Authors/Editors: Sarah Lister et al.

Social accountability is at the heart of UNDP's understanding of democratic governance, and human development more broadly. Bothe the UNDP Strategic Plan (2008 - 2013) and the Global Strategy to Strengthen Civil Society and Civic Engagement (2009) prioritize fostering inclusive participation and building responsive state institutions as means to strengthen democratic governance and accountability.

This note seeks to provide staff with an understanding of how the principles of social accountability are already an integral part of UNDP's approach to human development. 
The first sections give an overview of definitions and the principles of social accountability. The later sections provides guidance on how to incorporate the practice of social accountability into programming, illustrated by examples of how it is currently being operationalized in many contexts in different regions