Government seeks to institutionalize World Vision accountability methodology to improve public services in Mozambique

By António Massipa

Following training in a World Vision’s social accountability methodology, local government in the north of Mozambique expressed its intention to institutionalise Citizen, Voice and Action (CVA).

“We have come to realise that although there is much work we are doing, we can do more and better. That’s why we’re asking you to expand it so that it reaches all members of the government in our district,” said Felisberta Armando Joaquim, a local government official.

The above mentioned CVA training aimed at providing government officials and service providers with a tool to enable them to foster constructive and objective feedback that can genuinely address the identified gaps in service provision, in Rapale district, Nampula province.

Another government official, João Lino, said on the occasion that “this is the kind of tool we lacked as government officials to enable us to sit down, talk with our communities, raise problems and, from there, draw up development plans and respond to people's concerns, as dialogue is the only way forward.”

Since CVA was rolled out in other parts of the country, communities have contributed to improved service delivery, including hiring new teachers and purchasing desks and books for students in schools, as well as hiring new nurses and doctors and extending and improving availability of medicines in health facilities.

CVA is a local level advocacy methodology through which collaborative, non-confrontational dialogue between service users, government and providers improves accessibility and quality of public services, such as health care and education, which impact the daily lives of children and their families. Under CVA, users are empowered to monitor and seek accountability for service delivery and to take collective responsibility for services, based on the principle that each citizen has the right to hold to account his or her government for fulfilling its commitments.