Giving citizens a say in development

Keystone Accountability has been working hard to ensure that the voices of people most affected by aid are heard by the organizations that serve them. 

We have been busy with a variety of projects over the last quarter - this is just a selection. 

We have been working in Malawi on a project which is testing the approach of using social labs to solve development problems. This involves working very closely with local people to address the development issues that are most relevant to their communities. The project is an example of locally led development. We are still in the set up phase at the moment and have been getting buy in from local development actors and local government officials.

We have been supporting a big UK grantmaker to help them collect feedback from local organizations and people they support. We are helping them design a system to listen better to the people they seek to help and together achieve better outcomes. The project will work with people in Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda to understand and address the lack of agency, connectivity or resources that prevents them from sharing their knowledge, experiences and concerns. We will then provide the funder with a system to collect and act on feedback from the beneficiaries of their programs. 

We have been helping a large foundation listen better to the organizations that it funds. And helping it be more responsive to the needs and opinions of its grantees. 

We have also been collecting examples of good practice and sharing these on our website so all organizations can benefit from our tips and tricks about collecting and using feedback effectively. 

Links:

• Keystone Accountability's blog