🌍 Last week in Hargeisa, we wrapped up the Good Governance Summit 2025, an initiative led by ...Accountability Lab Somaliland, in partnership with The Institute for Strategic Insights and Research and the Somaliland Good Governance Commission.

The summit was a chance to spotlight public servants who are quietly and consistently improving systems. Over two days, civil society leaders, students, journalists, and community changemakers came together to reflect on what values-based leadership really looks like. We screened five short documentaries featuring our 2025 Good Governance Heroes, from those transforming libraries into inclusive spaces to those advocating for stronger healthcare.

We also heard from past heroes like Gudoon Adan Abdi, who shared how the campaign gave her the platform to speak up for better healthcare and the salary she had long been denied. It was a reminder of the power of visibility and how recognition can create space for real change.

One of the most memorable moments? A young student from the Hargeisa Deaf Club who joined both days to cheer on her local hero, Hawa Dubad Qodax. She reminded us that inclusive governance starts with everyone being seen and heard.

This campaign isn’t just about recognition. It’s about changing the narrative so that values-driven leadership is seen, supported, and sustained.

📸 Swipe through the carousel to see a few moments from the summit.

Our months-long survey with Humentum paints a picture of a sector in collapse – but also ...underscores the resilience of local organizations and communities.

In a recent conversation with Search for Common Ground on adapting and building on local solutions after aid cuts, Accountability Lab Mali's Country Director, Doussouba Konaté discussed the impacts of recent funding shifts on fragile and conflict-affected countries with Nawaz Mohammed, Country Director at Search for Common Ground Sri Lanka.

Konate stressed that aid needs to be decolonized, and that reinforcing locally-led work would ensure that impact is sustainable and communities are lifted up to stand independently – doing away with current power imbalances between funder and funded.

Watch the full conversation here: https://bit.ly/4eHEc7h

Join an online side event of diverse short films at the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). ...It's all about Resilience, Adaptation & Transformation, supporting local voices who are reclaiming SDG16+ 🎥

📅 Thursday, July 17, 8-9:30am EDT / 2–3:30pm CEST | Online
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/2025VoicesofSDG16

This event will showcase powerful videos submitted to the Voices of SDG16+ campaign, highlighting inspiring stories of civil society actors promoting peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.

'Why the rule of law is ours to protect.'

At the World Justice Forum 2025 in ...Warsaw, hosted by the World Justice Project, our Co-CEO, Blair Glencorse, offered reflections during the Forum’s closing plenary session. Speaking on behalf of the Lab's translocal network and partners, Blair shared what made this year’s gathering so urgent – and how we’re responding.

In his words: “The rule of law isn’t abstract. It’s lived, it’s local, and it’s ours to protect.” As institutions come under pressure and civic voices are sidelined, Blair reminded the audience that our most powerful tools are collective courage, civic trust, and people-powered reform.

He shared three takeaways:

1️⃣ Rebuilding trust must begin with accountability, not only legal reform but also lived norms and bottom-up participation.
2️⃣ Young people are leading the way. As Blair put it, “We must all be citizens, not just individuals. For those of us who are 'youth alumni', our job is to listen, invest, and get out of the way.”
3️⃣ Civic space is not just under threat, it’s where the solutions lie.

To put the newly launched Warsaw Principles into practice, Accountability Lab is committing to:

🔹 Civic Strength Partners: helping civil society navigate transitions, mergers, and collaboration
🔹 AL Ventures: investing in civic technologies that improve transparency and participation
🔹 Strengthening our global network of Labs to connect community action with frameworks like the Open Government Partnership and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

“We’ve seen frontline bureaucrats risking careers for integrity in Latin America.
Students in South Asia pushing for police reforms. Journalists in West Africa using WhatsApp to track procurement corruption. This is what people-powered rule of law looks like.”

🔗 Explore Blair’s full closing remarks and the Lab’s commitments here: https://bit.ly/3GgGMV6

#WJF2025 #AccountabilityLab #RuleOfLaw #CivicSpace #WarsawPrinciples #Integrity #YouthLeadership #CivicTech #DemocracyInAction #GlobalSouthVoices

🌍 In this week's global roundup!

🇿🇼 This week Accountability Lab Zimbabwe ...joined the African Youth Panel's Foundational Training. Part of a four-year, ten-country initiative the AYP is a response to a pressing continental issue: the exclusion of many young Africans from dignified and fulfilling work. The AYP focuses on Participatory Action Research (PAR), a methodology rooted in the principle that those most affected by development challenges must be central to shaping solutions.
Visit the Lab's page for more.

🇵🇰 As part of the #FarqParhtaHai (It Makes a Difference) initiative, Accountability Lab Pakistan spoke to Syed Ali Hameed who has worked across 65+ districts to mobilize young people as torchbearers of peace, resilience, and democratic values. He shares his insights on youth as frontline defenders against extremism, the power of counter-speech and digital narratives, why inclusion and purpose are key to sustainable peace and how empathy, education, and engagement transform communities.
🎥 Watch his interview here: https://bit.ly/3IhRdbn

🇳🇬 Accountability Lab Nigeria is working for a stronger regulatory framework gas flaring. The Lab's latest policy brief provides recommendations such as stronger penalties for gas flaring, legal reforms to include health compensation for affected communities and the use of satellite technology to improve gas flare tracking.

👓 Check out the full policy brief here: https://bit.ly/4el05Jg

Calling on all UK charities and civil society organizations navigating tough choices - mergers, ...partnerships, or even winding down!

The second webinar in our three-part series on legal considerations for mergers and partnerships will take place on Wednesday, July 2! This session zooms in on the UK, providing practical legal guidance for charitable organizations exploring mergers or considering winding down.

Strategic partnerships and mergers typically take 1-2 years to implement, but the hundreds of organizations facing development aid cuts and newly shortened runways will have to act a lot faster if they are going to prevent the loss of significant amounts of knowledge, expertise, and assets.

That’s why Accountability Lab, Digital Public, and Development Gateway, with the support of the International Senior Lawyers Project, have put together this webinar series, providing the critical, timely knowledge required to take those first important steps with confidence.

🗓️ Join us on Wednesday, July 2, from 3pm - 4:30pm UK time (10am - 11:30 am ET) for this second webinar focused on the UK.

Register here to attend this free event: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AUyGS6pDSgWwyfQy10JHUg

Speakers include ISLP volunteers Luke Fletcher (Bates Wells UK) and Jo Coleman (Womble Bond Dickinson (UK). The session will be moderated by Blair Glencorse (Accountability Lab) and Sara Lulo (International Senior Lawyers Project).

#CivilSociety #StrategicPartnerships #NonprofitResilience #InternationalDevelopment #LegalCompliance

World Justice Forum 2025 | Warsaw, Poland 🌐 ⚖️

At this year’s World Justice ...Forum, our Co-CEO, Blair Glencorse moderated a pivotal plenary session titled: “Checks and Balances Under Threat: How Countervailing Institutions Can Make a Difference.”

The conversation was grounded in sobering data: The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index reveals that constraints on government power have declined every year since 2017. In the latest report:

🟣 59% of countries saw a decline in constraints on government powers overall
🟣 68% of countries declined checks on government powers from non-government actors (like civil society, media, judiciary, etc.)

This session asked the hard questions:
What’s weakening oversight? How can institutions retain legitimacy in the face of political pressure and disinformation? And what practical steps can build resilience?

Panelists explored:
👉 Structural barriers like outdated legal frameworks, lack of transparency, limited independence, and underfunding of institutions
👉 Narrative battles where institutions are either discredited or misunderstood by the public
👉 The erosion of democracy by leaders who substitute delivery for legitimacy, often legalizing corrupt practices
👉 The power of “insider–outsider coalitions”, collaborations between oversight entities and civil society that improve feedback loops and public trust
👉 Strategic media engagement as a tool to generate demand for reform
👉 And the critical role of young people in driving systemic change

🗣️ Blair brought lessons from our global network, emphasizing that accountability is not only built through institutions but through the power of people and purpose. As he noted, “we all need to be citizens, not just individuals.”

The session featured Camilo Benítez Aldana (Comptroller General of Paraguay), Alyson Kilpatrick (Chief Commissioner, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission), Utaara Mootu (Member of Parliament, Namibia), and Roby Senderowitsch (Governance Global Practice Manager, World Bank).

📸 Swipe through for a few highlights!

#WJF2025