Citizens Watchdogs
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Ending Corruption: Honesty Instituted competition.
Due to the fact that Paraguay is one of the most corrupt countries in Latin America we come up with the idea of creating the Citizens Watchdog. We realized that due to the lack of control and oversight corruption is embedded in the culture. For example when someone has a problem we always heard the phrase “I have a friend”. This means that this persons knows somebody that have power and can do something outside the law in order to commit a crime against what we call the “common good”.
In Paraguay we say that we do not have citizens: Why? Because we do not know our rights and responsibilities. When Paraguayans finish high school and university they are not aware of what does it means to be a citizen. They know, in theory, that they are entitled to be citizens but they do not know the practice of being a citizen.
The Citizens Watchdog has been created by a small group of honest citizens with the key responsibility of assuming public scrutiny of governments actions. If mechanisms to control are put in place dishonest people will be threaten by being expose to the media because of their actions.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Focus of activity
Oversight/Accountability
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2000
Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram,
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Lack of Accountability & Transparency
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Build Citizenship
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
Name Your Project
Citizens Watchdogs
Describe Your Idea
Due to the fact that Paraguay is one of the most corrupt countries in Latin America we come up with the idea of creating the Citizens Watchdog. We realized that due to the lack of control and oversight corruption is embedded in the culture. For example when someone has a problem we always heard the phrase “I have a friend”. This means that this persons knows somebody that have power and can do something outside the law in order to commit a crime against what we call the “common good”.
In Paraguay we say that we do not have citizens: Why? Because we do not know our rights and responsibilities. When Paraguayans finish high school and university they are not aware of what does it means to be a citizen. They know, in theory, that they are entitled to be citizens but they do not know the practice of being a citizen.
The Citizens Watchdog has been created by a small group of honest citizens with the key responsibility of assuming public scrutiny of governments actions. If mechanisms to control are put in place dishonest people will be threaten by being expose to the media because of their actions.
Innovation
Description of initiative
Due to the fact that Paraguay is one of the most corrupt countries in Latin America we come up with the idea of creating the Citizens Watchdog. We realized that due to the lack of control and oversight corruption is embedded in the culture. For example when someone has a problem we always heard the phrase “I have a friend”. This means that this persons knows somebody that have power and can do something outside the law in order to commit a crime against what we call the “common good”.
In Paraguay we say that we do not have citizens: Why? Because we do not know our rights and responsibilities. When Paraguayans finish high school and university they are not aware of what does it means to be a citizen. They know, in theory, that they are entitled to be citizens but they do not know the practice of being a citizen.
The Citizens Watchdog has been created by a small group of honest citizens with the key responsibility of assuming public scrutiny of governments actions. If mechanisms to control are put in place dishonest people will be threaten by being expose to the media because of their actions.
Innovation
Our model makes sure that regular citizens control what is ours. Our Constitution claims that “sovereignty reside in the people”. This means that citizens own state resources. Public officials and bureaucrats should be accountable to the people.
When regular citizens realize that control and oversight is something that benefits everybody they work in coordination to make sure that authorities are accountable. In small communities regular citizens know how public resources and funds are managed, people are also aware about mismanagements. When regular citizens denounce and file a criminal report about a situation that might be linked to corruption people start thinking that there are no risks. Our model is based on the notion that the Citizens Watchdog is an organization that it is being run by very respectable people from small communities that differentiate us from larger anti-corruption organizations. There is no need to have international aid or foreign funding in order to mobilize communities. Since we are being extremely successful, when communities realize that the model is working they want to replicate it and create a new Citizens Watchdog. We are here to support honest and accountable public officials.
Delivery Model
Regular citizens immediately understand the need to file a case and denounce. The lose the sense of being scared by threats from the corrupt authorities
The mechanisms for communication are the regular citizens themselves. The media (TV and newspapers) provide support and channel the information. We measure out impact using some very straightf0orward information like the number of corrupt elected officials impeached or bureaucrats destitute after a case is resolved.
Key Operational Partnerships
The Citizens Watchdog is a citizen sector organization with a legal status. It is completely independent from political parties and bureaucrats. We are totally self-sustainable, for example a very single member of our organization has to pay for their expenses (telephone, etc)
We have partners that help us with our denunciation activities. Their role is to educate regular citizens in order to make sure that they are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities. The also help us to educate people on how to file a case and control local authorities.
We also partner with honest public officials that want to bring more transparency to the system.
Impact
Financial Model
Everybody can participate. Those who have more resources will contribute with more. We try to reach out to very simple people living in small communities. These people will value their effort and that how we create a sense of commitment. Academic do not want o be involve. People living in small communities who have a simple life are more prone to protest. We see resources coming in different forms when we start a campaign or we hear about a case that needs our attention.
What percentage, if any, of the total operating costs does earned income (from products, services, or other fees) represent?
100
How is the initiative financed? Is it financially self-sustainable or profitable? How much do beneficiaries contribute?
The Citizen Watchdog is a selforgnzied and self-sustainable organization. If one of our member decides to file a case we as an organization support that action. The organization provides the resources for doing this but the action is taken by the individual. For example if one of our members wants to organzia a meeting eith other community members about a case we support this person by bringing together partners like the church or the school which provide space.
We encourage members to think and act in way that is in line with our philosophy that resources should came com the community.
Effectiveness
70 Citizens Watchdogs have had positive results since we started with this idea. Mayors, Governors, public officials and others have been impeached or fired. We have already signed an agreement with the President of Paraguay and the Auditor General. The agreement gave expedite the process of investigation of the cases we file.
Which element of the program proved itself most effective?
In terms of which is the program or element that had proved to be most effective is the process of filing a case and the follow up.
Number of clients in the last year?
Because of how time limitations we can say that that on average every Citizens Watchdog in Paraguay (70 in total) is filing and following up 2 cases per month.
What is the potential demand?
The demand for this program is focused on training. How we train regular citizens so as they can know and excersie their rights and responsibilities. We have several partnerships that help us train these people in different communities.
Scaling up Strategy
Our priority is to make sure that young people understand the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen.
If everyone understands this there is no need for Citizens Watchdogs.
Stage of the initiative
1
Expansion plan
Our expansion plan is based on how many requests we get for helping to create a Citizens Watchdog. We do not have an aggressive expansion strategy since we want the communities to decide if they want to have a Citizens Watchdog or not.
Origin of the Initiative
A group of three regular citizens saw how the country was stormed by corruption. We decided to create a Citizen Watchdog in order to fight corruption and make a more transparent society. We funded the first two Watchdogs outside the capital city and finally we were able to create the first Citizen Watchdog in Asuncion.
In 2001 when we sow that the idea was spreading all over Paraguay we created the a network of Citizen Watchdogs with a total of 15 members.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up
Uno de los desafíos es el aspecto financiero para poder expandir. Ahora ya se conoce a nivel internacional: Argentina, Brasil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile. Queremos hacer una Red a nivel Internacional para juntos poder luchar en toda América Latina. Ya tenemos nombre: RILCCO: RED INTERNACIONAL DE LUCHA CONTRA LA CORRUPCION. Ya tenemos contactos que tienen interés: Sólo nos faltan los medios para movilizarnos.
Los otros problemas son solucionables.
Donde exponemos tienen interés, inclusive en Costa Rica y Argentina ya iniciaron. Bolivia ya está por iniciar también.
Main Financial Challenges
Los gastos son sencillos: traslados, algo de honorario, algo para impresión. El monto dependerá de la cobertura. No importa de donde provenga con tal que el inversor esté de acuerdo con el Bien Común.
Main Partnership Challenges
Queremos hacer una Red a nivel Internacional para juntos poder luchar en toda América Latina. Ya tenemos nombre: RILCCO: RED INTERNACIONAL DE LUCHA CONTRA LA CORRUPCION. Ya tenemos contactos que tienen interés: Sólo nos faltan los medios para movilizarnos.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
A través de email que me llegó.
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 | 258 weeks agoGary J. Reid said: Fostering the creation of local citizen groups that seek out and publicize what they believe are instances of corrupt behavior by public ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 259 weeks agoCitizens Watchdogs has been chosen as a finalist in Ending Corruption: Honesty Instituted. |
| 261 weeks agoRichard Gottbreht said: Hello, My name is Rich Gottbreht from Global Insights and I am one of the entrants in the competition. Our work centers on helping ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 263 weeks agoPatrick Meagher said: This seems to be a very positive intiative, but the proposal is too vague. To have the best chances of being considered for an award, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
