Bridging the gap between communities and service providers - Developing accountability through community mobilisation approaches

This article reviews Save the Chiidren/US and Johns Hopkins University's ex perience to date in two USAID-funded pilot projects that aim to increase co mmunity participation in improving health in rural areas of Latin America. in Puno. Peru, the MoH-led project is facilitating dialogue and action betw een service providers and community members to define and improve the quali ty of health care from a client and community perspective. In Oruro, Bolivi a, communities and service providers developed and are using a community he alth information system that provides them with data upon which they can jo intly make decisions, set priorities, plan activities and monitor their pro gress. Although both projects are in relatively early stages of development , they have achieved promising preliminary results and offer opportunities to learn about accountability through partnerships between communities and service providers.