94148 Turkey: Empowering Citizens to Monitor the Quality of Public Services: April 17, 2012 Public Sector Reform and the First Citizen Report Card (CRC) in Turkey Synopsis Within the framework of World Bank-supported public sector reform in Turkey, the very first Citizen Report Card Program was implemented in the city of Manisa. The program served as a powerful tool for ordinary citizens to communicate effectively their feedback about core public services. Challenge MULTIMEDIA Despite its sporadic pace and uneven progress, public sector reform in Turkey is an ongoing effort involving a shift in focus from inputs to outputs/outcomes, a transfer of more authority to program frontline managers for enhanced transparency and accountability; and the granting of more autonomy and authority to lower levels of government for more democratic control and more effective central monitoring. This reform is more difficult to implement at the local than the central level, not only because there are nearly 2,800 local governments with Video:  Announcement of the CRC in the differing capacities and needs, but also because General Assembly meeting of the Citizen civil society is not very well organized and Assembly currently lacks the means to participate fully in Video:  The presentation of the CRC Report to the decision-making processes. the Mayor by the president of the Citizen Assembly Approach Slideshow:  Turkey Citizens' Report Card Program In March 2010, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and the World Bank conducted a workshop for citizen assemblies - a multi- stakeholder governance mechanism established by municipal More Results law - on the rationale and implementation of a CRC, and provided technical assistance (TA) on the CRC to the Manisa Citizen Assembly in 2011. The program tests the effectiveness of service delivery at the local level by establishing a dialogue between local administrations and citizens, steering discussion away from contentious topics to 56 Manisa neighborhoods - home to the more concrete and fundamental subject of local service 290,000 residents, took part in the Citizen Report Card Program delivery. The CRC focused on the quality of services rather than service providers—local and central governments and the private sector—to overcome political biases and service 27 overlaps. The Citizen Assembly led the process in Manisa. Intensive dialogue led the governorate and municipality to endorse the CRC and commit to transparency. public services were covered in the scorecard Results The TA produced several key outcomes: MORE INFORMATION The Citizen Assembly now acts as a bridge between Economic Policy Research citizens and city administration, enhancing it as an Foundation of Turkey effective governance mechanism. Manisa Municipality Public awareness of the CRC was improved through Manisa Governorship extended media coverage and the use of social Celal Bayar University media. The CRC was uploaded to social media websites where visitors can observe results across 12 Manisa Chamber of Commerce regions and leave comments. and Industry Manisa CRC Initiative The municipality demonstrated transparency by Twitter printing and distributing 1,000 copies of the report. The Manisa Chamber of Commerce also published Facebook the report and reproduced the results in its monthly The World Bank in Turkey publications distributed to about 5,000 contacts. Country Program Snapshot Service delivery data were collected at the neighborhood level for the first time. Neighborhood leaders became involved through the creation of   Neighborhood Leaders’ Council under the Citizen Assembly. The report card covered the satisfaction rates of 27 public services provided by the local and central government and private operators. Fifty-six Manisa neighborhoods in 12 statistical regions took part in the survey, with 2,500 respondents representing Manisa’s 290,000 residents. Follow-up on the survey results included an evaluation meeting with municipal service departments where head of departments reported on CRC results, acknowledgement of the Family Health Center, as the city’s top scorer, an analysis of variations in garbage collection by the sanitary services department, and an investigation of water quality in neighborhoods that complained about unpleasant tap water odor. Bank Contribution The Bank facilitated the transfer of a proven experience from South Asia to Turkey, providing training on the CRC to ten citizen assemblies around Turkey, raising awareness of the survey, and creating a demand for the first pilot in Manisa. This training was held jointly with the Public Affairs Foundation (a nongovernmental think tank from India that originated the CRC approach and has implemented numerous CRCs in India and abroad) and TEPAV. TA of US$20,000 provided by the Bank in collaboration with TEPAV was used mainly for the field operation. Partners There was a strong partnership between TEPAV and the key associates in Manisa: the municipality, Citizen Assembly, governor’s office, Chamber of Commerce, and Celal Bayar University. At the outset all partners signed an accord for collaboration and pledging the transparency of results TEPAV provided in-house expertise for capacity building and reporting results. As the main beneficiary, the Citizen Assembly initiated the CRC. The municipality and governor’s office ensured the involvement of their service departments in designing the questionnaire. Celal Bayar University provided insights on the city’s socioeconomic structure and helped cluster the neighborhoods for the survey. The Chamber of Commerce and the municipality published and disseminated the report. Moving Forward The short term results should be seen as only a small part of the potential role that the CRC could play. The municipality and Special Provincial Assembly have in principal agreed to finance the second round in 2012, which the University has committed to coordinate. The Special Provincial Assembly hopes to expand the survey to all provincial districts. Inspired by the Manisa example, the Ministry of Interior is reproducing the CRC in six additional cities in 2012 under an EU-funded project entitled “Technical Assistance for Improving Participatory Strategic Governance at Local Level.” Depending on demand, the Bank may consider providing, with TEPAV, follow-up TA. Beneficiaries Mustafa Pala, President of the Manisa Citizen Assembly: “Every person has milestones in his/her life. The Manisa CRC Initiative has been one and the most important of the few milestones I had throughout my life.” Cengiz Ergün, Mayor of the Manisa Municipality: “When the Citizen Assembly informed us first about the initiative we told them not to refrain from anything to inquire about us. We value public opinion whether it is positive or negative. As a matter of fact, all responses of the people of Manisa are covered in the CRC report. Whoever wants to learn if people are satisfied with the Manisa Municipality can have a look at the report.” Ziya Tay, Provincial Director for Health in Manisa: “The basic philosophy of the in Health Transformation Program is the human-centered health service aiming at the happiness and satisfaction of people. This is why we attach great importance to citizen satisfaction in measuring health service quality. The success registered by the citizens is the result of frontline personnel of the Ministry of Health providing services in the very local level with a great sacrifice. In the CRC the region of the 3rd Family Health Center has got the highest score, with 86 percent health service satisfaction. I congratulate the 3rd Family Health Center and all health personnel for the success.”