What a community asked for, what the system rejected – and everything in between

[Read the first part of this story: Yuguelito: Housing, Self-Governance & Accountability] The first part of this story ended with an implicit promise: over 250 completed surveys, a team of eleven Community Frontline Agents with Yuguelito at the center, and the certainty that what came next would have to live up to what the community had taken the time to say. This is the story of what happened after. What the community said A total of 255 voices were captured—representing over 12% of the settlement’s population, or, put another way, roughly half of the ~500 families who call Yuguelito home. [...]

2026-04-16T10:59:42+00:0016th April 2026|

From curiosity to facility: how responsive action built an institution

When ~$50 billion was wiped from global development ledgers last year, the existing gap between powerholders and doers yawned open. People, organizations, institutional memory, and hard-fought civic gains were at risk of falling into the maw. It was also proving difficult to find up-to-date information in what became a fast-changing situation. Stronger together: #SharedStrengthCollective Accountability Lab responded with #SharedStrengthCollective – an initiative first launched by Accountability Lab Nepal, which opened its doors to CSOs and NGOs in Kathmandu to  jointly navigate challenges as a result of US government aid cuts. In Washington DC, #SharedStrengthCollective meant gathering partners and friends for [...]

2026-06-03T14:55:11+00:008th April 2026|

Network as institution: Why ending projects well is crucial to sustaining democracy, rights and governance work

When funding shrinks, and the civic space it had pushed open strains and threatens to snap shut, it is the lattice of enduring networks that keeps it propped open.  Longer term democracy, rights and governance funding is a rare thing. Five-year long, uninterrupted funding is rarer still. The long duration of the funding creates the space to design programs with intention and even allows for experimentation, failure and redirection from lessons learned. It provides the time to build the deep, trust-based relationships required for real behavioral and systems change.  Originally funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), [...]

2026-04-16T08:58:48+00:0030th March 2026|

When elections test democracy: Youth, digital space, and accountability across Africa

Elections across Africa are moments of both democratic possibility and democratic pressure. In a recent webinar ahead of the Global Democracy Coalition Africa Regional Forum 2026, civic leaders explored how young people are responding to these tensions – mobilizing communities, confronting digital repression, and defending democratic accountability across the continent. Elections at a critical democratic moment Across Africa, elections remain a cornerstone of democratic governance. There are moments when citizens exercise political rights, shape leadership, and hold institutions accountable. Yet they are also moments when democratic systems face heightened pressure. During electoral periods, civic space can narrow, political tensions intensify, [...]

2026-03-16T15:17:25+00:0016th March 2026|

Interview with Josh Lerner, Co-Executive Director, People Powered

In my consultations on global democracy over the past year, people repeatedly pointed to mistrust in institutions, a disconnect between elites and citizens, and the sense that democracy doesn’t deliver as key drivers of democratic erosion. Participation is often presented as the magic bullet on the assumption that more participation naturally builds trust. To dig into when participation actually builds trust and when it fails to do so, I sat down with Josh Lerner, co-director of People Powered, who is the natural person to ask about participatory democracy. How do you define participation? There are lots of definitions, and they [...]

2026-03-16T15:16:59+00:0012th March 2026|

Rebuilding Ukraine: Integrity, business, and the hard trade-offs

As Ukraine continues to navigate the realities of war and the long road toward reconstruction, questions about integrity are no longer abstract. They sit at the center of how markets function, how reconstruction funds are used, and how businesses make decisions in environments shaped by uncertainty and risk. In a recent episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, Sofiia Sapihura (Anti-Corruption Studies Consultant & Researcher) joined Cheri-Leigh Erasmus (Co-CEO, Accountability Lab) to unpack findings from the report, Leveraging Integrity for Ukraine’s Reconstruction: The Role of Ethical Businesses.  Drawing on interviews with companies across sectors, the research looks beyond traditional anti-corruption narratives to examine [...]

2026-02-24T10:59:11+00:0020th February 2026|
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