Uprooting the Old Guard: Can Nepal’s Youngest Cabinet Ever Break an Entrenched Kleptocracy?

In Nepal,  corruption has morphed into sophisticated, institutionalized kleptocracy. It is a system through which the state’s structures, culture, and hierarchies are engineered to serve a parasitic elite. For decades, the arbitrary conduct of our leaders and a systemic lack of accountability has shattered public trust. But now,  a new Gen-Z movement, catalyzed by years of state-sponsored dysfunction, has overturned the old political regime. Unlike the aftermath of uprisings in Indonesia, Madagascar, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and elsewhere – where youth-led movements often struggled to institutionalize their gains – Nepal is finding itself on a different path. In Bangladesh, [...]

2026-05-29T10:34:30+00:0029th May 2026|

Who governs the watchers? Nigeria’s independence problem is structural, not constitutional

This commentary piece, originally published by Sahara Reporters, features insights from Odeh Friday, Country Director of Accountability Lab Nigeria, on the deeper challenges affecting institutional independence in Nigeria. The article argues that questions of accountability are not only constitutional, but also structural, requiring attention to how oversight institutions are designed, resourced, and protected in practice. Drawing on Nigeria’s current context, the piece explores the gap that can emerge between formal mandates and real operational autonomy. It highlights how institutions established to provide oversight may be constrained by political pressure, limited capacity, patronage systems, and inconsistent enforcement, even where constitutional protections [...]

2026-04-22T15:59:02+00:0022nd April 2026|

The future of governance support depends on what we choose to see

Rebalancing toward the relationships, translation work, and bilingual soft infrastructure that make democratic practice possible.   Across conversations with practitioners, funders, researchers, and colleagues working on democracy, governance and civic space, the same diagnosis keeps surfacing. It’s no longer tentative; it’s becoming a quiet consensus: We need to rebalance away from technocratic prescriptions and toward supporting the connective, coalition-building work that keeps societies stitched together. This is not nostalgia for a pre-aid freeze era, nor a push for a new narrative cycle. It is an invitation to see the soft infrastructure and the people—invisible weavers—who maintain civic space in motion [...]

2025-12-10T10:53:27+00:0010th December 2025|

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|

Reimagining the material base for civil society – soundbytes from the world’s largest peace gathering

In one room, a booming Degan Ali from Adeso was sharing practical steps to follow for community organizations as the “Western rule based international system collapsed” - and along with it, Official Development Assistance (ODA). Her entrepreneurial case studies from countries like Somalia solve tangible problems for communities in a way that no longer requires external funding.  Along a few corridors, Palestinian human rights expert Omar Da’na spoke to an intimate circle about preserving evidence and pursuing prosecutions on behalf of fallen journalists in Gaza. Sessions that studied digital ceasefires, remade engagement frameworks for peace, and invited participants to map [...]

2025-11-19T20:55:59+00:0013th November 2025|

Bridging the gap: Why inclusion is the work, not the afterthought

In conversations around governance and democracy, I’ve been struck by how inclusion continues to emerge as both a challenge and a catalyst for change. From the International Democracy Day (IDD) Conference in Brussels to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit in Vitoria-Gasteiz, one theme was consistently reaffirmed for me: young people are not just the future of democracy, they are the present. At the IDD conference, Namibian Deputy Minister of Information, Emma Theofelus, reminded us that while networks and youth movements are flourishing, many young people still don’t know how to navigate the systems that shape their lives. “That’s why [...]

2025-11-13T11:47:34+00:0013th November 2025|

The World Bank’s Legitimacy Is Derived From Citizens, Now More Than Ever

This article was first published in the Global Policy Journal Back in 2017, the World Bank began an ambitious effort to improve the management of natural resources and tourism in southern Tanzania, while creating jobs and protecting the environment. While sounding like a fantastic way to support development in one of the poorest parts of the world - the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) Project, as it was known - soon ran into difficulties. Villagers claimed they were forcibly evicted from their land, cattle were seized from pastoralists by national park rangers, and those who protested [...]

2025-09-24T15:55:16+00:0024th September 2025|

“Building a new muscle in democracy” with SpeakUp Nepal’s Prince Shah Chaudhary

Within days, protests in Nepal reshaped the country’s politics. A government social media ban was the spark, but years of frustration with systemic corruption drove thousands into the streets. People were killed, many more injured, curfews were imposed, leaders resigned, parliament was dissolved, and Nepal appointed its first female interim Prime Minister. Elections are now planned for March 2026, with a reformist cabinet promising change. This interview was conducted with our Civic Charge fellow, Prince Shah Chaudhary, CEO of SpeakUp Nepal, about his vision for youth-driven accountability. The events in Nepal over the past few days have been seismic. What [...]

2025-09-17T12:04:05+00:0015th September 2025|

How co-leadership helps us navigate a sector-wide crisis

Accountability Lab's co-CEO Chief Innovation and Operations Officer, Jean Scrimgeour shared her first-learnings about how co-leadership helps position nonprofit organizations to better navigate today’s sector-wide challenges. In January, executive orders to freeze all U.S. international development aid upended an already resource-strapped sector. Overnight, organizations that had spent decades building programs and partnerships found themselves facing existential questions and extremely difficult leadership challenges. At Accountability Lab, we found our co-leadership model gave us an unexpected advantage. Eighteen months earlier, when Blair Glencorse, Cheri-Leigh Erasmus, and I decided to transition from a traditional CEO structure to shared leadership, we couldn’t have predicted how profoundly [...]

2025-09-12T08:56:57+00:0012th September 2025|

Tackling Illicit Finance: AL shaping the agenda at Wilton Park

Our co-CEO Blair Glencorse was invited by the UK Government to contribute to the Wilton Park discussions, helping to shape the agenda for the upcoming Foreign Secretary's Countering Illicit Finance Summit. Over two days, he worked alongside leading experts in anti-corruption and finance, as well as key UK decision-makers, to address one of the most pervasive threats to the global political system. The challenge is immense. Despite decades of anti-money laundering reforms, less than 1% of criminal proceeds laundered through the financial system are seized. The human impact is devastating, with illicit financial flows draining over $90 billion annually from [...]

2025-09-17T09:54:08+00:0012th September 2025|
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