La música: el arma más poderosa que no lastima a nadie

Hay cosas que una explicación no alcanza a tocar, pero la música sí. Esto lo entendí viajando sola con mi guitarra, en las marchas, en los espacios compartidos con otras artistas, en la manera en que una canción puede abrir una conversación, nombrar una herida o tocar algo que a veces no sabe decirse con palabras. Mucho antes de trabajar en metodologías o programas, había experimentado cómo la música podía conectar con algo profundo, transformar y mover percepciones de una manera muy única y particular. Cuando la voz ocupa su espacio A veces lo difícil no es cantar, sino dejarte [...]

2026-04-30T22:09:35+00:0030th April 2026|

Music: the most powerful weapon that does no harm

There are things no explanation can reach, but music can. I learned that while traveling alone with my guitar, at marches, in spaces shared with other artists, in the way a song can open a conversation, name a wound, or touch something that sometimes has no words. Long before I worked with methodologies or programs, I had already felt how music could connect with something deep, transform, and shift perception in a way that is entirely its own. When a voice takes up space Sometimes the hardest part isn’t singing, it’s letting yourself be seen. Part of you wants to [...]

2026-04-30T22:08:21+00:0030th April 2026|

Civic Charge: Celebrating leadership rooted in people, place, and purpose

Civic Charge is Accountability Lab’s global learning programme that brings together changemakers strengthening accountability within their communities. Unlike fellowships built around deliverables, Civic Charge is designed as a learning accelerator – a space for reflection, skills-building, and peer connection, where leaders can step back from the urgency of doing and invest in how they are growing. Over the past two years, Programs & Learning Manager, Jaco Roets, has guided this journey with a steady, thoughtful approach – building a community where ideas are tested, values are practiced, and leadership is strengthened through honesty, care, and shared experience. Each session moves [...]

2025-12-01T09:51:37+00:0026th November 2025|

Fighting for gender equality: between challenges and progress

Nearly 30 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, I reflect on my journey with civil society organizations committed to advancing gender equality. As African women, our involvement in this work is both intentional and transformative. My passion for supporting women and girls is also personal – shaped by lived experience and a clear understanding of the systemic barriers that limit access to opportunity and growth. Significant progress has been made in changing attitudes and implementing more inclusive public policies, notably with the adoption of the Maputo Protocol. The Gorée Institute's Power Of Dialogue (POD) [...]

2025-04-17T09:38:39+00:0017th April 2025|

Combat pour l’autonomisation des femmes et des filles entre challenges et progrès

Près de trois décennies après l’adoption de la Déclaration et de la Plateforme d'action de Beijing, je mène cette réflexion personnelle  sur mon implication auprès des organisations de la société civile qui initient et participent activement aux initiatives qui nous permettent en tant que femmes africaines  de poursuivre activement ce travail pionnier en faveur de l'égalité des genres. Le combat pour l’autonomisation et la promotion des droits des femmes et des filles est une passion innée car mon parcours personnel et mon expérience m’ont permis de prendre conscience des défis auxquelles sont confrontées les femmes et les filles, limitant leurs [...]

2025-04-17T09:38:41+00:0017th April 2025|

Sharing Solutions for Sustainable Development: From Rawalpindi to the UN HLPF

As a transgender rights activist from Pakistan and the co-founder of PINK Center, I had the extraordinary privilege of participating in the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2024. Bringing together world leaders, policymakers, civil society organizations, youth delegates, and stakeholders, the annual platform serves as a global stage to review progress, share best practices, and chart new paths towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).    The HLPF 2024: A Global Stage for Sustainable Development The High-Level Political Forum 2024 was a whirlwind of innovative ideas, youth engagement, and global cooperation. This year's forum, under [...]

2024-10-08T10:08:27+00:008th October 2024|

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|

Gov-HER-Nance: A Feminist Approach to Governance, Accountability, and Climate Justice

Somaya Jalari is a 70-year-old fisherwoman who, like many generations before her, has been fishing and boating on the Phewa Lake all her life. She has seen various changes taking place in Phewa Lake in her lifetime. For instance, the local and indigenous fish species are no longer available in the lake. Consequently, women and men like her who depend on the Lake have to buy new species of hatchlings from their savings and leave them in the water. Furthermore, the water has been heavily polluted by floods, weeds, and plastics which has negatively affected biotic life.  Somaya says, “I [...]

2024-12-11T13:54:19+00:004th July 2023|

Music as a Catalyst – Amplifying Underrepresented Voices

By Kibo Ngowi Art is a powerful tool for connecting people and shining a light on important social issues, and promoting equity and representation. This is an idea that runs right through the Lab’s Arts for Change programming. With music in particular, the Lab has created a network of musicians making socially conscious music across the African continent, creating sustainable models for change that integrate values and impact into the fabric of their work.  Two people who played an instrumental role in this process are the musician MI Abaga and the activist Nora Rahimian. These two talented changemakers have recognized [...]

2023-06-27T09:38:29+00:0027th June 2023|

Combating violence against the transgender community in Pakistan

Written by Fouzia Khan Bhittani We live in a world encompassing different beliefs and cultures that generate specific attitudes and stances toward gender diversity. However, these attitudes define the marginalization of a particular community or people, like the transgender community in Pakistan, commonly referred to as the Khawaja Sira—a group of people that includes various forms of gender deviance. Khawaja Sira covers anyone that bends the societal construction of gender, including people who identify as transsexual, choose to cross-dress, identify as true hermaphrodites, are genderqueer youth, intersex people, and eunuchs. The transgender community has gained little visibility in Pakistan, as [...]

2023-06-14T11:53:25+00:0014th June 2023|
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