"This Guidance Note suggests concrete ways to enable the people in a country to influence the work of government and public agencies - and in that way ensure democratic development results. While both the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action point to the need for better use of communication, it has become increasingly apparent that good communication is an inextricable component of good development practice. The point of departure is to propose how a public agency should provide information to the citizens and its representatives, and what kind of initiatives the agency should aim at to create conditions for public participation, interaction and collaboration. Different policy and practice perspectives are combined with the purpose of guiding Sida in supporting partners to get it together with the public – in other words, to take advantage of communication for increasing accountability, transparency, participation and non-discrimination." (Back cover)