Does bottom-up monitoring improve public services? What we found in Uganda
By Bjorn Van Campenhout & Caroline Miehe - The Conversation LISTEN
FEB 4, 2021
Public participation has been found to increase voluntary cash contributions for the construction of schools in Ugandan sub-counties. - Source: Photo by: Wayne Hutchinson/Farm Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
In many developing countries, poor delivery of public services remains an important problem. Public infrastructure, such as roads or boreholes for drinking water, is poor. The quality of service provided in hospitals or schools is low. Absenteeism and corruption are endemic.
Uganda is a case in point: its public service sector suffers from high levels of elite capture , ineffective monitoring and weak accountability. In response to this, the government of Uganda, under the stewardship of the Office of the Prime Minister, initiated community based monitoring and accountability meetings popularly known a