What is citizen empowerment?

Anti-corruption citizen empowerment is about platforms, opportunities and accessibility provided to citizens to develop capabilities that are valuable to actively participate in the anti-corruption movement in Chad.

Despite fears of retaliation, citizens can make a difference: Two-thirds (67%) of African citizens fear retaliation if they report corruption. Even so, more than half (53%) think ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption.

We believe that citizens who are knowledgeable and empowered are better able to take action in detecting, refusing and tackling corruption, which is a vital element to achieving free corruption society in Chad.

There are two main approaches to fighting corruption: the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach.  The top-down approach has to do with developing and naturalizing new rules, institutions, and norms that target the “public administrative graft.”  The primary weakness of this approach, however, is that the very institutions accused of corruption are responsible for enacting change.   Those benefiting from corruption are much less likely to end it than those suffering from corruption.  

That is why we focus on the bottom-up, or grassroots, approach, which requires the mobilization of ordinary citizens.  A large, united public outcry provides the force of change that reformed infrastructure alone can’t.

EXPECTED IMPACT

• Promoting new modes of citizen engagement to reduce corruption, increase transparency, and further good governance.
• Increasing collective responsibility and awareness; for citizens to start to understand their individual responsibility and opportunity for impact.
• Finding ways, tools, and techniques to systematize the public participation and transparency of decision making.
• Creating forums for citizen and policy maker dialogues to foster social cohesion and trust in governing institutions.
• Developing a simple and effective platform to collect and safely communicate data, train involved actors, and target community initiatives.