REALISING THE RIGHT TO SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY   

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ACADEMIC

Introduction

The aim of the CSA’s Academic programme is to institutionalise the demand for social accountability among future civil society leaders and policy makers at universities in the Southern Africa region. The CSA aims to achieve this outcome by integrating social accountability course materials into the mainstream curriculum of regional universities. The medium-term objective of the CSA is facilitate the establishment of an SADC-wide network for university academics seeking to introduce course materials on the right to social accountability and tools for monitoring the social accountability system within their institutions.

Currently the programme focuses on making available the Fundamentals certificate course training materials to partner academics/universities in the region in an effort to achieve the above objective. Over the longer-term it will also develop the curricula for academic degree courses on social accountability, which will be shared with regional university partners. The CSA will then offer support to academics in the region in their efforts to adapt and implement these social accountability course materials.

 

The main activities of the programme are the following:

 

Papers on social accountability – Academic papers are written and published on topics relating to social accountability. These include papers on: the right to social accountability and identifying the limitations of current rights-based approaches to governance which fail to recognise this right; the relationship between the social accountability system and the public resource management framework; the rights-based approach to the social accountability system as a conception of the democratic state. These papers are presented at relevant academic conferences on governance, development and social justice issues and published on this website (see publications)

 

Consultations and presentations to regional academics – Meetings are held with regional academics and papers presented at regional universities on the right to social accountability and the relationship between the social accountability system and the public resource management cycle of the state.

 

Colloquium/ Conference on Social Accountability - the CSA plans to hold a colloquium in 2009 to facilitate engagement between civic actors and interest groups (engaging in applied social accountability monitoring in the Southern Africa region) with academics who have expressed an interest in social accountability issues. If you are interested in attending this colloquium, please contact the CSA.