“Many people in rural areas can now easily own and operate mobile phones and are no longer required to travel long distances to get access to the information and be connected.” — CHRAGG
33/100
Tanzania's score for public participation in the 2015 Open Budget Index
November 2015 End date
January 2017
Issue
In Tanzania, the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) acts as an independent intermediary between citizens and government, helping people to register issues they want the government to address, and to demand access to public information.
Recently, CHRAGG has made it possible for citizens to register their complaints through SMS, which are then entered into their computerized Complaints Management System (CMS). However, only a small part of complaints are coming in through SMS as the system is still relatively unknown to the wider public.
Project
In this project, CHRAGG is working together with Bessbrook International Ltd. to improve the existing government Complaints Management System (CMS) in Tanzania, and add a new feature that allows users insight into local and national budgets. Where possible the budgets will be sourced from other (government) sites to help make it sustainable and integrated with government systems. The new feature will be piloted in a limited number of regions, while the improved CMS will benefit citizens country-wide.
Equally important is that the project is working on making the CMS as supportive as possible to offline, internal processes for incoming complaints. This will lead to a system that not only benefits citizens, but also benefits those working with the system on the inside. The project provides a great opportunity for learning how tech systems are best incorporated into government work processes for more efficient government response.
Partner
Bessbrook International Ltd is a for-profit company specializing in ICT and developing computer systems solutions. They have set up the CMS that is currently in use by the Commission, and are the lead implementing partner in this project.
The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) works to strengthen the adherence to good governance and the observation of human rights by both the state and citizens in Tanzania. The Commission was established in 2001 and serves the dual role of a human rights commission and an ombudsman for the promotion and protection of human rights.