In this series of presentations Dr. Sita Sekhar of the Public Affairs Foundation provides a comprehensive overview of the Citizen Report Card (CRC), a social accountability tool for systematically gathering user feedback on experiences with public services and advocating for improvements.  She provides in-depth instruction on assessing the applicability of a CRC, designing and implementing a CRC, and using a CRC for advocacy and policy reform.

Materials are available in both French and English.

Without thoughtful and implementable recommendations grounded in evidence, even the best studies can end up stuck on a shelf.  In this presentation Lineth Oyugi, of the Federation of Kenya Employers, presents a case study from her experience in Kenya, that contains strategies for forming clear, practical recommendations based on study findings.

In this series of presentations Delius Asiimwe of the Kabano Research And Development Centre, Dr.Harouna Wassongma of Consortium pour la recherche économique et sociale (CRES), and Dr. Seni Kouanda of Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), discuss the steps involved in implementing a QSDS, including planning data collection, desiging surveys, and managing and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data.

In this series of presentations Zerubabel Ojoo, of Management Systems and Economic Consultants, Ltd, and Lineth Oyugi, of the Federation of Kenya Employers, discuss technical steps and considerations for implementing a Public Expenditure Tracking Survey, including translating research questions to survey questions, deciding who to survey, mapping resource flows, and cleaning and analyzing data.

A critical component of conducting a survey is sampling.  In this series of presentations Dr. Khangelani Zuma, Research Director and Head of Biostatistics at the Human Sciences Research Council, and Dr. Seni Kouanda of Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), discuss various sampling strategies and methods for designing a valid sample for small scale research studies.

In this presentation John Mugo, of Uwezo East Africa, discusses the Household-based assessment of basic literacy and numeracy skills of children ages 6-16 in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda undertaken by Uwezo.  He discusses details of the assessment, such as the sampling frame, how the assessment was created and implemented, and how it can be used to bring about change.

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) and Quantitative Service Delivery Surveys (QSDS) are two diagnostic tools used to identify inefficiencies in public service delivery.  PETS trace the flow of public resources (funds, human and in-kind) from original to the destination and determine the location and scale of anomaly, and QSDS survey the efficiency of service provision.  In this presentation Delius Asiimwe, of the Kabano Research and Development Centre, discusses both methodologies, including similarities and differences between the two, the types of questions each can answ

Effective and efficient procurement systems are essential to efficient service delivery.  Monitoring procurement can be an effective social accountability tool and can be effectively carried out by Civil Society Organizations.  This presentation, by Kofi Asare of Action for Rural Education – Ghana, discusses his experiencing monitoring the capitation grant as well as textbook distribution in Ghana.

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process where community members get the chance to directly determine how best to spend a part of the public budget.  Participatory Budgeting involves citizens directly in making decisions about budget issues, either on a small scale at the service or neighborhood level or on a more strategic level at a city or state level.  In this presentation Mukunda Julius of the Forum for Women in Democracy discusses his work with Participatory Budgeting, as well as what it can and cannot achieve and requirements for implementation.

In 2009 a coalition of Civil Society Organizations in 5 African countries, including Uganda, joined in a campaign to stop stock-outs of essential medicines in public health facilities.   Through a variety of activities, including strategic partnerships, monitoring of medicines, press conferences, public rallies, radio talk shows, and using SMS messaging to conduct pill checks, they have already made significant strides in getting the issue on public agendas and creating monitoring systems.  In this presentation Denis Kibira, of the Coalition for Health Promotion and Social De