WORLD BANK – USAID Strategic Partnership for Transparency, Social Accountability and Governance Reform in the Dominican Republic

Context & Objectives Increased focus on transparency and results, has led to a number of Bank supported reforms in DR such as: Publication of “citizen” budget Performance based budgeting and programming in certain sectors (HD) Municipal level participatory budgeting by law Access to information policies Citizen evaluation of safety net programs…. USAID has a long-term involvement in supporting Dominican Civil Society and World Bank had several CSO pilots Joint recognition of (a) fractured and divergent approaches to CSOs among donors leading to dispersed efforts and (b) need to reach out to grass roots community groups Objective : to empower civil society to take advantage of this increase in information and to form coalitions for reform via partnership with USAID

…a new enabling environment Joining Efforts in… WORLD BANK GOVERNANCE AND ANTICORRUPTION STRATEGY WITH THE GOVERNMENT USAID GOVERNANCE PROGRAM WITH CIVIL SOCIETY GOVERNMENT EFFORTS IN INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CIVIL SOCIETY DEMAND TO SCALE UP SOCIAL AUDIT OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND EXPENDITURES …a new enabling environment

Expected outcomes Better understanding of the internal incentives for civil society to advocate for services/reforms/governance; More effective, coordinated and targeted capacity support to CSOs among donor partners; For specific areas of reform, creation of group of trainers in social accountability techniques (social audit) to assure sustainability of the program beyond its lifetime; 300+ CSOs staff to be equipped with the skills to audit municipal development plans and central government delivery of social services; Via pilots supported with a governance small grant scheme, greater confidence among CSOs that engagement in accountability can lead to tangible improvements in services or budgets;

WORLD BANK – USAID Strategic Partnership for Transparency, Social Accountability and Governance Reform in the Dominican Republic