Citizen charters : enhancing service delivery through accountability

Improving the quality of service delivery is a challenge in many developing countries. Citizens often find it difficult to hold government and other service providers accountable, precisely because they are not aware of the procedures and expectations that govern service providers' conduct in the realm of service delivery. In addition to undermining the connection between citizens and the state, this lack of transparency hampers governmental effectiveness and creates myriad opportunities for corrupt practices. Therefore, as part of the governance and anticorruption (GAC) agenda it is important to develop ways to provide citizens with the information they need to hold government accountable for delivering results. Citizen Charters (CCs) are public agreements between citizens and service delivery providers that clearly codify expectations and standards in the realm of service delivery. Introduced by the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, CCs are now being used in a wide range of countries including the United States, Kenya, India, Jamaica, and Mexico to improve the quality of service delivery and enhance public sector management. This note aims to give task teams a better understanding of CCs including a process and best practice examples so that they can effectively work with borrowers to integrate CCs into project design and implementation.