Policy Forum (PF) network is looking forward to framing its future efforts on Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) based on the lessons learned in the previous years of implementation in Tanzania.
Speaking in his opening speech to participants from Coastal and Southern Tanzania attending a two day Zonal learning session that has started today on the 20th September, 2017 in Morogoro, PF’s Coordinator Semkae Kilonzo said that the meeting was an opportunity to reflect and share lessons and experiences emerging from the implementation of Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) and other accountability work in coastal and southern Tanzania.
Further, Kilonzo elaborated that the meeting would also complement the ongoing country capacity enhancement efforts towards social accountability practitioners using the shared experience at the ground level to inform engagements related to policy processes at the national level.
“Our new strategic plan intensely focuses on monitoring evaluation and learning (MEL) to capture the dynamics, causal mechanisms, reasons underlying and positive or negative changes, tacit knowledge and the contexts or operating environment in which SAM can be most impactful and to share these lessons with practitioners in the country and beyond,” he said.
Kilonzo noted that Policy Forum has planned to conduct two zonal reflection meetings in 2017, which among other things would focus on capturing and reflecting on the most important lessons as far as the social accountability monitoring practice in the country is concerned for the purpose of using them to advance their work.
He mentioned the objectives of the meeting among others as: The documentation of the lesson learned, challenges as well as results of the previous SAM exercises; to promote organizational learning by engaging with the civil society in policy and budget advocacy issues.
Others were to have insights of what worked and what did not work as far as social accountability and other advocacy initiatives were concerned.
For her part, the Programme Officer at the Embassy of Switzerland Jacquiline Gatera Ngoma commended Policy Forum’s efforts in convening and enhancing the very-much needed learning around SAM.
“we understand the various challenges that face our planning, budgeting and execution processes and we commend Policy Forum to have spearheaded SAM trainings and implementation in Tanzania," She further added that:
“CSOs are a bridge between the government and citizens and they need to really work out that bridging function for mutual benefits." But to achieve this, she urged the government to recognize CSOs (especially those engaged in social accountability initiatives) as partners in development and give them full cooperation.
By Daniel Semberya