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Challenges to Social Accountability and Service Delivery in Pakistan

This article highlights the major challenges to social accountability in Pakistan. Based on a perception survey of 800 household-level respondents from four provinces of Pakistan besides relevant focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the findings of the study reveal that the respondents have an understanding of which of the basic services they are entitled to and which are not being facilitated by public sector service providers. Owing to the trust deficit between communities and state administration, there is a dire need for establishing and reforming informal and formal grievance redressal mechanisms. On the other hand, with over half of Pakistan’s population not having any formal education, communities need to be trained in social accountability tools through which they may access their rights and entitlements. Civil society organisations (CSOs), working in Pakistan for over the last two decades, urgently need to introduce innovative methods for community mobilisation. These CSOs are also facing severe internal and external security threats which are impacting the effectiveness of community-level accountability exercises. While we take stock of such challenges, there is renewed hope that government and donor community will support local-level CSOs to mitigate threats to social accountability interventions.