Origin

The concept of social monitoring has evolved from the model of ‘Process Monitoring’ which is a relatively recent development in the broader field of monitoring and evaluation. Process Monitoring attempts to ensure that the quality of processes involved in a project/ programme do not get sidelined owing to the rush to achieve physical and financial targets. Process monitoring thus has its foundations on the rising concerns regarding effective management and result orientation of the diverse range of programmes and projects.

 However Process monitoring may or may not involve the civil society in the monitoring process, while Social monitoring involves the direct or indirect participation of civil society in monitoring the planning, implementation and performance of a project. Hence the rising significance of Social monitoring is also recognition of the contemporary demand for civic engagement as an important governance norm that can strengthen the decision-making arrangements of the state and produce outcomes that favor the poor and the disadvantaged
Rising democratization of countries, emergence of strong civil societies and open media are major actors creating new and more radical demands of transparency and accountability in the public sector. These demands are centered on stronger monitoring and evaluation and more rigorous audit of public expenditure’ (Khan and Stern, 2007).

Mechanisms for Social Monitoring

Mechanisms for social monitoring can be ideally ongoing or cyclical but also often one-off exercises. They include citizen report cards (survey-based quantitative assessments of services) community scorecards (quantitative surveys combined with qualitative meetings), social audits (combination of the two) or participatory expenditure tracking (whereby the community can check the flow of resources to a particular service). Some hybrid approaches are also emerging (as in the case of Community Based Performance Monitoring (CBPM) in Gambia), which combine a number of monitoring components.

Definitions

There are not many standard definitions for Social Monitoring. However following are some related definitions:

Social Development Monitoring is a periodic observation activity by socially disadvantaged groups as local citizens who are project participants or target beneficiaries. It could also take the form of action intended to enhance participation, ensure inclusiveness, articulation of accountability, responsiveness and transparency by implementing agencies or local institutions, with a declared purpose of making an impact on their socio-economic status (FAO).

Social monitoring is an approach for engaging communities in continuous monitoring and evaluation of government programs. It is a process aimed at mobilizing communities to participate fully and effectively in identifying and monitoring the quality of delivery of public services. It involves people at the grassroots to measure the performance of government programmes, their relevance and impact on the community.

For the purpose of this module, Social monitoring can be defined as the involvement of citizens, users of services, or civil society organizations in the monitoring of the processes and impacts of service delivery and public works.

Need for Social Monitoring

1. Make local stakeholders active participants, not just sources of information
2. Strengthens accountability and transparency of public actions as well as public sector performance
3. Broaden scope of information-collected (complimentary to existing data sets and centrally defined statistical sources)
4. Increase public awareness and public support