains destined for

poor in India never reach them.

CHEATED in social safety net.

BYPASSED in economic development

47%Households in Cambodia reported

paying a bribe in 2009

True Story: The Khariar Block in India

HOW SERIOUS IS THE PROBLEM?

HUGE.

More than a billion people live on $1.25 or less a day of which about 400 million in India alone

Problem attracting attention of brilliant minds…

..and me! .

In this context let me talk about.. -

Why is it important to help Citizens to Fight Corruption ?

In a perfect world the long route of accountability will work …

Independent Accountability

Institutions Politicians /

Policymakers

State

Citizens/ClientsService

Providers/AgenciesIndividuals

Social Intermediaries

Long

Route

Services delivered effectively

Accountability Relationship = Citizen to state to service provider

Source : Transparency International

But the world is not perfect and the bottom billion can not depend on the long route…

Institutional Corruption

Of the type postulated

by Prof Lessig

Undermining the long route and faith in institutions

involved .

That is why direct citizen action to demand accountability and fight corruption are needed.

Independent Accountability

Institutions Politicians /

Policymakers

State

Citizens/ClientsService

Providers/AgenciesIndividuals

Social Intermediaries

Long

Route

Short Route of Client Power

Accountability Relationships: Clients hold service providers accountable by direct action as well as by pressuring state using social accountability

strategies and tools.

Social Accountability defined[the short route]

• Beneficiary and civil society engage..

• in monitoring and assessing government performance,

• providing feedback on,

• and voicing demands for, improved service delivery.

The Short Route is not a substitute for the long route but necessary complement due

to its shortcomings as exemplified by..

INSTIUTIONAL CORRUPTION

But…. -

Can Citizens Fight Corruption ?Yes they can and they are.

Here is how.

Help Arrives in Khariar to help citizens fight corruption.

• About Partnership for Transparency Fund (www.PTFund.org ): – An international NGO – Vision: Citizens succeed in making their government free of corruption– Provides advice and small grants to CSOs – Supports innovation, peer learning and knowledge sharing– Run by a group of highly experienced volunteers

MISSION: TO EMPOWER THE POWERLESS so that they can participate in the mainstream of development process on equal footing.

Mission Road,Khariar- District: Nuapada State: ODISHA

• PTF provides a grant to Ayauskam to help Khariar citizens fight corruption

Where PTF Operates. PTF has made some 200 grants to CSOs in 44 countries

Ayauskam Helps the Poor in Khariar to Fight Corruption Using the Short Route.

Note: The photos are not all from Khariar. They are meant to illustrate the tools /strategies used by Ayauskam.

Raising Awareness of citizens rights and entitlements

Khariar citizens score victories in the fight against corruption

• Chanda gets pension and subsidized food

• Land was demarcated for the landless

• Officials in the ‘pond scam’ were suspended or lost job.

• Officials recognize community strength and are more responsive.

• Negative Outcome: Paharia’s husband was forced to withdraw complaint.

KHARIAR-Five leading members of Citizens Against Corruption Forum

2.Form and empower citizen groups to engage/organize collective action

3. Citizen groups monitor performance and share information to create pressure for

better results

4. Citizen groups constructively engage with service providers to demand increased

responsiveness

5. Citizen groups periodically monitor changes and provide

feedback to community and authorities

1. Raise Community awareness of their rights and benefits

CSOs act as social

intermediary at all stages

and play a key role.

Citizens Fighting Corruption in Service Delivery The Emerging Change Model

How scalable and replicable is the Khariar social accountability model for

fighting corruption ?

Research is going on…

Replicability and scalability is a huge challenge but civic media can help.

Now the moment you all have been waiting for…

-

How the civic media is helping, and can further help,

the brave citizens in this fight?

Forming and empowering citizen

groups to engage/organize collective action

Helping Citizen groups monitor performance and share information

to press for better results

Helping Citizen groups to constructively engage with

service providers to demand increased responsiveness

Enabling Citizen groups to periodically monitor changes and provide

feedback to community and authorities

Raising Community awareness of their rights and benefits

Integrated Solution that does all of this

What is needed….

Scale of challenge

In India alone:

• Over 6500 blocks like Khariar in India with..

• 40 million Below Poverty Line households..

• Are challenged to access social safety benefits over $10 billion annually.

• Free of corruption Globally

Over $100 billion in pro-poor development aid

Citizens Against Corruption (social accountability) Programs seek to:

• Raise individual and community awareness

• Enable and Empower Groups• Monitor service performance • Share information • Engage with authorities• Provide feedback • Redress Grievances• Take collective action

My understanding of Civic Media tools and systems is that they enable

communities to:

• Collect and share information• Understand their needs and

strengths • Connect information to action

• Amplify voices • Connect with new audiences

• Visualize data • Share content

Made for Each Other?

Following applications of Civic media tools for social accountability already creating a Buzz….

• Ipaidabribe.com : raising awareness about corruption by harnessing energy of citizens

• Citizen complaint resolution www.Kiirti.org

• Community empowerment in Senegal www.rapidsms.org/case-studies/senegal-the-jokko-initiative

• Reproductive health information dissemination http://www.frontlinesms.com/frontlinesms-in-action/case-studies/

• www.Checkmyschool.org : maps public education services in the Philippines.

• Tools for citizen reporting and data mapping www.ushahidi.com

Incomplete Mapping of tools to social accountability needs

Civic Media Tool

Raise Awareness

Form Groups

CitizensReport/

mapping

Enable Collective

Action

Redress grievances

Ushahidi X XFrontlineSMS X XRapid SMS X XEpisurveyor X

SeeClickFix X

Ipaidabribe X XKiirti.org X XVoIP Drupal X X

Vojo.co X X

SA Needs

Potential Impact • World wide interest in social accountability program that make a positive

impact on lives of the Bottom Billion.

• Client group for Civic Media Apps for Social Accountability is large and global: CSOs, Communities, Media, and Service providers

• PTF ready to provide a good testing ground through its: • Network of CSOs in several countries• Ongoing program with potential to scale up• Development experts (PTF volunteers)

Press Release , WASHINGTON, April 19, 2012 . The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved in principle the creation of a Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA). The GPSA is a new mechanism to scale up and support social accountability by beneficiary groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) in developing countries.

CIVIC MEDIA APPLICATIONS WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEED TO BE :

HORIZONTALLY SCALABLE ( BLOCKS/SCHEMES)

VERTICALLY SCALABLE (VILLAGE/BLOCK/DISTRICT/STATE/NATION)

USER FRIENDLY (E.G. LANGUAGE AND EASY TO USE )

REPLICABLE (BY NGOS/CITIZEN GROUPS)

INEXPENSIVE

CELL PHONE BASED

WEB BASED

Thank you.

29

NOT CONCLUSIVE BUT PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE TO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Empowering beneficiaries to demand good governance (social accountability) in service delivery has a better chance to produce

good results when one or more of the following enabling conditions exist or can be ensured during implementation

Public access to information

Reasonable amount of

media freedom

Space for civil

society to operate

and CSO/CBO capacity

Notional acceptance by

service provider of

accountability to citizens /

beneficiaries

Receptivity to citizen

participation

And the answer is ….

Source: PTF

Grievance Redress System: Kiirti.org

Mobile tools and ICT-enabled apps to promote transparency and civic engagement

• The World Bank - Open Development Technology Alliance supports use of following tools to enhance accountability and improve the delivery and quality of public services through technology-enabled citizen engagement (http://www.opendta.org/Pages/Tools.aspx).

– EpiSurveyor: Affordable mobile data collection.– Citivox: Turn citizen reports into actionable information.– FrontlineSMS two-way SMS messaging system that enables direct communication

between large groups and a central database.– SeeClickFix strengthens citizen feedback loops regarding the performance of local

governments and maintenance of public assets.– Ushahidi a citizen feedback platform

• MIT Media Lab: Center for Civic Media (http://www.media.mit.edu/research/groups/civic-media )– VOIP Drupal: voice and Internet-telephony – Vojo.co : mobile blogging to share content to the web from any phone– Datatherapy: build capacity of community coalitions for data visualization and

presentation.