¿Quién vigila las reglas del juego? Nuestra experiencia haciendo observación ciudadana

Durante el 2025 acompañamos a la comunidad de Yuguelito, en Iztapalapa, en su primera ocasión involucrándose en el Presupuesto Participativo (PP) de la Ciudad de México. Sin embargo, las cosas no salieron como esperábamos. El proyecto propuesto por la comunidad fue rechazado bajo argumentos poco claros y contradictorios, entre los que destacaba la condición de irregularidad del asentamiento, el cual no constituye un criterio oficial. Esta experiencia nos dejó claro que existe una enorme brecha entre lo que se diseña y lo que realmente pasa en territorio. Esto significó tanto señalar los vacíos legales, como visibilizar que las condiciones [...]

2026-06-08T13:11:52+00:008th June 2026|

Who watches the rules of the game? Our experience as citizen observers

Throughout 2025, we accompanied the community of Yuguelito in Iztapalapa as they participated for the first time in Mexico City's Participatory Budgeting (PB). Things did not go as expected, however. The project the community put forward was rejected on vague and contradictory grounds, most notably the settlement's irregular status, which is not an official eligibility criterion. This experience made clear to us the enormous gap between what is designed on paper and what actually happens on the ground. It meant not only pointing out legal loopholes, but also making visible that the conditions for exercising the right to participate [...]

2026-06-08T13:05:43+00:008th June 2026|

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|
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