Evaluation of the Citizen Participatory Audit by the Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan

Abstract

Social accountability is central to democratic accountability and governance. The participation and inclusion of citizens in the works of the government improves transparency and public trust. The Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan (DAGP) provides the necessary support to the Public Accounts Committees of the national and provincial assemblies in carrying out their legislative oversight on the operations of the executive to hold them accountable. The government of Pakistan and the World Bank have initiated the Program for Results (PforR) for improving public financial management and accountability, which calls for taking measures to improve social accountability and citizen participatory audit. As a result of this program, the DAGP has introduced the Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) initiative to integrate the citizens in the audit process. Although, based on the experiences of other SAIs, the DAGP’s CPA is an encouraging initiative towards social inclusion and participatory governance to promote social accountability, it would not be as successful as anticipated unless certain impediments and challenges identified through SWOT and PEST analyses are overcome.