Webinar “Can citizen empowerment improve people’s lives? Evidence from the Transparency for Development program” – October 6th

OGP Webinar:

“Can citizen empowerment improve people’s lives? Evidence from the Transparency for Development program”

Tuesday, October 6^th, 2015

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. EST

Language: English

Speakers:

Nathaniel Heller
Managing Director – Results for Development Institute (R4D)

Courtney Tolmie
Senior Program Director – Results for Development Institute (R4D)

Sponsored by the OGP Support Unit and the World Bank

Description:

Much has been made of the potential of bottom-up accountability as a pathway to improve governance and development outcomes; however there is less consensus regarding what “bottom-up accountability” means, how to achieve it, and how effective it is in improving health, education, and other outcomes that affect people’s livelihoods.

The Transparency for Development program – led by Results for Development Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School – is a mixed-method multi-country design and evaluation program that is seeking to answer these questions. Working with civil society organizations in Tanzania and Indonesia, the program has designed a mechanism for engaging with and empowering citizens to hold service providers and local governments accountable for providing better health services, specifically in maternal and neonatal health. Using quantitative and qualitative evaluation approaches, including both ethnography and randomized control trials, the program is currently measuring the success and bottlenecks of achieving bottom-up accountability from the community level that translates to healthier mothers and babies.

This webinar will highlight the components of the Transparency for Development program, including early findings from the pilot in Tanzania and Indonesia. The speakers will further discuss the implications of this research on assessing the effectiveness of bottom-up accountability across other sectors, and for policymakers at the sub-national and national levels seeking to leverage open government and transparency efforts towards improved delivery of public sector services.

Speakers:

Nathaniel Heller is Managing Director at the Results for Development Institute (R4D), which he joined in 2014, and leads R4D’s Governance Program. At R4D, Nathaniel works to harness citizen-centric transparency and accountability efforts as drivers of development outcomes. Prior to joining R4D, Nathaniel co-founded and led Global Integrity, a non-profit organization that promotes government transparency and accountability worldwide through high-quality research, cutting-edge technology, and innovative policy insights. During his time as Executive Director of Global Integrity, Nathaniel led the organization from its founding in 2005 through a period of intensive growth that saw Global Integrity established as a global leader on anti-corruption and governance issues. Nathaniel holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Spanish Literature from the University of Delaware and a Master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He currently serves as a civil society steering committee member of the Open Government Partnership, advisory board member of Civio, and on the board of The engine room.

Courtney Tolmie is a Senior Program Director at the Results for Development Institute (R4D). She is a principal investigator on the Transparency for Development (T4D) program for R4D, a mixed-method multi-country implementation and evaluation program seeking to answer whether community-led transparency and accountability efforts can improve health outcomes. Courtney joined R4D in 2007 to manage the Transparency and Accountability Program. She is co-author of Lives in the Balance: Improving Accountability for Public Spending in Developing Nations (Brookings Press), From the Ground Up (Brookings Press), and Using PETS to Monitor Projects and Small-Scale Programs (World Bank). Courtney graduated from Bowdoin College (B.A. Economics) and holds a Masters of Arts in Economics from the University of Virginia.

This session’s recording will be available on the OGP website, as well as in the World Bank’s E-Institute portal where you can also find the recordings of all the other OGP Webinars.

To JOIN the session on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. EST, please go HEREand login 5 minutes before the webinar is scheduled to start. Please note that you will receive confirmation from AdobeConnect after you register.