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Lack of political will deepening underdevelopment in Akwa Ibom communities – Survey

A survey carried out by Accountability Lab Nigeria, in collaboration with Ford foundation, has revealed that lack of political will by elected representatives has remained one of the factors causing underdevelopment in some communities in Akwa Ibom State. The Program and Learning Manager of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Mrs Ehi Grace, who stated this on Saturday during a Town Hall meeting with some stakeholders in the State, disclosed that the conclusion of the survey was based on the findings in Upenekang and Uquo in Ibeno and Esit Eket local government areas of the State. Mrs Ehi, while decrying the reported cases [...]

2021-10-18T09:58:28+00:0026th September 2021|

Protecting civic space and encouraging accountability in Liberia

Written by Tirelo Makwela Accountability Lab Liberia Country Director, W. Lawrence Yealue II, is a passionate civil society leader with a wealth of experience working in the development sector, focusing on governance and anti-corruption. He lives by the four pillars of his work which are integrity building, system building, anti-corruption, and transparency. “I am driven by what I see around me. Growing up, I witnessed and still see a lot of injustices happening. I believe that standing up for what is right is important - even if no one is watching. I think these four pillars that I believe in [...]

2021-08-18T14:34:11+00:0018th August 2021|

COVID-19 and the invisible divide of digital outreach regarding government services for the vulnerable population

Written by Momina Sahar While one of the most promising and appealing steps taken by the government of Pakistan was the digitization of government services during the unprecedented times of a global pandemic, the uncritical embrace of technology for dissemination of information and services along with the lack of availability of digital services in certain areas of Pakistan creates a hierarchy in terms of access to information. Disparate access to the internet is a multilateral issue, the causes for which stem from various reasons such as infrastructure unavailability, gender disparity, and the economic and digital literacy divide.  As pointed out [...]

2022-11-10T06:46:21+00:0014th July 2021|

AL Pakistan’s brave Covid19 pivot

Fayyaz Yaseen is the Country Director of Accountability Lab Pakistan. He is a passionate development professional with extensive experience working on issues including governance, accountability, institutional reform, and political-economy transitions. “Ever since I was a student I was inspired by people from the development sector. They always sounded intelligent to me. I loved the way they thought about issues and respected them for their intellectual depth. They were learned people with open minds and seemed to understand every challenge faced by Pakistan as a country, in a logical manner. This inspired me to follow their footsteps and join the development [...]

2021-07-14T12:16:33+00:005th July 2021|

Gov-Her-nance: Five ways to foster collaboration between local governments and communities

By Soni Khanal and Sanjeeta Pant Nepal is a largely patriarchal society with a hierarchical caste system. But fixing old problems and creating equitable government structures does not have to be an uphill battle. Initiatives such as Gov-HER-nance, a pioneering campaign initiated by Accountability Lab Nepal (ALN) in collaboration with female local government representatives in Nepal’s Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city, brings in new voices and finds solutions to issues of gender equity, local development, and open government. Contrary to what citizens commonly believe, we have found that government representatives can be eager to collaborate with community members to drive change, and to [...]

2021-05-18T10:46:47+00:0018th May 2021|

What does an effective, post-pandemic CSO look like?

As we enter the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, effective, collaborative civil society organizations (CSO) —which provide critical ideas, services, and advocacy efforts—have never been more essential. Over the past year, governments everywhere have used the global health crisis as an excuse to close civic space, restrict freedoms, and undermine liberties. By Blair Glencorse and Jean Scrimgeour The “quality of democracy, market economy, and governance” have declined to their lowest levels since 2004, according to the Bertelsman Stiftung. Freedom House maintains that democracy and respect for human rights have declined in 80 countries since the beginning of the pandemic. Equally, many CSOs have [...]

2022-02-12T09:04:31+00:0029th April 2021|

We hunted for the most honest government officials in Ukraine – this is what happened next

Unfortunately, Ukraine has been in the news recently for some of the wrong reasons- including corruption. But as we’ve learned elsewhere, there are always incredible people doing the right thing, even when no-one is watching and within systems where graft might be entrenched. Part of the solution is to support and lift up these heroes to help build support for their work and model the kind of behaviors that are needed. So, in early 2020, Accountability Lab and the Center for Cultural Management teamed up to launch Integrity Icon in Ukraine- an effort to “name and fame” the country’s most [...]

2021-04-29T08:47:51+00:0029th April 2021|

The OGP effect on new business

By Nida Qasim Khan Open Government Partnership (OGP): An overview  Since its inception in 2011, seventy-eight countries, a growing number of local governments and thousands of civil society organizations have become members of the OGP, a co-creation between both government and non-governmental organizations. The OGP serves the purpose of enabling open government for its citizens, whereby they are more accessible, responsive and accountable to its citizens. In OGP, governments and civil society co-create two-year action plans, with concrete commitments across a variety of issues. This model enables civil society organizations to help shape and provide government oversight. Seventy-five countries have [...]

2021-05-11T07:11:37+00:0014th April 2021|

Pakistani businesses at a crossroads during COVID-19 

By Nida Qasim Khan The outbreak of COVID-19 has severely affected the Pakistani economy and its micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Saboor Malik said in a statement that due to the lockdown, the businesses of cottage industry, small industry and furniture retailers have been adversely affected. The National Incubation Centre (NIC) also noted in its report “Impact of Covid-19 on Pakistani start-ups and the way forward”,  that start-ups were hard hit by the pandemic. The report stated that while before the pandemic, e-commerce, health-tech and ed-tech were the most popular [...]

2022-11-10T06:46:23+00:0010th April 2021|

Maverick Citizen: iKhaya eLitsha Hub — pathways to food security and dignity

In this article by the Daily Maverick Citizen, it's noted how community-led change and local action are too often stifled by the dominant accountability models. "New models of social accountability, built on trust, redistribution and horizontality rather than the usual bureaucratic checks and balances, are desperately needed," they say. In March 2020, when the president announced that South Africa would be going into a lockdown, a lot of uncertainty ensued. At the time I had just started working for a non-profit organisation that deals with sexual and reproductive health for adolescent girls and young women in the Klipfontein District. By [...]

2021-03-25T11:05:37+00:0025th March 2021|
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