Of 29 ethiopia social accountability program (esap2) midterm review (mtr) final report

Data Benchmarking 
The ESAP 2 study data yields very similar findings to other large, national surveys on key indicators. On 
citizen engagement indicators, such as participation in discussions on basic services, levels of trust, access 
to services, and overall levels of satisfaction, the ESAP 2 data reflects similar findings from the Woreda 
Citizen Benchmarking Survey V (World Bank, 2014) and the ESAP 2 Operational Baseline Study (VNG, 
2013). On basic household indicators such as household size, literacy rates, and poverty levels, the ESAP 
2 households are largely similar to national averages captured in the Ethiopia Demographic and Health 
Survey (Central Statistics Agency, 2012), the Living Standards Measurement Survey (World Bank, 
2013), and the National Census (Central Statistics Agency, 2007). 
There are no systematic or recurrent differences on key indicators between treatment and control 
communities in the ESAP 2 sample, implying that the randomization method employed by the study did 
17
Bjorkman, M. and J. Svensson, 2007. ‘Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment of a Community-
Based Monitoring Project in Uganda’. Working Paper.
18
Banerjee et al, 2008. ‘Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Education in India’, 
NBER Working Paper 14311 

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indeed establish statistically comparable ‘treatment’ and ‘control’ groups. The existence of these two 
groups that are statistically “the same” before the program began enables an examination of changes in 
outcomes over time to be attributed to the impact of the ESAP 2 program. 
Findings: Citizen Engagement 
Across surveyed households, a large number of citizens are already engaging in service delivery in 
varying forms. Many citizens have participated in meetings to discuss service delivery, and there is a 
healthy incidence of complaints about services, suggesting that citizens are involved and taking 
ownership over basic services in their communities. At the same time, levels of confidence in public 
officials are low, and there is significant gender disparity in participation and interaction with officials.
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