Social Accountability in Lebanon: Collaboration Rather Than Confrontation in Times of Crisis

This chapter brings a case study of social accountability (SA) initiative in Lebanon, focusing on the relationship between community-based committees and municipalities. It explores different meanings of SA, which in this context focuses more on the possibility of people to question the municipality’s actions, and latter’s openness to this kind of questioning. SA therefore takes a more reactive form, and is more accepted in the case of failure to respond to people’s priorities, while steering away from financial accountability. Local actors emphasise direct communication as a primary tool for SA. Collaboration is more valued than confrontation as it seen as more likely to yield positive results and change. During the multifaceted crisis in Lebanon, citizens’ expectations of municipalities and their respective roles are shifting towards responding to basic needs. This is coinciding with municipalities’ diminished resources to fulfil their duties. Municipalities therefore look to local citizen committees for support. This opens the door for collaborative planning, if certain boundaries are respected.