Youth as drivers of accountability: conducting a youth social audit (PLA 64)

The demand for social accountability in the management of public resources has been gaining ground in Kenya over the last seven years. Pressure from citizens has increased for government to account for the use of public finances in public service delivery. Since 2009, Plan Kenya’s governance programme has been organising youth forums and workshops for government fund managers to share information on the public funds destined for community projects and services. Youth in Kwale, Kilifi and Nairobi counties have been using social audits, which have been developed as both a participatory tool and a participatory process to enhance social accountability. Social audits assess systems and processes of government institutions in public finance management at community level. This article shares our experience with other practitioners.

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA, formerly PLA Notes) is the world's leading series on participatory approaches and methods. PLA publishes articles on participation aimed at practitioners, researchers, academics and activists. All articles are peer-reviewed by an international editorial board. See: www.planotes.org

Keywords: Children, youth, young people, child rights, participatory governance.