Municipal Barometer: An accessible platform for local government data
Centre for Municipal Research and Advice
“Without proper access to data, citizens struggle to make informed decisions and find it challenging to hold government accountable.” — Centre for Municipal Research and Advice
9
key areas of government performance tracked
222
local municipalities covered
May 2014 End date
September 2016
Issue
In South Africa, the limited availability of local level government data means that ordinary people struggle to understand what public money is actually being spent on in their constituencies.
The questions are simple:
- What did the government promise?
- What did the government deliver?
- How can I make my opinions known about this?
Project
To support understanding of government performance in South Africa, Making All Voices Count is supporting the Centre for Municipal Research and Advice to extend their Municipal Barometer. This is a web-based tool that provides local level data to citizens in formats that are easy to access and interpret, and have clear indications of how to respond.
Through the barometer, CSOs, the media and citizens can assess and respond to government action based on facts, not on assumptions.
The Municipal Barometer has been workshopped in all provinces in South Africa to ensure it is practical and understandable for ordinary citizens to use. The team are supporting awareness and use of the Barometer through policy dialogues, public meetings and media engagement.
Through the Barometer, municipalities have the capacity to locate, access, interpret and utilise date for planning, budgeting and governance processes. Ordinary people in South Africa have access to a tool to supports local government’s accountability with solid data.
Related projects
Partner
The Centre for Municipal Research and Advice is a technical service provider in the field of local government. The goal of CMRA is to support and strengthen municipalities and Local Government Associations in Southern Africa.
Related Blogs
-
BLOG | January 17, 2018
| Lily L. Tsai, Nina McMurry, Swetha Rajeswaran and Alisa Zomer
Cleaning house — Experimental evidence on improving citizen engagement in… -
BLOG | December 13, 2017
| Michael Moses and Sue Soal
Supporting local learning and adaptation – Unpacking the effectiveness of… -
BLOG | December 12, 2017
| Jed Miller
Time enough to learn? Seeking the conditions for actionable learning -
BLOG | December 6, 2017
| Michael Moses and Sue Soal
Learning to Make All Voices Count - lessons for OGP,… -
BLOG | November 22, 2017
| Tom Walker
What does it take to make research used and useful?…