Sonora Ciudadana — Who, what, why
Sonora Ciudadana used to be a non-governmental, independent and nonpartisan civil society organization dedicated, from the local level, to the defense and promotion of human rights in favor of building a comprehensive democracy in Mexico. Based in Sonora state, it made several important contributions to the transparency, participation, and accountability (TPA) agenda at the state, municipal level — with key successes in accessing health services.
Despite receiving long-term, flexible funding from the Hewlett Foundation for a decade, Sonora Ciudadana experienced a leadership crisis that ultimately led to the closing of the organization.
What
While still in existence, Sonora Ciudadana focused on promoting accountability in the provision of public health services, combatting access discrimination, and engaging citizens to improve the quality of health services. Working at the state level was more challenging than at the national level since the transparency and accountability infrastructure had significant variations across state jurisdictions and accountability advocates often faced intimidation tactics.
The social and political challenges that the northern Sonora state faces are very different from those of other Mexican states — especially the ones located in the center of the country. Its problems are associated with the shared US-Mexico border, the extended presence of organized crime involved in drug cartel activities, the concentration of wealth in certain landowners, and the existence of a political elite that until recently was unified in a single political class that to this day continues to concentrate power.
Why
The Founder and Executive Director of Sonora Ciudadana was a native from Sonora who used to be a researcher at Fundar. The creation of Sonora Ciudadana had more to do with its founder’s interests and connections in Mexico City (with national CSOs) than with opportunities within the civil and political context in the state of Sonora. However, the founder had a vision and a commitment to making the national transparency and accountability frameworks relevant for citizens in Sonora.
When the organization was created, there were few local examples of good practice for CSOs operating in the state. Furthermore, states like Sonora do not have large, urban metropolitans, thus cities in Sonora are small and lack the presence of organized civil society as well as an organized, formal business sector. The level of informality of the roles of different actors led to an entanglement of relationships which made it challenging for Sonora Ciudadana to play a non-partisan role.
Outcomes
Under the founder’s leadership, Sonora Ciudadana became a key actor in the transparency and accountability field in Mexico. Given the challenging circumstances, the fact that Sonora Ciudadana managed to play an active role monitoring state government decisions on public spending is an accomplishment. Moreover, it worked with citizen groups to promote transparency and hold state and municipal governments accountable for over a decade.
The presence of Sonora Ciudadana made many government officials uncomfortable because of the work it led on promoting accountability and transparency. At times, staff from Sonora Ciudadana faced intimidation from local government officials due to its campaigns calling for greater transparency in public works, provision of services, and appointments for the local Human Rights and Transparency Commissions. Despite this, Sonora Ciudadana continued to press for improved transparency by state actors, and managed to navigate the local context to affect change.
