The program strengthens citizen participation, accountability, and transparency in local governance to improve the quality of public service delivery. To achieve this, our interventions focus on social accountability, participatory planning and budgeting, public service monitoring, and multi-stakeholder engagement for responsive and inclusive service delivery. For example our Participatory Action Research (PAR) model, which empowers communities to study local challenges, generate evidence, and engage communities, stakeholders and leaders to act on the identified and prioritised community gaps in service delivery.
Projects Under Democracy and Good Governance
1) Participatory Action Research Initiative (PAR)
The PAR initiative aims at demonstrating citizen agency and government responsiveness to build trust through empowering communities to identify local issues, co-create solutions and engage in evidence-based dialogue to hold duty bearers accountable. The project is implemented in five sub counties and one town council specifically; Bufunjo, Kanyegaramire, Nyabuharwa, Nyantungo, Bugaaki sub counties and Rugombe Town Council.
Selected community members are trained as Change Agents to facilitate a process of identifying service delivery gaps, gather community feedback, and guide local action. Working closely with Citizens’ Follow-Up Committees, local governments, and other stakeholders, these change agents mobilize neighbors, monitor services, and present petitions, fostering collaboration and joint problem-solving.
Using Participatory Action Research (PAR) tools, communities generate evidence that informs local authorities and strengthens advocacy through platforms such as barazas at sub-county and district levels. Through these efforts, communities have collaboratively improved over 170 kilometers of feeder roads, expanded school infrastructure with parents contributing classroom blocks, and acquired land for public health development projects. Local governments have also responded by integrating health center construction into their budgets, demonstrating how citizen-led initiatives drive accountable change and influence policy decisions.