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The value of iteration and innovation

Written by Sanjeeta Pant   This is the second in a series of reflective blogs that will look at how the dynamic nature of Accountability Lab’s Civic Action Teams campaign has facilitated a network of local stakeholders to respond to diverse community needs. Read the first blog here.   “The Civic Action Teams model is a result of incorporating different learnings over a number of years. We did not start out with the intention of solving big problems. We did not even make any promises. We simply wanted to listen to what people had to say and to connect them [...]

2022-08-05T08:26:06+00:0029th July 2022|

Using citizen feedback to solve local challenges

Written by Sanjeeta Pant   Maya Lama, a woman from Mangaltar village in Nepal, was one of the survivors of the 2015 earthquake which completely destroyed her house. The government- with donor support- set up a process for citizens to receive funds for reconstruction, but Maya was unable to receive these funds as she was not registered on the list of earthquake victims. Her husband was working abroad, and the property she lost was not in her name. But, thanks to the power of local advocacy and democracy, she joined a town hall meeting at which she spoke directly to [...]

2022-08-05T08:25:23+00:0028th July 2022|

#HackCorruption – improving data protection and protecting civic spaces

Written by Sara Hoenes   On July 5, Accountability Lab and the Center for International and Private Enterprise (CIPE) hosted the second #HackCorruption virtual roundtable event. Accountability Lab South Africa’s Country Director, Sekoetlane Phamodi, was joined by Richard Gevers, founder of Open Cities Lab, Meshack Masibo of Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), and Edrine Wanyama, human rights lawyer and Legal Officer at the Collaboration of International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA). The panel discussed the importance of open data and data protection in accountable governance as well as specific trends in open data in East and Southern [...]

2022-07-19T15:53:27+00:0019th July 2022|

#HackCorruption – using emerging tech to mitigate corruption risks in public procurement

Written by Sara Hoenes   Accountability Lab and the Center for Private Enterprise kicked off the #HackCorruption roundtable speaker series on June 27, hosting a conversation with Gabriella Razzano, Executive Director of OpenUp, and Dr. Allison Anthony of the African Procurement Law Unit. The discussion covered how Southern African countries can use new and emerging technologies to mitigate corruption risks and increase citizen participation in the public procurement process.  Foreign investment in African infrastructure to meet the Sustainable Development Goals is estimated to be nearly $93 billion a year. Across Africa, it is estimated that nearly half of all government [...]

2022-07-08T06:24:34+00:008th July 2022|

Five Things We’re Doing To Fight Back Against Closing Civic Space In West Africa

By Kibo Ngowi West Africa is a rich and diverse part of the world-spanning 16 countries and boasting an estimated population of close to 400 million people. Accountability Lab has deep roots in the region, having established our second network Lab in Liberia back in 2013, only a year after the organization’s birth in Nepal. We’ve since opened more Labs in Niger, Nigeria and Mali and with the support of Observatório da Democracia e Governança we’ve rolled out our Virtual Incubator program in Guinea-Bissau as well. These efforts are a response to the governance and stability challenges in the region [...]

2022-07-06T11:02:58+00:004th July 2022|

Four Lessons in Building Inclusion

“What systems should we have, what approaches should we take, and what provisions do we need to put in place to ensure we are inclusive from top to bottom in everything we do?”   Written by Katie Fuhs In anticipation of a new inclusion strategy, the Executive Director of Accountability Lab asked this question to frame a desk research request on organizational inclusion policies. As a young, nonbinary staff member interested and invested in all things diversity, equity, and inclusion, I jumped right in, taking note of every potential inclusion policy I came across.  From tech tools like Accessibe and [...]

2022-05-24T10:35:51+00:0024th May 2022|

5 things we learned about engaging young activists in Zimbabwe, El Salvador, Ukraine & Morocco

Written by Alawi Masud and Cheri-Leigh Erasmus Accountability Lab and the IRI Generation Democracy Program recently hosted a panel of 4 young change-makers to discuss youth leadership in times of democratic crises (watch the stream on Voice of America here). Mantate Queeneth Mlotshwa, Kateryna Dvornichenko, Khadija Amahal, and Lourdes Maria Argueta Vides discussed the current state of youth and civic space, the barriers that young people face, how to get youth involved, and the power of intergenerational collaboration. The young leaders shared extensively about their lived experiences pushing for positive change in their countries. Here are 5 lessons we learned [...]

2022-05-09T19:07:23+00:009th May 2022|

Ukraine Shows Why the G20 Anti-Corruption Agenda Is More Important than Ever

By Blair Glencorse and Sanjeeta Pant The world has quickly transitioned from a global health crisis to a geopolitical one, as the war in Ukraine rages into its second month. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the latest in a long list of challenges that at their heart are either caused by or exacerbated by corruption. Just this year, think of the protests in Sudan, the coup in Burkina Faso, the nationwide demonstrations in Kazakhstan, or the Portuguese elections, for example- all driven, one way or another, by graft. While G20 countries have made progress within their national borders, there are often lax laws [...]

2022-04-08T07:25:46+00:0025th March 2022|

From Japan to Indonesia – a roadmap to realising the C20 Principles by 2023

Written by Jean Scrimgeour and Giulia Sergi In 2013, during the Russian G20 Presidency and 14 years after the establishment of the G20, the Civil 20 (C20) became an official engagement group of the G20. Since then, the C20 has taken on a more prominent role within the G20 process by providing expertise on focus issues; working to hold G20 governments accountable; and providing the space for non-traditional actors to engage in the G20 process. These roles were cemented in a C20 Principles document agreed upon in 2019 during the Japanese Presidency.   These principles enshrine transparency, collaboration, independence, internationalism, inclusiveness, [...]

2022-03-18T11:14:33+00:007th February 2022|

Lessons in leading with empathy

Written by Suvechchha Chapagain  Growing up, when I thought of the term leader or more precisely political leader, the image of a middle-aged man - above 45 years of age who is loud and authoritative and always surrounded by other young and middle-aged men - would involuntarily come to my mind. This is what my young, teenaged mind perceived as a must-have in a leader from news and television. Back then those men who didn't fit these criteria never appeared as a leader to me - and neither did the aspiring young females who embodied feminine traits. For me, leadership [...]

2022-03-18T07:09:40+00:004th February 2022|
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