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Funke Adeoye and her access to justice mission in Nigeria

Oluwafunke Adeoye, or Funke as everyone calls her, is a lawyer, human rights defender, social innovator, young global leader, and proud Accountapreneur. She is Hope Behind Bars Africa’s Founder and Executive Director. It's an organization that promotes human rights and criminal justice reforms using legal aid, research, evidence-based advocacy, and technology. Funke has led interventions that amplified the work of grassroots advocates across sub-Saharan Africa and saved hundreds of indigent pre-trial detainees. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow and an Acumen West Africa Fellow, winning the 2023 Global Citizen Prize last year. This year saw her also being admitted to [...]

2024-10-04T15:47:25+00:0011th August 2024|

Collective CSO action critical for climate justice

Increased climate funding requires a focus on existing governance challenges resulting from a fragmented and opaque climate finance architecture. Growing evidence shows climate finance does not reach communities most impacted by climate change. When projects make their way to the communities, they do not include local voices in decision-making processes.  Civil society has been a critical player advocating for the most vulnerable communities and has been instrumental in driving local, regional, and global climate action. Despite setbacks and slow response from governments, it has been able to rally around common agendas demanding an end to fossil fuel, debt relief to [...]

2024-04-19T16:32:32+00:005th March 2024|

Substance abuse in Zimbabwe – a Civic Action Teams report

Despite the classification of drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe as a matter of national disaster, instances of drug and substance abuse are on the rise in Zimbabwe and set to stay on this trajectory till 20230. The Zimbabwe Government’s resolve in addressing Drugs and Substance Abuse, as seen through laws, regulations, and a National Drug Master Plan, is commendable. Accountability Lab through its Civic Action Teams (CivActs) identified community concerns and recommendations on alleviating the challenges around Drugs and Substance Abuse. It also conducted hearings with different government officials and parliament. These conversations and research processes showed that there [...]

2024-04-19T16:36:54+00:0019th December 2023|

Pakistan’s labor quandary: comprehensive reforms and human rights protection needed

Labor Day is celebrated on May 1st and commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, United States of America, where many workers lost their lives fighting for eight-hour workdays. In response to this historical event, Pakistan has adopted this day as a public holiday. Every year, newspapers across the country display a picture of a laborer carrying bricks in the scorching heat, a kiln worker with a miserable expression, a security guard on the brink of exhaustion, or a sanitary worker staring at the camera lens with lifeless eyes. However, although it is a widely recognized holiday, most daily-wage laborers [...]

2023-12-18T16:33:24+00:0012th December 2023|

Empowering Global Youth: A Path to Inclusive Democracy

By Kibo Ngowi Amidst the challenges faced by democracies worldwide, a beacon of hope is emerging as young people take charge of their futures. Youth across the globe are stepping up to redefine their roles in shaping governance. And the call for increased youth participation resonates strongly in the global south.  Despite a lower-than-desired voter turnout in the Nigerian elections earlier this year, the resilience of the 'Not Too Young To Run' movement demonstrated the transformative power of youth cohesion as several young candidates who benefitted from the campaign took office for the first time. Pakistan, with its youthful population, [...]

2023-12-07T10:05:42+00:007th December 2023|

CSO tasks NOA DG on national gender policy implementation

A Civil Society Organisation, Accountability Lab Nigeria, dedicated to promoting gender equality and women empowerment, has called for concerted efforts with the newly-appointed Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, on gender equality in workspace and every other human endeavor to afford women a levelled playing field. Accountability Lab made this call during a crucial meeting with the newly-appointed Director General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu, and its Programs and Learning Manager, Ehi Idakwo. At the meeting, the CSO harped on the critical importance of NOA’s commitment to implementing the National Gender Policy in [...]

2023-11-07T10:38:49+00:007th November 2023|

Accountability Lab launches Civic Charge: An Accelerator for Social Accountability Change Agents 

When Accountability Lab started more than 11 years ago, the need to cultivate and equip reformers pushing for social accountability in their communities and countries formed part of the organization’s DNA. This quickly led to the creation of the Accountability Incubator, which has provided training and support to over 300 young change-makers across 12 countries over the past decade. Having incubated various accountability-related projects, we’ve gained a lot of insight into the needs of the innovators in our incubators, and we have used those learnings to create Civic Charge: An Accelerator for Social Accountability Change Agents. Applications are open here [...]

2023-10-26T08:46:34+00:0026th October 2023|

Mali’s Youth Take the Lead on Inclusive Education Advocacy

By Zeinabou Walet Mohamed Ali In Mali, critical issues such as insecurity and climate change are hampering the successful implementation of educational strategies. Socio-cultural constraints are leading to a depressingly low level of girls' education, as demonstrated by a 2018 UNESCO study which highlighted that only 37% of girls were enrolled in secondary school compared to 44% of boys. As a result, only a third of women are able to decipher a simple sentence, compared with 80% of men. I recently had the opportunity to participate in a consultative day with young leaders involved in educational issues in Mali aimed [...]

2023-10-10T10:16:28+00:009th October 2023|

Transforming Transparency: How HackCorruption Winners Could Revolutionize Government Procurement in Namibia

One of our first winning HackCorruption teams has local municipalities interested in their winning idea - an online procurement tool that fights corruption. Looking at government institutions in Namibia, Amon Peter, Baptista Joao, Farida Junior Kyababa, Linda McLeod, and Saudai Sapi created a product that enables a transparent view of the procurement process—allowing both government officials and the public to have a complete overview of the awarding of contracts. It's just over a year since their victory, and we caught up with Farida and Saudi to learn the secrets behind their team's success and how they have used the experience [...]

2023-10-09T12:52:49+00:001st October 2023|

Training to Transformation: The Sahel’s Youth in Political Leadership and Conflict Resolution

By Zeinabou Walet Mohamed Ali    Faced with security challenges and a shrinking civic and democratic space in the Sahel, young people have expressed a strong desire to increase their political leadership and participation in democratic decision-making processes as well as efforts aimed at conflict prevention in their countries. Countries such as Mali - characterized by political crises, corruption and a deep disconnect between the will of the people and the decisions made by those in power - face major political and security challenges. The Sahel region has now become a space in reconstruction, where it is crucial for young people [...]

2023-10-05T12:40:21+00:0030th September 2023|
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