People-led policies: Join the e-discussion on participatory monitoring and accountability

A 4-week long e-discussion on “Participatory Monitoring and Accountability” will be held from 14 April-12 May 2014 through the worldwewant2015.org platform.

Over the last two years the UN system – in partnership with governments and civil society – has been working towards the inclusion of millions of people in crafting the next development agenda.

The stakes are high and the mandate is daunting: how can we work together – from the community level all the way up to the international stage – to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the world of today and of the future: ending extreme poverty … ensuring that women enjoy the same rights as men ... making sure children don’t die of preventable diseases … combating the negative effects of climate change?

People-led, transparent and inclusive processes for monitoring progress on the new development goals will be essential to achieving these goals. There is an intrinsic value to people being empowered and claiming their space to be heard. This is especially critical for people who often face daily shame, humiliation and discrimination because of their gender, age or place of residence or because of their economic, disability, ethnic, minority, sexual orientation or other status.

People need to be included in development planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. At its core, participatory monitoring should be about inclusive and transparent practices used to monitor the effectiveness and usefulness of local, regional, national or international policies, thus providing the evidence to improve upon said policies. Participatory monitoring is about people working together in an organized way, identifying and tracking the priority issues that affect their own communities, so that barriers to progress can be addressed and solved, with support as necessary from public sector and other accountable institutions.

The e-discussion will ask visitors to share experiences and examples, participate in discussions, react to proposals and otherwise engage on this important issue. The results will serve to inform the forthcoming post-2015 processes and decision-making bodies. These proposals and examples of national, regional and global accountability mechanisms identified will also serve as input to the intergovernmental discussions on the design of the post-2015 accountability framework, including at the High-Level Political Forum and the Development Cooperation Forum. 

Prepared on behalf of the UN Development Group, the e-discussion is co-convened by UNICEF, UN Women and UNDP, with support from the Governments of Canada, Republic of Korea and Peru.

Additionally, a public call for case studies consisting of new or existing research was made between 7 April and 21 April 2014, 10 of which will be selected on 25 April, with the interim reports due on 13 June and final papers due on 15 August.