Centro de Investigaciónes y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social

Ciudadano—formerly the Center for Social Audits (CCS)—partners with local citizen groups to improve citizen oversight of public services and government spending at the subnational level. With this grant, CCS will continue to provide technical assistance to partner organizations and apply research to better understand the pathways through which citizen oversight improves public service delivery.

This grant will support the application and refinement of citizen-led assessments to gauge how well students are learning in five states in Mexico. It will also enable researchers to explore how assessments can encourage greater accountability of schools to improve learning outcomes in one state, for the eventual replication of these tactics in other states.

This grant would provide program support to the Center for Social Audit to expand work to build the capacity of Mexican organizations working to improve citizen oversight of public services and government spending at the subnational level. After an external evaluation, as well as a process to strengthen their overall organizational capacity, the Center has identified a path for institutional growth. Providing technical assistance, supported by applied research, the Center would work with smaller organizations to build stronger citizen oversight tools, with the ultimate goal of improving the impact on service delivery. The Center would also raise the profile of institutional reforms required to make public systems more accountable to citizens.