Twaweza's 2013 calendar is focused on health, featuring an unlikely hero. Can citizens really make a difference to the availability of medicines at their local health facilities? How do donkeys help doctors? And how far might a simple 'thank you' take you? Read on

Twaweza has just released the 2013 Annual Plans for its Uwezo initiative and main Twaweza citizen engagement work. You can see what we plan to do and achieve, and some of the core ideas that inform our thinking. Plus expected outputs, potential partners and detailed budgets.

Read Twaweza's 2012 Annual Plan, including expected outputs and budgets for each department of the organization.

In March 2012 the Twaweza East Africa team, in conjuction with Daraja, did a week long immersion in Njombe, in the southern highlands of Tanzania. During our immersion, we saw communities working together to bring change to their lives. In the absence of specific services and facilities, the community works together with leadership from inspiring individuals to fill the gaps.

While it is impossible to neatly sum up or come to any definite conclusions about what we experienced, we have put together some observations from participants. View our presentation, The Community Together, to read of our observations on access to information, power, change, education, health and water.

Our Annual Report for 2011, a year of the glass half full and half empty, has been released.

In 2011 we failed to develop as many partnerships as anticipated, or enough of an ecosystem effect between partners, or spend our budget. At the same time, we sharpened our approaches and investments, fostered innovative citizen monitoring, influenced national policies (particularly in education), stimulated the public imagination in interesting ways, and played a key role in establishing a major global initiative. Our main evaluations got off the ground and began to generate valuable lessons. We could interpret the facts to tell a compelling story about 2011 in either direction; the truth in all likelihood is that we have both succeeded powerfully and fallen short.

'How transparency and accountability can make development work' was a presentation made to the Board of the Hewlett Foundation, one of our donors. The presenation talks of how transparency and accountability can energize development by creating opportunities for people to know, connect and act and by providing incentives for those in charge to be more responsive and deliver. Transparency and accountability enables citizens to reclaim government and make services work for them.

Things may be moving slowly in the world of officialdom. But people are not always waiting for their governments to do everything in their daily lives. According to Rakesh Rajani, Twaweza's Head, despite bureaucratic service delivery systems citizens find ways to get things done.