In order to encourage local institutions to prioritize the needs of the poorest, CPAN Research Fellow, Anna Mdee, is in Tanzania to work on the Local Governance Performance Index Project from the 16th to the 20th of May.

During this week Anna, in cooperation with local governments, will collect data with the aim to create a publicly available index aiming to reflect politicians’ performances in terms of public service provision and poverty reduction. The aim of this project is to evaluate whether the creation of such index can lead to a prioritization of the needs of the poorest, and consequently shape the policy and advocacy agenda.

More information on the project will soon be available on the Hapa Kazi Tu website. “Hapa kazi tu” (There is Only Work Here) refers to to the election slogan of the now President John Magufuli, suggesting a new seriousness in government service delivery, which is also the motto of this project.

The project "Holding local government to account. Can a performance index provide meaningful accountability?"started in 2014 and is co-funded by the the UK Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID).