| Existing structures promoting state/society collaboration |
CVA interacted with—and dovetailed—government-created mechanisms for community participation in development (e.g. Area Development Coordination Committees, Safe Motherhood Action Groups) |
Existence of these groups reflected stated governmental commitment to inclusive community participation Groups provided scaffolding for the conduct and realization of CVA activities and goals, as they were sometimes charged with conducting or monitoring the implementation of some CVA action plan activities CVA enhanced efficacy of these groups by reducing social risks for community members and/or health centre managers who used these structures complain |
Evans (2012), Zulu, Michelo, Msoni, Hurtig, Byskov and Blystad (2014), Chikulo (2014), Ensor, Green, Quigley, Badru, Kaluba and Kureya (2014). [example only] |
| Willing political leaders |
Political leadership both facilitated—and was strengthened by – CVA |
Locally elected councillors were generally happy to participate in interface and other meetings, albeit with some wariness regarding the CVA agenda Respect for the material and moral authority of elected positions promoted community engagement, particularly in early meetings |
Westhorp, Walker, Rogers, Overbeeke, Ball and Brice (2014), McGee and Gaventa (2010), Papp, Gogoi and Campbell (2013), Joshi (2010)
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| Traditional leader buy-in |
Traditional leaders were important “interlocutors”, or intermediaries, who used community trust and legitimacy to facilitate “relationships, conditions and spaces” for accountability coalitions |
Boosted attendance by citizenry at interface meetings Promoted accountability, insofar as community members were more likely to follow through on commitments made in traditional leaders’ presence |
Papp, Gogoi and Campbell (2013), Tembo and Chapman (2014)
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| WV Reputation and Access to Resources |
Long-term presence in Districts; construction of visible organizational and physical infrastructure (e.g. schools and participatory committees) Financial and organization flexibility to make 15-year commitments and build relationships carefully and slowly |
Viewed as a neutral party vis-à-vis the health system and thus capable of acting as a trusted interlocutor/advisor Assisted community to navigate governmental agencies including relationship building, and to think through action plan priorities and follow up Well positioned to come up with resources for action plan implementation |
To the authors’ knowledge, this has not been closely investigated in social accountability and health literature |
