Citizen Voice in Local Governance The Citizen Perception Survey

6 Citizen Voice in Local Governance The Citizen Perception Survey

March 2008

S.M. Khatib Alam Mehreen Hosain Sumara Khan

City District Government Faisalabad, Pakistan

This document is produced as part of the Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad (SDLGF) Project for the purpose of disseminating lessons learnt from the project. The views are not necessarily those of DFID or the City District Government Faisalabad (c) SDLGF March 2008 Parts of this case study may be reproduced for educational use, provided that such material is not printed and sold.

The authors expect that, any material which is used will be acknowledged accordingly.

Printed by: FaizBakht Printers, The Mall, Jhang (Punjab) Pakistan.

VISION “Pre-empting Poverty, Promoting Prosperity”

MISSION STATEMENT “We will provide high quality services which compare with the best in the country. We will work with everyone who wants a better future for our District. We will establish an efficient, effective and accountable District Local Government, which is committed to respecting and upholding women, men and children’s basic human rights, responsive towards people’s needs, committed to poverty reduction and capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st Century. Our actions will be driven by the concerns of local people”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This case study is the culmination of efforts by a number of individuals from government and the technical assistance team. Firstly it is important to thank all those who have cooperated with the team preparing this case study not only in the last few weeks but over the course of the last four years. They have been critical to the work and demonstrated what is possible to achieve in government when the right set of conditions prevail.

We would also like to thank the communities, elected representatives and Union Council secretaries of the district that assisted the SPU team in implementing this project and its various components.

The authors wish to thank Rana Zahid Tauseef, City District Nazim; Maj (Retd.) Azam Suleman Khan, District Coordination Officer; and Dr. Tariq Sardar, EDO Finance & Planning for their valuable contribution in making this project a huge success.

We are also thankful to: Mr. Ch. Zahid Nazir, ex-District Nazim Faisalabad; Mr. Tahir Hussain, ex-DCO Faisalabad and Mr. Athar Hussain Khan Sial, ex-DCO Faisalabad for their valuable contribution to the success of this project.

We are further thankful to all CDGF employees (past and present) and CDGF partner departments but we would like to specifically mention by name the following: Mr. Mumtaz Hussain Shah, EDO Education; Mr. Shabbir Ahmad Ch., EDO Community Development, Mr. Dr. M. Javed, EDO Health; TMOs and TOs for accepting the Citizen Perception Survey results with such an openness and for their efforts in successfully using the results of the Citizen Perception Survey in their departments. We are also thankful to Mr. Qari Zia-ul-Haq, ADLG for his support in engaging union council secretaries.

We are thankful to all DFID Project Advisers and Management that have assisted in this project since its start and we would like to specifically thank Mr. Mosharraf Zaidi, Governance Advisor, DFID Pakistan; Mr. Wajahat Anwar, Deputy Program Manager, Accountability and Empowerment team, DFID Pakistan; Ms. Jackie Charlton, DFID; Mr. Alistar Moir, DFID Pakistan and Ms. Nighat-un-Nisa, DFID Pakistan for their continuous support and professional technical guidance since their involvement in 2004.

Our thanks are also to Dr. James Arthur, Dr. Richard Slater and Ms. Janet Gardener for their valuable inputs throughout the project.

We are thankful to Mr. Mahmood Akhtar for his guidance in the design and implementation of the Citizen Perception Survey and to Mr. Shahid Sharif for his contribution in analyzing the results of the Survey.

We are thankful to the SPU team members for their dedication, hard work and the many late hours spent designing, implementing and documenting the work of this project. These include: Nadir Ehsan, Kashif Abbas, Maryam Ayub, Imran Yousafzai, Muhammad Shahid Alvi, Muhammad Tariq, Ajaz Durrani, Farhan Yousaf, Muntazir Mehdi, Gul Hafeez Khokhar, Mirza Muhammad Ramzan, Muhammad Sharif, Humaira Khan, Saima Sharif, Mubarak Ali, Kashif Hameed, Sohail Anjum, Danish Iqbal, Faisal Najeeb, Noor Muhammad Khan, Nuzhat Hanif, Syed Sheraz Akhtar, all the master trainers and training associates of the Institute of Learning, GIS team members, all long and short-term international and national consultants.

FOREWORD This case study is the sixth of a series of case studies produced under the “Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad” Project and presents one of the initiatives being undertaken under the reform programme which was implemented in our district from 2004 to March 2008. The Citizen Perception Survey was conducted in all 289 Union Councils (the smallest administrative unit in Pakistan) and almost 22,000 people were surveyed to gauge their perceptions of the services being offered by our departments.

Citizen surveys are not a regular feature of the local governments in Pakistan and I am proud to convey that this survey is the first of its kind that has been conducted in Pakistan at such a large scale and at the local government level. Citizen engagement and their participation in local government are of utmost importance and their fundamental right. Community' participation in local development can be enhanced through actively engaging with them and by giving them voice in decision making, which not only helps in reducing poverty but also promotes the role of the government as an accountable local government.

The results of the survey however have been sobering and showed a great percentage of the people who were dissatisfied with the services being offered by our departments. We took the survey findings on board and took another bold step to share these findings with various stakeholders. We also started the process of using the survey results for improving our services, by picking the most deprived areas and by injecting investments in the areas where people identified a need for it.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank our City District Nazim for his valuable support to the reforms in our district. I would also like to congratulate my city district team members especially all the EDOs for working to achieve the successes outlined in this case study. Finally, I would like to thank our major partners in development, the Department for International Development (DFID) UK and their management consultants GHK International Ltd., for assisting Faisalabad City District through the project “Strengthening Decentralized Local Government in Faisalabad”.

Maj. (Rtd.) Azam Suleman Khan

District Co-ordination Officer City District Government Faisalabad March 2008

The Clock Tower, symbol of Faisalabad

PREFACE City District Government Faisalabad has been implementing its reforms agenda from 2004 to 2008 to improve service delivery standards for the ultimate users of its services though the project called “Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad�. These four years have been a watershed for our government and we brought tremendous changes in our departmental systems and processes. Citizen focus and responsiveness to the needs of the people have been the principles of our government. We have been wholly sensitised on the importance of consulting our citizens. To enhance citizen voice and to promote participation of our citizens in the decision making processes, we conducted a district-wide citizen perception survey. We conducted this survey to gauge the perceptions of people regarding the services being offered by our departments.

The survey is a great source of pride for us, I also view this survey as critical for meeting our agenda of promoting a transparent and accountable local government. We are trying to make our services effective, efficient and responsive to the needs of the citizens, especially those that are poor and socially excluded.

The perception survey is one of the tools which we used to move towards evidence-based planning mechanisms and the promotion of pro-poor policy formulation, and to analyse and target the root causes of poverty.

The findings of the survey were not encouraging and showed deep levels of dissatisfaction of our citizens with the services we are offering to them and many structural weaknesses in our service delivery mechanisms. The results are also indicative of years of under investment in our social sectors and lack of communication to citizens, even when positive results have been achieved. We intend to rectify this situation. The issues raised by the people are also well known to us and after sharing these findings with our line departments, we started the process of addressing the critical issues identified by the survey. We now have a baseline available to us against which we have benchmarked our services, and we are focusing on resolving these issues.

I thank my City District Nazim for spearheading this initiative and my City District team for receiving the survey results with such openness and with the clear intention of resolving the issues highlighted by it.

Dr. Tariq Sardar

Additional Project Director Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad March 2008

Office of the District Co-ordination Officer, Faisalabad

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOREWORD PREFACE ACRONYMS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

01

BACKGROUND

03

Context-New Paradigms for Local Governance The Reform and Citizen Engagement The City District Faisalabad and Citizen Focus The Continuum of Public Involvement

03 04 05 06 08

THE CASE Evolving Modes of Engagement and the Need to Gauge Public Opinion The Citizen Perception Survey

08 09

THE DESIGN

11

IMPLEMENTATION AND FINDINGS

13

Spatial Presentation of Findings The Findings To Share or Not to Share

14 14 15

IMPACT

18

SUSTAINABILITY

19

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

20

Opportunities Challenges LESSONS AND REFLECTIONS Political Context Technical Considerations Dissemination and Outcomes

20 20 22 22 23 24

CONCLUSIONS

26

BIBLIOGRAPHY

31

FIGURES Figure 1: Figure 2:

The process of the Citizen Perception Survey Placing the report of the Survey on CDGF’s website (www.faisalabad.gov.pk)

13 24

Table of Contents TABLES Table 1: Table 2: Table 3: Table 4: Table 5:

Public Involvement spectrum Details of the elected representatives surveyed Details of male communities surveyed Details of female communities surveyed A summary of some key findings (percentage expressed of those surveyed)

07 12 12 12 16

ANNEX Annex 1 Figure A1-1: Figure A1-2:

Annex 2 Table A2-1:

Satisfaction levels of citizens regarding condition of school buildings: across the district Levels of investment in school infrastructure through City District Government funding (2004-06): across the District

Meetings for dissemination of findings of Citizen Perception Survey

28 29

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Acronyms

ACRONYMS ADLG CCB CDGF CIDA DCO DFID EDO ER F&P LGO MDGs MNA MPA NGO NLC PCWSSP PDSSP PESRP PHED P-PRSP PRSP SDLGF SPU TMA TMO TO UC WASA

Assistant Director Local Government Citizen Community Board City District Government Faisalabad Canadian International Development Agency District Coordination Officer Department for International Development Executive District Officer Elected Representative Finance & Planning Local Government Ordinance Millennium Development Goals Members of National Assembly Members of Provincial Assembly Non-Government Organization National Logistics Cell Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project Punjab Devolved Social Services Programme Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme Public Health Engineering Department Punjab Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Punjab Rural Support Programme Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad Strategic Policy Unit Town Municipal Administration Town Municipal Officer Town Officer Union Council Water and Sanitation Agency

Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Case Study describes a process by which local governments can channel citizen 'voice' with positive outcomes for both parties. It highlights the circumstances in which governments can open themselves up to a critique of their own performance, and work with internal and external constituents towards attaining mutually identified goals.

Building on the new opportunities afforded by the Government of Pakistan's radical devolution programme, the City District Government Faisalabad (CDGF) has embarked on its own reform programme, with a view to transforming the delivery of essential services and meeting its commitments to reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In achieving improvements in local governance, it is supported by the Department for International Development's (DFID) through the Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad (SDLGF) Project.

Reflecting the ethos of the devolution plan, the CDGF has placed citizen focus as a priority amongst its key guiding principles for governance reform: 'To place citizens at the centre of service delivery processes through better targeted planning; participatory decision-making; more effective service delivery; more accountable for results.'

(Corporate Plan) Stakeholder consultation has been an important part of Faisalabad's reform processes. At the initial stages of the reform, strategic operational plans were prepared for all major sectors, and a limited but important stakeholder consultation process fed into these. This whetted the District's and the stakeholder's appetites for a broader process to engage stakeholders, and obtain views on the issues surrounded key services. As the reforms progressed, the CDGF began to open up to more creative and deeper forms of engagement with its citizens. The Citizen Perception Survey was one such measure. The idea was fast championed by both the administrative and political heads of the District; the District Coordinating Officer (DCO) and the City District Nazim. With his political constituents in mind, the City District Nazim took a keen interest and leadership role in the process, but insisted that the proposed survey should cover the entire district. The District's senior management agreed, and the team rose to the challenge by developing a methodology which could be implemented on such a large scale.

Introductory meeting with UC secretaries on Citizen Perception Survey

The resulting method used focus groups as a basic tool, and a voting technique to quantify findings. The survey was implemented in-house but with field staff and data analysts hired specifically for this purpose. It was also implemented in close conjunction with local NGOs and the Union Council tier in the field. Approximately 21,929 people were reached, which included local elected representatives (UC members) and a broad cross section of the population. As the results of the survey came in, it fast became evident that they were far from favourable for the administration. In all the sectors surveyed (health, education and water supply and sanitation), citizens had expressed deep dissatisfaction with the quantum and quality of services available. This is with the exception of the rural health sector, where a partnership model has shown positive results, reflected in a greater level of satisfaction with these services. Disturbingly, most citizens were unaware of or had no confidence in the formal mechanisms for accountability and redress of grievances.

Presented with a dilemma the team immediately shared the preliminary findings with the DCO, who in turn shared them with the City District Nazim. This was the first true test of the

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Executive Summary District's commitment to the principles of transparency, accountability and citizen focus. To their credit, both the political and executive arms of the District Government, endorsed the publication and widespread dissemination of the findings.

What had led to this unprecedented openness? How would stakeholders react to the findings, and importantly, how would the findings be used?

Analysis indicates that the key factors contributing to the acceptance of the findings were:

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A high level of ownership by both administrative and political arms of the District of the entire process, and importantly a close, transparent and mutually supportive relationship between the administrative and political heads, which supported the pursuit of mutually identified goals. Constant communication between the DCO and District Nazim, with the survey team providing technical feedback, meant that no surprises were sprung at the last minute; The momentum gained as a broad range of reforms related to accountability, transparency and citizen engagement were embedded. The Citizen Perception Survey did not take place in a vacuum, but was part and parcel of a series of reform initiatives, with deepening modes of citizen engagement. This meant that departments were already sensitised to the need to be more accountable and responsive, whilst other stakeholders were slowly gaining an understanding of their role in the new polity; The flexible, timely and well-placed technical and financial resources available to the District through the SDLGF, which enabled innovative thinking and pragmatic local solutions, and was able to influence their adoption as a result of being placed strategically in the DCO office.

Importantly, the CDGF has been responsive to the feedback from citizens. Not only have departments been instructed to address the issues raised in their strategic plans, but significant investments have been directed to areas which appeared to have been deprived of investments and where feedback was particularly negative.

However, certain challenges are also evident. Citizens had major concerns that they have not found the state to be responsive in the redressal of their grievances. The dialogue with citizens is at an early stage. Moreover, stakeholder reaction has been constrained by limitations in the dissemination process, and the lack of clear feedback loops to express their views and demand accountability. Findings have yet to be debated in the District Council, or discussed with the media. A broader process of dissemination is needed. Departmental resistance to transparency and social accountability remains a factor to be countered, and it is clear that continued high level attention to these processes will be needed to affect a change in institutional culture.

The challenge to the District is to continue to use the findings and respond to citizen concerns, while also communicating both findings and actions to citizens and stakeholders. This will ensure the credibility of the process, rebuild the eroded confidence and trust between citizens and their government, and pave the way for citizen voice to play a positive role in transforming governance in Faisalabad.

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Background

BACKGROUND The Strategic Policy Unit (SPU) was set up by the Faisalabad district government in 2002, as a policy think-tank. Its key aim was to act as a conduit in the district from which all development programmes could be initiated. In 2004, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) agreed to provide technical assistance to the district using the SPU as the platform from which change would be driven.

The SPU over a four year period has acted as a key resource fostering social capital within the city government and often being the focal point for local and international technical assistance and programme development. With a cohort of key technical resources and change management agenda it plays a key role in facilitating public sector reforms and is replicable. It has been instrumental in assisting Faisalabad become a modern administration.

Context-New Paradigms for Local Governance In 2001 the Government of Pakistan embarked on a radical reform process, devolving power to the grass roots and creating new local governments with responsibilities for a broad range of functions. With social indicators ranking amongst the worst globally, the reform sought to address the country's weak performance in service delivery, and the deep rooted governance issues which beset its institutions. The Local Government Ordinance (LGO) of 2001, the principal pillar of the devolution programme, created new relationships between the state and its citizens, and manifold new opportunities for more effective and responsive service delivery.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with elected representatives of UC 101

As governments the world over modernise, they face two central challenges: to secure sustainable improvements in public services; and to re-engage citizens with the institutions of government. The 'reinvention' of governments has as a dominant paradigm the positioning of the citizen as the principal client or customer/consumer. Importantly, the citizen is also viewed as a key 'shareholder' in government, with inalienable rights to a sustainable quality of life amongst other fundamental rights. Public services must meet the needs and expectations of the public, both as customers and as citizens.

It is widely believed that bringing decision making close to communities, and engaging with citizens, strengthens both civil society and the legitimacy of the institutions of government, thereby revitalising democracy. Further, evidence suggests that the more effectively communities are engaged in shaping services, the more likely it is that quality will be delivered, and that services will be demand led and sustainable. Yet, citizens in most countries still perceive government as distant and unaccountable. The erosion of confidence between citizen and state is a key issue that reforms must attempt to address.

While decentralisation is recognised as a key mechanism for bringing government closer to citizens, there is evidence to suggest that it will not always achieve the goals of making government more responsive and accountable. Decentralised systems may be subject to elite capture and may reinforce existing inequalities. Marginalised groups and the poor may therefore not benefit fully from such changes. Concerted efforts are therefore needed to introduce transparency, consultation, participation and accountability mechanisms that will ensure that all citizens are given voice, and that local governments are responsive to their needs.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 100

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Background

The Reform and Citizen Engagement That communities should be able to influence decisions affecting their lives, take direct action where they choose, and seek redress where services are failing, calling both providers and politicians to account, is central to these new approaches to governance.

The LGO put in place a three-tiered system of local governance, with the district at the top, holding responsibility for overall decision-making and financial allocations, and the union (the only directly elected tier, consisting of groupings of villages) closest to the public. The tehsil mediates between these two tiers, while also holding responsibility for some key services. At each tier, mechanisms for oversight, accountability and redress of grievances were also provided for.

The new system was designed with the principle of subsidiarity in mind, and provides platforms for the direct engagement of citizens in local governance. It sought to re-align power structures to ensure that citizens were at the heart of governance. While there have been several attempts at enhancing local control in Pakistan's history, the present reform is distinguished by its explicit focus on the role of the citizen, both in service delivery (through the Citizen Community Boards or CCBs), and in participating in vertical oversight and accountability and dispute resolution mechanisms (e.g. Village and Neighbourhood Councils, Monitoring Committees, Musalihat Anjumans).

There are a number of ways in which the LGO provides for citizen engagement in local governance as indicated in Box 1 below. While specific tools for engaging with citizens are not mentioned, the spirit of the LGO is clear; citizens should be engaged at all levels and should be provided mechanisms through which they can participate and hold their local government accountable. These principles are also embodied in the Government of Punjab's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (P-PRSP), which states as one of its key goals, governance reforms to achieve an efficient, accountable and service-oriented public sector. One of the ways in which the P-PRSP captured citizen voice was through a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA). The PPA indicates that, ‘Consultations with the primary target group for the P-PRSP viz. the poor were considered crucial.'

The emphasis on providing citizen voice through a range of public consultation mechanisms is evident in the P-PRSP document, which states as an objective of the Planning and Development: ‘Institute mechanism to get regular feedback from stakeholders, institutes, academia, civil society and business'.

The document highlights the role of NGOs and civil society at several points, in relation to deeper forms of engagement in policy and programme formulation, as well as in implementation.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 200

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The premise of the reform is that enhancing citizen 'voice' and participation, beyond the electoral process, in their role as both clients and citizens, will shift incentives and create critical pressure points on both providers of services and politicians, leading to improved performance and better service delivery. Strengthening citizen 'voice' is thus a key guiding principle of the reform. Providing new incentives and accountability structures, and strengthening capabilities to allow public institutions to respond to citizen 'voice', forms another key principle.

Background Box 1:

The LGO 2001 and mechanisms for citizen engagement

Section 76 indicates that union administrations should have responsibility for collecting and maintaining socio-economic information.

Section 88 indicates that the union councils should mobilise communities for infrastructure maintenance and other development activities.

Section 93 provides for the notification of Village and Neighbourhood Councils to provide citizens an opportunity to participate in local governance, but does not articulate the role of these councils.

Section 98 details the composition of Citizen Community Boards as a key mechanism for local development and improvements in service delivery, and reinforcing Monitoring Committees.

Section 102 provides for alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, the Musalihat Anjuman.

Sections 114 (Accounts) and 137 (Transparency) clearly lay out rules for transparency and public access to information, including statements of Accounts and information on the performance of offices.

Section 119 provides scope for bottom up planning.

Section 138 lays out the responsibilities of Monitoring Committees.

Section 188 stipulates that Complaint Cells should be established for redressal of grievances at district, tehsil and union levels.

Further, Budget Rule 2003 stipulates that the Budget Call Letter should be finalised after consultation with a range of stakeholders including CCBs, NGOs and CBOs.

The City District Faisalabad and Citizen Focus As Pakistan's third city and district, with a population of over 6 million, Faisalabad district had grappled with the issue of ensuring that essential services reached its citizens, and social indicators remained on course to meeting its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A relatively prosperous district and the heart of the country's textile industry, the existence of pockets of extreme poverty and deprivation belied this prosperity.

The City District Government were committed to building on the opportunities provided by the devolution of power initiative, to introduce a series of wide-ranging reforms in the District.

The devolution process initially served to create confusion, as old systems were abolished, and new systems poorly understood. In an attempt to introduce cutting edge thinking in addressing its issues, the District created a Strategic Policy Unit (SPU). Opportunity to build on its commitment to reform, however, came in 2004, by way of the DFID supported Strengthening Decentralised Local Government in Faisalabad Project (SDLGF).

The District had a vision; a poverty-free Faisalabad. It was quick to recognise the opportunity to realise its vision, and used its technical resources to distil best practice and to provide the guidance and technical support necessary for delivering on their mandated responsibilities to the citizens of Faisalabad.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with elected representatives of UC 155

As a first step, the District Government articulated its mission statement in its Corporate Plan: “We will provide high quality services which compare with the best in the country. We will work with everyone who wants a better future for our District. We will establish an efficient, effective and accountable District Local Government, which is committed to respecting and upholding women, men and children's basic human rights, responsive towards people's needs, committed to poverty reduction and capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.

Our actions will be driven by the concerns of local people” The District's plan for transforming governance focused on five key dimensions of good governance; fiscal responsibility, citizen focus, organisational improvement, capacity development and the use of information systems.

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Background Devolution happened overnight, and there were many official hurdles. The LGO was taken as a 'bible', but there were so many rules and processes that remained unclear or did not exist.

There were also many new roles that people were simply not used to, for example, the monitoring and accountability functions.

District Coordinating Officer (DCO), Faisalabad

Reflecting the ethos of the devolution plan, Faisalabad placed citizen focus as a priority amongst its key guiding principles: 'To place citizens at the centre of service delivery processes through better targeted planning; participatory decision-making; more effective service delivery; more accountable for results.’

(Corporate Plan) In achieving its objectives, the District was supported by the Project, in three key aspects of local governance which were central to its vision:

Capability- its technical ability to deliver on its mandate; Responsiveness- its ability to respond to the identified needs of citizens; and Accountability- enhancing the ability of citizens and civil society to provide public scrutiny and demand accountability.

The Corporate Plan was bolstered by detailed sector development plans (the Strategic Operational Plans), and, in 2006, a Strategic Development Plan for the District (Pre-Empting Poverty: Promoting Prosperity). These plans attempted to articulate how best each department could reach out to its clients, and ensure that services were effective and responsive to citizen demand.

The work towards a new model for local governance, with citizen engagement at its core, had begun.

The Continuum of Public Involvement While the LGO 2001 had, for the first time, introduced more formal mechanisms for the state to engage with its citizens, the newly created local governments were limited in their experience and capacities, resistant to the concept, and struggled to understand, let alone fulfil their mandates.

While clear legislation or rules did not exist around all areas of the reform, the CDGF was determined in its commitment to its vision and mission statement; importantly both its political and executive arms were convinced that citizens must remain at the heart of their reform.

Box 2: Voice refers to both the capacity of people to express their views and the ways in which they do so through a variety of formal and informal channels and mechanisms. Referring primarily to the efforts of the poor to have their views heard by more powerful decision-makers, voice can include complaint, organised protest, lobbying and participation in decision-making, service delivery or policy implementation.

Bringing Citizen Voice and Client Focus into Service Delivery. Goetz and Gaventa, IDS, 2001

In promoting participatory governance, there is a spectrum of different modalities for engagement with citizens, as described in Table 1.

In practice, it is not always possible to place an institution at one clear point on the spectrum, and elements of several strands may be operative at any stage with regard to different aspects of its work. While in general the move towards an active and empowered citizen is what is considered desirable, it is also understood that under certain conditions different forms of engagement may be appropriate.

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Background Table 1:

Goal

Public involvement spectrum Inform

Consult

Engage

Collaborate

Empower

Provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities, and/or solutions

Obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives, and/or decisions

Work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered

Partner with the public in each aspect of the decision in cluding the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution

Place final decision making authority in the hands of citizens

Source: Public Deliberation: A Manager's Guide to Citizen Engagement. Lukensmeyer, C. and Torres, H.T., IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2006.

Over the course of its reform programme, the CDGF worked towards developing pragmatic yet innovative approaches for engaging with its citizens. In line with its focus on responsiveness and accountability, a key area of attention related to enabling citizen 'voice'.

The District has attempted to put citizens not at the end but at the centre of the process'.

DCO, City District Government Faisalabad

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The Case

THE CASE Evolving Modes of Engagement and the Need to Gauge Public Opinion There was a distinct emphasis on consultation from the outset of Faisalabad District's reform initiative, driven by the CDGF's commitment to citizen-centred approaches. The citizen focus agenda was housed at the corporate heart of the District, under the leadership of the Executive District Officer (EDO) Finance and Planning. However, the Community Development department played a key role in its delivery. Support was provided by the CDGF's specialists within the SPU. During the initial stages there was a clear need for stakeholder consultation in the preparation of the Strategic Operational Plans. A consultation exercise was undertaken to understand what different stakeholders actually felt about the District Government's services. A range of stakeholders from service providers, to civil society organisations and consumers were consulted. Extensive formal and informal consultations took place through formal workshops, focus groups discussions and one to one meetings, interviews and surveys.

While limited in scope, the exercise whetted the appetite of the District administration for embedding the consultative process, particularly given the enthusiasm with which it was greeted by stakeholders.

Box 3:

Stakeholders consulted

Elected representatives both male and female Civil society organisations i.e. NGOs, CCBs and CBOs Monitoring committees of the UC, tehsil and district governments Public sector employees Academics, including teaching staff, school council members, students from schools and universities Consumers of water and sanitation services

Stakeholders indicated that they had never been consulted in such an open manner by the government, and strongly stated that they felt such processes should be internalised in the CDGF's mechanisms. The CDGF viewed the exercise as a baseline, and the intent was to repeat it at regular intervals.

While consultations around issues and policies continued and became common practice in the CDGF's operations, it was some time before a mechanism was developed for a more extensive consultative process around public services. The seeds for this process, had, however, been sown in the initial consultative exercises and the commitment of the CDGF to engage with all stakeholders, and citizens in particular.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 20

As the reform programme progressed, it became increasingly evident to the CDGF's senior management that they had little sense of how effectively they were delivering their services.

As a result, the impact of the reform on governance and public service delivery would be difficult to gauge. There had been no structured process to determine the perceptions and preferences of citizens with regard to services, to enable the process of planning and resource allocation. Further, the City District had little idea of the levels of the confidence citizens had in their government and in public service delivery.

The CDGF understood that unless it knew what its citizens really felt about service delivery, in terms of both access and quality, it would be difficult to bring about real improvements in performance. The onus for channelling citizen 'voice', and linking it with a process of

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The Case accountability with regard to public services, lay with the District itself. It became clear that a comprehensive exercise was needed to determine the state of governance and public service delivery.

This case study examines the evolution of a key tool developed by the CDGF to ensure that the views of its citizens were captured, understood and considered at the policy, strategic and operational levels. It specifically focuses on the process which led to the development of the tool, and the conditions under which it gained widespread acceptance in the CDGF.

The Citizen Perception Survey Public opinion surveys are not commonplace in Pakistan however there was one exercise that had caught the attention of the CDGF as it sought to determine the best modalities for gauging public feedback on its services. In 2001/2002 CIET, supported by CIDA, had conducted a baseline 'Social Audit of Governance and Delivery of Public Services', across all 87 districts of Pakistan. The survey was repeated in 2004/05, and over the five years of 20042009 is being repeated in alternate years to track progress under devolution and to inform policy. No report has been published following the findings of the 2004 survey.

The survey provides a useful and important tool for channelling citizen feedback and allowing government to plan and implement services better. It combined a sample-based household survey technique with focus group interviews at the community level and key informant interviews. A sample of union councils were included from each district sampled (this varied according to the population of the district). However, while this sample-based exercise provided a useful comparison across districts, it did not provide information at the sub-district (tehsil and union council) level. This meant that while Faisalabad could compare itself with other districts, it could not determine how public satisfaction with services varied within the District itself.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with elected representatives of UC 180

The Social Audit report highlighted that such processes should be undertaken at the district level, yet also noted that district governments generally lacked the technical capacity and resources to undertake surveys of this nature.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 160

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The Case The Social Audit tool as a means for gaining important feedback from citizens was explored in great depth by the CDGF's specialists. These discussions did not take place in isolation within the technical team responsible. Ideas were shared as they were generated, with the District's senior management and with the City District Nazim, both for their input and their endorsement. There were certain limitations in the Social Audit methodology in relation to the CDGF's needs, which soon became evident, and considerable discussion took place around the 'sampling' mechanisms used in the Social Audit.

In theory, the sample based methodology as developed by the Social Audit could have been adapted for use in Faisalabad. The team considered sampling a number of Union Councils within the District. The issue related to the views of the City District Nazim, who had been keen to find ways of gauging public opinion, and had taken leadership of the initiative. While in fact enthusiastic about gaining citizen feedback, he was adamant cal expediency demanded that the survey should be undertaken across the District, in all 289 Union Councils. The scale of the exercise was daunting. ‘We were concerned with improving performance and enhancing systems. In our frequent dialogue with our specialists, innovative ideas would emerge. In one such meeting we discussed the possibility of capturing public opinion. This was related to our corporate vision and mission statement, and our commitment to addressing poverty. It is also always helpful to the political leadership to assess the 'temperature' of public sentiments. There were lacuna in the planning process, and we frankly needed help in targeting our investments. The trigger was the DFID support which was helping us to think out of the box and be accountable to our citizens and not just elected representatives as was the norm'.

EDO, Finance and Planning, CDGF

A range of methods, including the Social Audit, and the Citizen Report Card methods as developed by the Public Affairs Centre in Bangalore, were reviewed.

Under these circumstances, the team rose to the challenge, and held a series of brainstorming exercises. A range of methods, including the Social Audit, and the Citizen Report Card methods as developed by the Public Affairs Centre in Bangalore, were reviewed.

After considerable debate, these sessions resulted in an adapted methodology and tool which could be applied district-wide; the Citizen Perception Survey. The survey would reflect opinion from every union council in the District, and was distinctive in being the first public opinion exercise to be carried out on a district-wide scale in Pakistan.

Male community members gathering for Citizen Perception Survey meeting

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The Design

THE DESIGN

CITY DISTRICT GOVERNMENT FAISALABAD Strategic Policy Unit

The methodology developed relied on focus group discussions to ensure the widest possible coverage. As a first exercise of its kind, it was decided that only key services would be included (education, health, water and sanitation), with follow-up exercises expanding in scope, should this one be successful. The scale of the exercise meant that household level surveys would not be feasible. Discussions with the City District Nazim, the DCO, and senior management resulted in determining the following core objectives for the survey:

SELECTED SERVICES IN FAISALABAD PERCEPTIONS AND REALITIES A CITIZEN FOCUS INITIATIVE

Assess the extent to which services are meeting the needs and expectations of citizens Determine how the City District Government is perceived with regard to its corporate activities and services Support and enhance the City District's existing planning mechanisms through participatory and evidence-based processes Measure the levels of awareness about the City District Government and its role and services amongst citizens

June 2007

The lines of questioning in the Perception Survey related to:

Levels of satisfaction with selected public services The reasons for satisfaction and dissatisfaction Factors influencing choice of public vs. private sector provision Awareness of accountability mechanisms i.e. Monitoring Committees Levels of information on how departments work Accessibility and effectiveness of mechanisms for redress of complaints/grievances Key priorities for investment

A comprehensive questionnaire was prepared after an iterative brainstorming process in which the CDGF's sector experts participated. The questionnaire and methodology were pretested twice, and revised according to feedback. A database was prepared in SQL server and data entry was carried out by data entry staff recruited specifically for the survey.

The survey was conducted at the Union Council level through a series of focus group discussions. The use of focus groups allowed an in-depth exploration of issues identified and causal relationships. However, the team recognised that qualitative feedback, while necessary, would be insufficient for hard-nosed policy makers. To quantify results, a 'voting' technique was developed, with participants voting on degrees of satisfaction.

It was critical that the diversity of constituents be represented, in particular socially excluded groups. The three broad groups discussions were centred around: male community members; female community members; and elected representatives at the Union Council level. It was important to ensure that women could speak up freely in the prevailing cultural context, and the team worked hard at providing a safe and secure environment to allow this, with separate discussions being held with women.

Elected representatives were included in their role both as service users and as providers. In fact elected representatives also play an important role as the channel for citizen complaints on services. Discussions with elected representatives were carried out separately, so that ordinary citizens would not be constrained in expressing their views.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 10

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The Design A total of 21,929 people were surveyed across the District. Within each broad group, attempts were made to include a cross-section of society. Table 2 to Table 4 show the composition of the sample. The average number of people surveyed in one Union Council was 76, with 34 men, 31 women and 9 elected representatives being covered.

Table 2:

Details of the elected representatives surveyed

Category Male

Female

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 110

Number of people Nazim

207

Naib Nazim

221

General Councillors

859

Peasant Seats

437

Minority Seats

215

Sub-total of the male members

1939

Nazim

1

General Councillors

383

Peasant Seats

376

Minority Seats

3 763

Sub-total of the female members TOTAL

Table 3:

Details of male communities surveyed

Category

Number of people in each category

Farmer, Cultivation Labourer

2,746 2,284

Business

2,163

Private Service

1,015

Government Services

530

Agriculture & Livestock

400

Government Services Education

358

Skilled Labourer

211

Medical Profession

87

Social Worker

50

Imam Masjid

36

Miscellaneous

164 TOTAL

Table 4:

10,044

Details of female communities surveyed

Category

Number of people in each category 7,175

House Wife Government Services Education

637

Government Services Others

628

Medical Profession

370

Labourer

251

Private Service

64

Skilled Labourer

41

Business

4

Miscellaneous

13 TOTAL

12

2702

9,183

Implementation and Findings

IMPLEMENTATION AND FINDINGS A team comprising local researchers and people from local NGOs was hired and provided extensive field training. A total of five teams comprising one male and one female were used to undertake the survey. While the possibility of using government staff and teachers was also considered, an important constraint related to their availability, which could not have been ensured over the six to eight months it took to complete the survey. At the field level, NGOs, CCBs and Union Council Secretaries assisted in organising meetings with communities and ensuring that people from all walks of life were represented. This also served the purpose of building capacity at the Union Council level.

The preparatory work for the Perception Survey took almost four months. This included planning, recruitment of field teams, development of questionnaires, pre-testing and revision of the methodology and questionnaires, arranging meetings, and training of the teams. A further five months were taken for the field work phase. Meetings with different groups were conducted at different times of the day, and sometimes at different locations. Meetings with community members were frequently held in schools or colleges, while those with elected representatives often took place in Union Council offices.

Figure 1:

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with elected representatives of UC 21

The process of the Citizen Perception Survey Concept initiated in the SPU

Strategic Decision by the DCO & the City District Nazim to conduct the Survey

Defining Process and Methodology of the Survey Review

Amend

Pre-testing the Methodology & the Questionnaire

Conducting the Sruvey

Analysis of the Survey results

Sharing the results with the DCO & the City District Nazim

Decision by the DCO & the City District Nazim to Share the Survey results with stakeholders

Sharing the results with other stakeholders

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Implementation and Findings Strict quality control was maintained by data supervisors, over the data collection and entry process. The data entry and cleaning process took place simultaneously with data collection.

Following this, a further four months were taken to analyse and compile results. Overall, the process took 14 months, from inception to the publication of the report.

Spatial Presentation of Findings

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 60

The task of presenting findings in a useful form was a complex one. The team spent considerable time and effort on determining a mode of visual presentation, which would allow policy makers to assess intra-district variations at a glance. Faisalabad had already developed considerable experience of mapping information for planning purposes, and a GIS system was under development. Using the base maps available, the team plotted satisfaction levels for different services across the District on maps. Annex 1 (Figure A1-1) provides an example, showing the satisfaction levels of citizens regarding the condition of schools. To understand what may have been happening in areas of high dissatisfaction, the team undertook further analysis using secondary data. Annex 1 (Figure A1-2) shows levels of investment in school infrastructure across the District, mapped for comparison. Analysis and overlaying the maps shows that where there was deep dissatisfaction, there was also evidence of under-investment. In their analysis across all sectors surveyed, the team used secondary data in conjunction with survey findings to deepen the understanding of the situation, and help guide policy makers in their response to the survey findings.

The Findings The findings of the survey are detailed in its report. As the findings emerged, it was becoming evident that they presented a somewhat bleak picture of the state of service delivery in the District, and highlighted systemic weaknesses which the CDGF could ill afford to ignore.

Across all services, with the one exception of rural health services which were being managed through a partnership model, citizens were highly dissatisfied with the services being offered by the District Government. In both the education and health sectors, this dissatisfaction was being voiced by citizen's exiting public provision and choosing private provision where it was available, frequently for reasons of quality. Those who could not afford private provision were locked into public sector provision, due to its low cost, and suffered the consequences of low quality and frequently inaccessible provision. The poor, therefore, were being impacted most by the lack of or low quality services.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 202

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Implementation and Findings The deterioration in physical infrastructure was a cause of great concern in all sectors, and it was clear that investments were both poorly planned and inadequate. This was highlighted in the water and sanitation sector, where system design could not cope with growing populations, and deteriorating infrastructure was resulting in public health impacts.

Managerial issues such as under-staffing, staff absenteeism and attitudinal issues amongst staff also came to the fore. With the exception of rural health provision, citizens felt that services had deteriorated over the past five years.

Disturbingly, few citizens were aware of, or had confidence in the mechanisms for redress of grievances and accountability which had been instituted through the devolution programme.

This was not surprising as frequently these mechanisms were not operational. Most citizens relied on the Union Nazim to help them in times of need, and had little knowledge of how to approach line departments themselves, or use other means to address their grievances. This served to reinforce existing systems of power and patronage. Participation in local development through CCBs was as yet embryonic, and many citizens were not aware of CCB activities.

Overall, the findings reflected the extent of the problem that exists in the delivery of services to the people of Faisalabad. However, there was a glimmer of hope as demonstrated in rural health service delivery, where a well thought out partnership had resulted in improvements in service delivery, as reflected in the generally higher levels of satisfaction.

Without losing any time, the team presented the preliminary findings to senior management, and the DCO in turn did not hesitate in sharing the findings with the City District Nazim. A corporate decision had to be taken on the course of action in the light of these negative findings. This was the first true test of the Faisalabad's commitment to transparency, accountability and citizen engagement. A snapshot of some findings are reflected in Table 5.

To Share or Not to Share?

How would a district government with responsibility for delivering quality services to its citizens react to such negative findings on its own performance? Would the findings be conveniently buried, as is frequently the case in the face of unpalatable and sensitive information?

Sharing of the Citizen Perception Survey results with the TMAs and the District Departments

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Implementation and Findings Table 5:

Citizen awareness

Satisfaction with the public services and their usage

Category

A summary of some key findings (percentages expressed of those surveyed) Health

Water and Sanitation

95% dissatisfied with services. In urban areas only 28% using government schools. In rural areas 52% using public schools.

60% dissatisfied with services. 38% satisfied

by NGO managed facilities (rural). 3% satisfied with government managed facilities (urban).

In urban areas only 7% use government facilities. In rural areas 37% use public facilities.

1% of urban respondents and 27% of rural respondents satisfied with water supply.

7% satisfied with solid waste services (urban).

4% satisfied with sewerage and drainage services.

15% of rural and 13% of urban women aware of CCBs 46% of rural and 42% of urban men aware of CCBs 84% of rural and 89% of urban ERs aware of CCBs.

5% of rural women, 6% of men and 14% of ERs aware of education monitoring committees.

3% of urban women, 21% of men and 16%of ER s aware of health monitoring committees.

2% of urban women, 2% of men and 13% of ERs aware of municipal services monitoring committees.

1% of women, 5% of men, and 11% of ERs aware of Insaaf committees (public safety) in urban areas 0% of women, 3% of men and 10% of ERs aware of Insaaf committees in rural areas.

3% of urban women, 16% of men aware of school councils

1% of urban women, 3% of men and 4% of ERs aware of how to access department.

3% of rural women, 10% of men and 31% of ERs aware of how to access department.

Redressal of complaints

6% of urban women, 12% of men, 14% of ERs complained through official channels.

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CCBs and Redressal Mechanisms

Education

Only 10% of rural and 8% of urban respondents felt CCBs were an appropriate vehicle for local development.

5% of rural women, 9% of men and 25% of ERS complained through official channels.

46% of urban women, 54% of men and 70% of ERs complained about water supply services through official channels. 95% got no response. 4% had the issue resolved.

96% of urban 86% got no response to complainants got no complaints. 15% had response to complaints. their issue resolved.

3% had their issue resolved.

34% of urban women, 52% of men and 66% of ERs complained about Solid Waste services.

90% got no response.

10% had the issue resolved.

58% complained about sewerage and drainage in urban areas and 41% in rural areas.

90% got no response in rural areas and 92% got no response in urban areas. 8% had the issue resolved in both urban and rural areas.

Implementation and Findings At this stage, the CDGF demonstrated remarkable perspicacity. Instead of hiding or even sanitising the findings, the City District Nazim and the DCO decided that the information must be shared, and shared widely. It was decided that there should be no watering down of the findings; this would be a trigger to jolt line departments and elected representatives into action. However, before the information was to be shared, it was agreed that some 'groundtruthing' was needed.

As described earlier, to contextualise the findings, the team reviewed secondary data on investments and performance. This provided a useful backdrop to the findings, and in fact further demonstrated that where citizens were vocal in their complaints, investments had often been inadequate.

As a first step, a series of dissemination workshops were arranged with line departments.

These were high profile meetings, led by the EDO Finance and Planning. Overall, the response from the line departments was that of genuine dismay, but acceptance of the validity of the findings. Line departments were asked to reflect on the results and consider action plans to address some of the key concerns.

‘One does not want to publicly admit it, but I am ashamed to say this is the whole truth about the state of our services'.

Departmental staff

Findings were also shared with civil society (NGOs and CCB networks), in tandem with the public consultations on budgetary allocations. This was, to some extent, useful in that participants could relate key areas of need to budgetary decisions being taken. The process of budgetary consultation is as yet nascent, and this proved to be a helpful starting point, with lessons for improving the process in future rounds. It was hoped that the organisations invited would disseminate findings further to their wider network, and they to their members and the wider community. Thus the audience reached would be far larger than the limited number of organisations invited to the meetings.

Faisalabad has been innovative in developing ways of communicating with its citizens; one tool, street theatre, has been particularly popular. The CDGF also used the street theatre platform to communicate the findings of the Citizen Perception Survey with citizens across the District.

While the findings were meant to be shared more widely with elected representatives (local councillors, MNAs and MPAs), especially those whose constituencies were identified as problematic through the survey, this process was limited due to certain issues. These included timing and the availability of elected representatives, but also a certain hesitancy which emerged at this stage on the part of the CDGF executive.

While the findings are publicly available, some senior managers in the CDGF began to question the extent to which local elected representatives would react constructively to the findings. Thus, while the process of actively sharing findings with elected representatives was initiated, it was limited to MNAs and MPAs, rather than engaging with local councillors. Annex 2 (Table A2-1) presents the list of consultation meetings held with line departments, elected representatives and civil society for dissemination of the findings.

Sharing of the Citizen Perception Survey results

Finally, the experience and findings were shared at the provincial level, with line departments and key decision-makers, and with other districts who may wish to learn from the experience.

The survey report was also distributed at the Faisalabad Reforms Seminar attended by practitioners and policy makers from around the country. The report is available on the CDGF website (www.faisalabad.gov.pk).

17

Impact ‘This is our very own initiative. It has created shock-waves up to the Provincial Government, that we have undertaken such a vast and self-critical exercise. Some have questioned our methods, but I say that the method is immaterial; what is important is that we now have basic information on what our citizens think and our areas of weakness. This has been an exercise for our own benefit.’

DCO, City District Government Faisalabad

IMPACT The overarching and most important impact is that the City District Government has taken a significant and unprecedented step in promoting transparency and accountability, and providing space to its citizens for expressing their concerns and demands. Citizens indicated that this was the first time they had an opportunity to express their views and communicate their priorities.

Both the public and the government thus benefit from the process; the former in finding a channel for voicing views and grievances, and the latter in having baseline information on how effectively their efforts are translating into frontline service delivery. This is a first step in building a relationship of mutual trust and confidence, between citizen and state.

The high level of ownership of the survey by the CDGF has leveraged concrete follow-on actions based on the findings. Specific steps have been taken to ensure that investments are targeted where levels of dissatisfaction were deepest, and where secondary analysis confirmed under-investment.

Almost 90 percent of the 55 Million rupee investment made by the Punjab Devolved Social Services Programme (PDSSP) on health service outlets has been concentrated in the areas where people indicated a strong need for investments in health infrastructure.

The Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP), the organisation responsible for the delivery of rural health services, has also taken action on the issues identified in the survey, for example in the allocation of more doctors, especially women, greater regularity in the attendance of health professionals, and the improved quality and availability of medicines.

CDGF has funds available from Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme (PESRP) and Rs. 104 Million have been allocated to the National Logistics Cell (NLC) to invest in schools where people identified the greatest need for infrastructural investments.

Departments have been instructed to address the issues identified in the survey through Action Plans, with an emphasis on improving the operation and maintenance of infrastructure that has deteriorated.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 60

The survey confirmed to the CDGF the validity of their concern that citizens needed clear and widely publicised channels for communicating their grievances to the District Government.

Based on the learning from a study tour, the CDGF had introduced another innovation- the 'Customer Complaint and Call Centre', where citizens could call in using a toll free number.

Citizens are guaranteed a response within a certain time-frame even if their issue cannot be resolved. At the same time, the CDGF is delivering a comprehensive training programme for elected representatives of the Union Councils, on the role of Monitoring Committees and CCBs- both areas where the survey found knowledge to be lacking.

This will reinforce mechanisms for accountability and participation which are central to the success of the devolution programme. While these outcomes are not a direct result of the Citizen Perception Survey, the survey confirmed to the CDGF that these were indeed areas where specific focus was required.

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Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY The Citizen Perception Survey was designed and implemented for the CDGF by its specialists, drawing on support from the SDLGF project. However, a considerable portion of the effort (time and resources) went into the design of the methodology, which is now available for those who wish to repeat or replicate the process.

The fundamental questions in relation to sustainability are; were the findings useful to District Government, and did citizens perceive any benefit from the process? It is evident that there was a deep sense of ownership of the survey at the senior-most levels of the CDGF, and this translated into clear instructions to employees to make full use of the findings.

'I am so happy that someone from government is asking us about the kind of services we receive. This is the first time this has happened'. I am really thankful to the district government for giving us this opportunity to express our views and make our demands known'.

Citizen

In the light of strong political will and ownership of the instrument, and directives from senior policy makers, the survey played an influencing role on sector allocations in the critical sectors such as education and health. As such, it is viewed as an extremely useful exercise by the Finance and Planning department. The Department feels that it has provided a sound basis for allowing it to make rational budgetary choices, whereas in the past they felt that many decisions were ad hoc.

'The survey is of critical importance and value for the District Government, but it also has a real value for citizens.

Such exercises create awareness in the citizens and communities of their rights. On the other hand, if government takes actions on the survey's results, it will help in building the confidence of the communities with regards to public services. If on the other hand the Survey is conducted again without any actions having been taken or improvements in service delivery, it will only anger communities, and will not do the government's reputation any good'.

District Manager Faisalabad, Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP)- Rural health sector provider

Now that a baseline is established, it is likely that the CDGF will want to update the information at a later point to establish whether there have been improvements in performance. With a citizen engagement process in motion, it would be unlikely that Faisalabad could withdraw consultative initiatives that have been established, without attracting comments from observers; public scrutiny can carry its own momentum.

While citizens have valued the process of being consulted, their interest in the process will only be sustained where it is clear to them that concrete actions have resulted from the time they gave to provide their views. As the previous section indicates, concrete actions have indeed been taken; however, it will not necessarily be apparent to citizens that these resulted from the survey. If the CDGF embarks on a clear communication process with civil society organisations (and through them, citizens), and the media, on the impact of the survey, it is likely that this will also create a pressure group/ lobby to sustain the initiative.

There remains the issue of technical and financial capacity to undertake such a survey in the future. If the CDGF is indeed committed to the process, financial resources should not be an insurmountable issue. The survey was carried out with local teams, at a reasonable cost.

With a methodology developed, repeat exercises should be less intensive and could be carried out over a shorter time-frame. However, the process was still intensive and timeconsuming, and a more viable modality would be to out-source the survey to an independent third party, whether an NGO or a market research organisation.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 287

19

Opportunities and Challenges

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Given the scale and complexity of such a major survey, it would not have been possible without certain enabling factors. It is also intuitive that many challenges were encountered during the course of the survey. Some of these opportunities and detracting factors are described in this section

Opportunities High Level Support and Ownership The exercise would not have been possible in the absence of the support of the District administration and political leadership at the highest level. Not only did the District Nazim and DCO take a personal interest in the whole process, but they made it clear to senior and midlevel staff, that the exercise was to be taken seriously. With the DCO 'championing' the process, and the Nazim providing an umbrella of political support, the elements for an effective process were in place, Once findings emerged, the political will, ownership and proactive attitude of senior management ensured that these were translated into direct impacts, for example in targeting budgetary allocations.

Availability of Timely and Flexible Resources and Support While the exercise fit into the CDGF's on-going agenda in relation to citizen engagement, the trigger for the exercise came through the ideas generated by the CDGF's specialists, and the support of DFID's SDLGF. The team had thoroughly reviewed best practice in relation to public opinion surveys, but was also able to demonstrate the flexibility to adapt methods to the needs of the CDGF. Momentum from on-going Processes The Perception Survey did not emerge from a vacuum. There was an on-going and evolving process of citizen engagement, and experimentation with different modes of consultation and participation which formed a prelude to the exercise. The momentum from this agenda, enshrined in the District's vision and mission statements, framed the circumstances in which the survey was conceived. Similarly, the lack of resistance by line departments was in part due to their being accustomed to a new 'performance oriented' culture, as a result of the ongoing reform process. This acceptance was also helped by the qualitative nature of the survey and presentation of findings, where the rationale for dissatisfaction was clearly articulated by citizens.

Challenges Methodological and Logistical Complexities

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with elected representatives of UC 21

20

It was difficult to devise an instrument which could be deployed across all 289 Union Councils, and which presented results in a quantitative as well as qualitative form. The option of a household survey was initially considered, but soon discarded due to the difficulties of establishing a sampling frame and the unwieldy scale of a representative exercise at the subdistrict level. The team agreed that it would be useful to gain a qualitative sense of why people felt a certain way about a service. To appease hard-nosed policy-makers, however, a voting technique was established, which provided quantitative feedback. This was later converted

Opportunities and Challenges to degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the analysis. While the methods were not entirely orthodox, they presented a useful compromise and adaptation to suit local requirements and priorities.

Local NGOs, CCBs and Union Council Secretaries assisted in organising the focus groups, but with no financial incentives to attend, this proved to be a time-consuming and difficult task.

To encourage women to attend, teachers, health workers and other professionals also helped in the mobilisation effort. It was difficult to motivate women to travel to meetings given the socio-cultural context, and at times, transportation had to be provided to ensure that women did indeed attend meetings.

Breakdown of Trust between Citizens and the State Survey findings indicate that there are many weaknesses in the provision of service delivery

by CDFG to its citizens. Participants in meetings were sceptical of any change coming about, and reluctant to participate fully. Many stated that they had been consulted through numerous surveys, and had yet to see results. People relied on personal relationships, and political patronage to resolve issues, and not on the government. It took a concerted effort on the team's behalf to convince people to share their views openly, and to see the initiative as a first step by a District Government committed to engaging with its citizens and bringing about real change.

Acceptance of Methodology and Results Some have questioned the methodology used by the survey and hence the results. For the CDGF the precise methodology was less important than the fact that they now have a sense of the manifold issues facing their district, and have been able to home in areas where there are severe issues and under-investment. A combination of secondary data and the findings from the survey has helped in lending some credibility to the results, in the eyes of those who were initially sceptical. For the District, this is a practical exercise, intended to highlight broad issues. More detailed poverty targeting work is being developed by the District, using its GIS system, but is yet at an early stage.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with male community members of UC 145

21

Lessons and Reflections

LESSONS AND REFLECTIONS The experience of undertaking such an extensive district wide survey, a path-breaking one in many ways, has yielded many lessons which may be helpful to those local governments who may want to consider similar methods for ascertaining the views of their citizens. Some of the key lessons are outlined below.

Political Context Political-administrative Nexus is Critical to Success The mindset of the District Government did not change overnight. This has been a gradual process over the past few years, nurtured by the presence of specialist resources to help us think 'out of the box'. As a result we now believe we should be more responsive and accountable to citizens'.

EDO, Finance and Planning, CDGF

Perhaps the most important lesson which can be gleaned from the experience is that where there is a strong, mutually supportive and transparent relationship between the political and executive arms of a local government, outcomes can be optimised. The objectives of the City District Nazim, to reach out to his constituents, and the DCO, to improve planning, targeting and overall performance in delivery of services to citizens, converged, which gave impetus to the whole process. Importantly, the Nazim and the DCO worked closely together, and the DCO kept the Nazim fully apprised at all stages. Thus, by the time the findings of the survey were discovered to be critical, there was so much joint ownership of the process that both Nazim and DCO were open to discussing and sharing the results widely.

The CDGF took a brave step in sharing what could be inflammatory material with a broad range of stakeholders; but this was in itself enabled by the sense of ownership that had been built, and the conviction that it was correct to open oneself up to feedback from constituents.

The corporate team openly admit that none of this would have been possible without the political will and full support of the District Nazim, and this support would not have been forthcoming without the efforts of the DCO to be open and flexible in accommodating the Nazim's political agenda (to ensure a full coverage district wide survey). With two champions, the process was well supported and protected.

Broader Engagement with Elected Representatives could have Ensured Better Outcomes The close collaboration between the political head of the District and the corporate management has been discussed. Yet, the body politic extends beyond this, and evidence indicates that it is local councillors and politicians who are most accessible to citizens.

Elected representatives formed part of the focus group discussions, in recognition of their important role. However, while results from the survey were discussed with a very small group of provincial and national politicians, local councillors were not engaged fully in the dissemination process (though findings are publicly accessible). There were a number of reasons for this, but learning indicates that it is important to engage with local level politicians, who are involved in service delivery and who engage with citizens on a daily basis.

Engaging with the wider body of politicians would have ensured more of a debate and enhanced the process of departmental accountability. It would perhaps also have revitalised the Monitoring Committees required by the LGO to overlook public services and that remain, for the main part, ineffective.

22

Lessons and Reflections

Technical Considerations Well-placed, Flexible and Timely Technical Support Enables Innovation There is general agreement that the specialists and resources available to the CDGF have been critical in both catalysing and supporting the reform programme. While Faisalabad had a vision, it took its policy think-tank to help it to generate ideas and bring them to life.

In this, the flexibility of the SDLGF and the donor, DFID, has also been important; had DFID been rigid in its approach, much of the innovation would not have been possible. All of this highlights the need for technical assistance to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the local government (in this case).

Well Presented Findings will be Optimally Used The spatial mapping of levels of satisfaction, and thereafter of secondary information related to investments, presented the findings in an accessible manner to policy makers. It was relatively easy for decision-makers to home in on geographical areas where issues seemed most prevalent, and to target resources accordingly.

Stakeholders should be Engaged with at the Design Phase While the development of the Citizen Perception Survey process took place through a closely knit relationship and dialogue between the CDGF senior management and the District Nazim, the departments themselves were not involved at the early stages, and nor were civil society organisations (though some assisted at the local level with the survey itself).

In hindsight, a better structured consultative process would have engaged with key stakeholders at an early stage, rather than at the point where findings are being presented.

This would ensure 'buy-in' from a broader group of stakeholders, and also help to refine the methodology at an early stage.

Replication will Require Consideration of Scale and Detailed Documentation of Methodology At the behest of the political leadership, the Citizen Perception Survey was carried out on an unprecedented district wide scale, covering all Union Councils. The scale itself created enormous complexities in methodology and logistics, even given the support of the SLDGF.

Citizen Perception Survey meeting with female community members of UC 98

While the methodology has now been developed, replication of the effort is not likely to be feasible at this scale. A repetition of the exercise in Faisalabad, as well as replication in other districts, would need to consider a sample-based exercise, which would be smaller scale, yet provide intra-district comparisons for decision-making.

Also, while the Survey report outlines the broad methodology, a far more detailed 'tool-kit' will be required to allow replication of the exercise. This would include details of the design phase, questionnaires, community mobilisation techniques, data entry and analysis, mapping of results, presentation and dissemination methods. Without this, the replication of the exercise could be compromised.

23

Lessons and Reflections

Dissemination and Outcomes A Communication Campaign for Findings is Essential While the survey has had some dissemination, there was a need for it to be disseminated on a far wider scale; through the media, public meetings, in the District Council, through Union Council meetings and through all other means possible. It is useful that it is publicly available on the CDGF's website www.faisalabad.gov.pk (Figure 2), but a more active process of sharing and discussing findings would make it accessible to a wider audience, many of whom may not be aware of its existence. It should have provided the platform for government departments to engage in a meaningful dialogue with elected representatives and citizens around critical issues which affect the every day lives of citizens and the poor in particular.

The dissemination effort was rushed, due to the heavy workload of officials and other pressing political considerations. Importantly, the media was not involved to help disseminate findings on a much larger scale. Citizens, for the main part, therefore have had limited exposure to the survey findings, which limits the utility of the Survey as a social accountability tool. One of the key issues marring the relationship between government and citizens is the lack of or inappropriate communication. This has been an area of great focus for the CDGF, and many innovative initiatives have resulted (e.g. the street theatre programme).

In the case of an important exercise such as a Citizen Perception Survey, it is essential that citizens are informed, not only of findings, but of the actions that have been taken to address identified issues. This will help to build a credible relationship between the local government and citizens. In this, it is important to work with both civil society organisations and the media.

The survey findings were shared with departments and some civil society groups, with positive feedback. However, a broader and more structured dissemination process would be instrumental in ensuring that any follow-up work is supported by a larger constituency.

Findings Need to be Communicated in the Appropriate Language and Medium

Sharing of the Citizen Perception Survey results with the MNA

The dissemination process to varied audiences was to some extent tailored to convey the messages from the Perception Survey in the most appropriate form. Formal presentations were used for departmental staff, while street theatre was used to good effect in low-income and rural areas. The process could have been further refined, as formal presentations were well formulated and useful for departmental staff. However, they were also used for local NGOs and CCBs, some of whom found it difficult to absorb the messages. Interactive sessions or a 'town-hall' setting would have been useful in some instances, with the participation of elected representatives and discussion around the political implications and what of the findings meant for citizens.

Figure 2:

CITY DISTRICT GOVERNMENT FAISALABAD Strategic Policy Unit

SELECTED SERVICES IN FAISALABAD PERCEPTIONS AND REALITIES A CITIZEN FOCUS INITIATIVE

June 2007

24

Placing the report of the Survey on CDGF’s website (www.faisalabad.gov.pk)

Lessons and Reflections Feedback Loops are Critical While there was dissemination of the findings, there has been little reaction or feedback from civil society. The exercise would have been more effective had feedback loops been provided to civil society. Even where citizens may be aware of findings, the process of social accountability requires that they be provided appropriate channels to demand accountability of the public sector and elected representatives. The experience of citizen's as the Survey indicates, is that using formal channels of complaint has not worked in the past. A new process has to be put in motion by employing effective mechanisms for civil society to be able to access public servants and demand accountability of them, and the process has to be nurtured to build confidence in the public.

Some of the mechanisms which have been put in place by the devolution programme, in particular the Monitoring Committees and CCBs, could play a role, yet Monitoring Committees have either not been formed or remain ineffective and CCBs lack the capacity to do so. It would have been useful to activate mechanisms of feedback and engage in a dialogue with citizens on the implications of the findings and the roles of both government and citizens in resolving issues.

Responsiveness will Build Confidence and Trust A survey of this kind will only be credible if concrete actions are taken in response to its findings. Channelling citizen voice is one step, but the institutions of the state must respond to concerns and issues raised. Faisalabad demonstrated its commitment to the process by initiating a process for departments to take account of the findings in their operations, and by using the findings to help target investments (in conjunction with other tools). A structured process of follow-up and monitoring is important in this regard, as are the communication loops mentioned above.

It is important that the government's response to survey findings is also communicated to citizens, whether through civil society organisations or through the media. This will ensure the credibility of the process, and encourage greater confidence in the government machinery.

Sharing of the Citizen Perception Survey results with the NGOs and CCBs

25

Conclusions

CONCLUSIONS The CDGF has embarked on a credible programme of reform, which places the citizen at its centre. With its commitments to delivering high quality services and ensuring responsiveness to its citizens embodied in its vision and mission statements, the CDGF has sought to innovate in its approaches to citizen engagement. Starting with the process of information sharing and standard consultation, the CDGF has progressively moved along the spectrum of public involvement, and is now attempting to engage in more creative ways with citizens.

The Citizen Perception Survey has been an important step in this journey.

Traversing uncharted territory, the CDGF chose, in the interests of political expediency, to ascertain the views of its citizens on a district-wide scale. While the findings of the survey itself were highly critical of the performance of public sector service delivery, its success lay in the symbiotic relationship it highlighted between the political and executive arms of the District, with both working towards mutually agreed and synergistic outcomes.

It is this relationship, placed in the context of an on-going process of institutional change that drove the acceptability of an exercise which in reality was highly critical of its proponents. The CDGF has been a beacon in this regard, leading the way for other districts to follow suit. That other districts have taken interest in the findings and process, is important. By choosing to publicly share critical findings, CDGF has remained true to its core values as articulated in its Corporate Plan: 'Honesty, Openness and Accountability: We are committed to honest, open and accountable local district government and we will try to ensure that these qualities are apparent in all our actions at all times.’ and the guiding principle: 'To place citizens at the centre of service delivery processes through better targeted planning; participatory decision-making; more effective service delivery; more accountable for results.'

Importantly, the CDGF demonstrated responsiveness, by taking action on the basis of findings. Resources were directed where issues were pronounced and under investment apparent and departments were asked to take findings into account when strategies and action plans were prepared. The Survey had, to some extent, enhanced internal accountabilities. The cultural shifts towards a more transparent, accountable and responsive District had already been set in motion, though there is some way to go before real change is embedded.

The Survey findings themselves starkly pointed to the extent of problems that exist in service delivery by CDGF’s departments. There was little confidence in the state's mechanisms to resolve grievances, the few citizens who attempted this course had little response. This left most citizens to the mercies of traditional systems of power and patronage. Few citizens had been consulted in this manner on their views on public services, and suspicion still tainted the dialogue. Yet, people attended meetings and expressed their views.

The Perception Survey is an important tool which will help the District in channelling citizen 'voice', and building an evidence-base which will help to target investments better to achieve poverty reduction goals.

26

Conclusions However, there are some challenges which remain. Refinement is required in the process and further work needs to be done before it can truly be an effective tool for channelling voice and enhancing accountability. Findings indicate that the dissemination process requires broadening and new approaches. There are many citizens and elected representatives who are unaware of the findings of the survey, and while findings have been shared with some stakeholders, there has been little opportunity for debate and dialogue between service providers, government, elected representatives and users of services.

At present, civil society does not have a clear forum through which to interface with government on the findings (although there are some platforms that have been developed through the reform process, such as the District Coordination Council of NGOs). Ordinary citizens who would wish to add their views or demand a response from government, do not have a channel to go through. This channel could be the new Citizen Call Centre, Monitoring Committees, CCBs or elected representatives. However, the mechanisms have to be publicised and made effective.

The process of building confidence and trust between citizens and government is a particularly challenging one, and one that has to be nurtured with care. While the CDGF has been initially responsive, further action and follow up is needed to ensure that departments are taking action and are opening themselves up to citizens. There is evidence to indicate that while accepting of their failings, departmental staff remain resistant to opening themselves up to be more transparent, participatory and accountable. A cultural change needs to be effected, and this can only happen with constant attention to the issue over time. Monitoring Committees also need to be activated to play their role in accountability.

With a methodology now developed, repeating the survey in Faisalabad, or replicating it in other districts, should not be problematic. It is recommended that a tool kit with the details on how to undertake the replication should be developed over the next few years or earlier. In the context of Faisalabad, there is evidence to indicate that the utility of the findings in guiding the allocation of scarce resources may already have created a lobby for the repetition of the survey.

A continued focus on dissemination, public debate and government action is now required to ensure that the process is mainstreamed. The real challenge for the District is to ensure the credibility of the process not just by taking remedial actions, but also by communicating findings and responsive measures actively to key stakeholders and citizens, and providing them with the right channels to demand accountability of their public service delivery mechanisms.

27

Annex 2

Annex 2: Table A2-1:

Meetings for dissemination of findings of Citizen Perception Survey

Sr. No.

Department/Organisation

Date of the meeting

1

Health deperment

9 thApril 2007

2

Education department

10 th April 2007

3

NGOs ( Al-Janat, Shining star, Women Shelter organisation, Anjuman Rafa-e-ama, Human Guides, Al-Khair Welfare Society, Shadow, The hope)

4

Community Development department

5

CCBs (Welfare group, Panah, Zior, Karakaram, Rehnuma-e-nojawan, Baghicha-e-itfaal, Clock tower, New youth, ldren, village, Al-Azeem,

12 th April 2007 13 th April 2007 13 th April 2007

Al-Bashir, Madina, Al-meezen, Old Citizen, Shamas, Anjuman Tarqee dehaat

30

6

WASA

13 th April 2007

7

Finance & Planning and Agriculture department

16 th april 2007

8

TMAs (TMOs, and tehsil officer Planning & Coordination and TO Infrastructure & Services)

18 th April 2007

9

PHED (executive engineer, sub - director)

18 th April 2007

10

PCWSSP (Prjoect d irector and deputy project director)

18 th April 2007

11

MNAs

30 th May 2007

12

MPAs

31 st May 2007

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY Citizen Engagement and Public Services: Why Neighbourhoods Matter. ODPM/ Home Office, 2005 East Asia Decentralises: Making Local Government Work. The World Bank, 2005 CCBs are grass-roots citizens' groups who are expected to act as partners to government in developmental activities Committees created to promote the amicable settlement of disputes Devolution in Pakistan: Overview of the ADB, DFID, World Bank Study, July 2004 Social Audit of Government and Delivery of Public Services, 2004-2005. CIET, 2005.

Selected Services in Faisalabad; Perceptions and Realities. CDGF/SPU, 2007

31

OUR OTHER PUBLICATIONS 2

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Managing Change

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March 2008

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Citizen Voice in Local Governance

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Promising Change

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The Citizen Perception Survey

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Six Case Studies on Whole School Development

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S.M. Khatib Alam Sumara Khan Mehreen Hosain

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Dr. Fareeha Zafar

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Dr. Fareeha Zafar

TS ES ER INT ER ITY ETH UN OG MM ING T R E O T TH GC AC OGE TIN GT OR IDIN PP ION DEC SU LTAT U S CON

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City District Government Faisalabad, Pakistan

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Beala Jamil

City District Government Faisalabad, Pakistan

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S.M. Khatib Alam Nadir Ehsan Kashif Abbas

City District Government Faisalabad, Pakistan

March 2008

Dr. Umar Saif Muntazir Mehdi Gul Hafeez Khokhar

City District Government Faisalabad, Pakistan

All case studies including other reports can be downloaded from the web site: http://www.faisalabad.gov.pk

ABOUT THE AUTHORS S.M. Khatib Alam - Project Manager and Overall Team Leader Khatib Alam is an international management consultant with considerable experience of leading large and diverse teams on multi-disciplinary, complex and challenging projects around the world. He has a particular expertise in strategic management, organisational change management, institutional strengthening, urban development and corporate social investment. Since 2004, he has been the Overall International Team Leader on the innovative DFID funded SDLGF project.

Mehreen Hosain - Development Consultant Mehreen Hosain is a policy analyst with a multidisciplinary background in environmental management and social development. Over the past two decades she has worked for international and bilateral agencies, central and local governments, and the NGO sector across Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Her expertise includes social policy analysis, institutional development, decentralization and local government reform, monitoring and evaluation and environmental management. She has been involved with the Support to SDLGF project over the past four years, where she has supported the work on poverty analysis and citizen engagement.

Sumara Khan - Research Analyst Sumara Khan has been working with the SDLGF project since 2004 as a Research Analyst. During her time with the City District Government Faisalabad, she has contributed extensively to the Project's research portfolio. Sumara led the district-wide “Citizen Perception Survey� focusing on critical social sector services, the first initiative of its kind carried out on a district wide scale in Pakistan. Her main areas of interest are social development, local government and social sector reform.

City District Government Faisalabad DCO Office, Near Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad, Pakistan Tel: +92 (0) 41 9200205 Fax: +92 (0) 41 9200206 E-mail: email@faisalabad.gov.pk Internet: http://www.faisalabad.gov.pk

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