在复杂治理系统中扩大合作社会责任：证明可持续性的关系方法

A Rltionl Approch for EvidncinSustinbilit Flornci Gurovich nd Alix WdsonJANUARY 2024Public Disclosure Authorized Abstract When social accountability interventions scale up and their sustainability depends on theinteractions of many agents and system components, related results are rarely observable atthe end of an intervention. The 2019 OECD Development Assistance Committee’s (OECD DAC)revamped evaluations criteria for assessing sustainability acknowledges that such results areoften emergent, and should be monitored and evaluated with this in mind. It therefore emphasizesa turn towards assessing complex processes prospectively. It also asks evaluations to considerhow likely it is that these results are evident at the time they are monitored or evaluated. However,the social accountability field continues to have gaps regarding doing this effectively in practice. This paper presents and provides evidence from testing an innovative operational approach thathas promising potential to support this aim - a sequential, relational rubric. This approach cansupport practitioners to monitor, evaluate and learn about the causal processes of scale up ofsocial accountability interventions with an eye towards sustainability i.e., considering prospectivesustainability. It is grounded in systems thinking, co-production and social learning theory, as wellas links with collective governance and social contract theory for development. Evidence yielded from the authors’ testing of this approach on a sample of diverse projects fromthe Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) program revealed that the alleged ‘absenceof evidence’ dilemma of social accountability scale up is due to ill-fitting concepts and methods forassessment. It challenges existing assumptions and findings that claim that social accountabilityprocesses do not scale and are unsustainable. The authors propose that by using fit-for-purposeconcepts and methods with a focus on social learning and compromise – also called a ‘resonancepathway to scale’ which this paper discusses in detail – it is possible to observe loosely coordinatedscale up processes at work in many (but not all) social accountability interventions and identifytangible evidence of prospective sustainability. An important caveat is that these processes, theoutcomes they generate, and the corresponding evidence often look qualitatively different thanthe original intervention design and predictions for scale-up at that point in time. This is becausethe process of deliberation and compromise inherent to social accountability work in dynamiclocal systems introduces changes and new conditions for uptake by diverse actors in the publicsector, civil society, and donor institutions. The paper concludes that even relatively small-scale localized projects of three to five yearswith budgets of less than one million USD, across different contexts and sectors can produceprocesses and outcomes which contribute to many forms of sustainability, including via scale-up. Furthermore, the cross-fertilization of learning and aggregation of results for scale-up acrossprojects within and beyond the GPSA (and other programs) can help monitoring evaluation andlearning (MEL) and social accountability practitioners alike to deliver on a program’s mandate.Doing so can also create new knowledge for the wider social accountability field that siloedinterventions, lacking suitable concepts and methods for assessing scale-up and prospectivesustainability, often fail to produce. The paper ends with recommendations for taking forwardthis approach and the associated benefits, implications and required investments. Acknowledgments This paper represents a culmination of evolving learning, evidence, research and practicalexperience from the authors and the wider field of social accountability. A key source of findings andevidence base for the paper is from our respective work with the World Bank’s GPSA programmingover the past decade, in partnership with civil society, the public sector, communities and citizensaround the world. This paper reflects the contributions of numerous stakeholders engaged with theGPSA, especially Jeff Thindwa, Ann-Sofie Jespersen, and Aly Zulficar Rahim. We greatly appreciatethe valuable feedback and time provided by peer reviewers Mathieu Cloutier and Tom Aston. Wealso acknowledge the work of other social accountability practitioners, researchers and evaluatorsfor their contributions to social accountability work and evidence building for the wider field. Thispaper builds upon the existing evidence base to support improvements and offers insights abouthow social accountability programming can be strengthened, sustained and scaled. Copy Editor: Amber MeikleDesigner: Mohamed ElmahdyCover Image: © Curt Carnemark / World Bank. Further permission required for reuse Suggested Citation Guerzovich, Florencia and Wadeson, Alix. 2024. Scaling up Social Accountability in Complex Gover