A Change in Approach Could Resolve Conflict Between Vendors and Authorities 

By Samuel Takawira The last two decades have seen a severe contraction of Zimbabwe’s economy, with agriculture, mining and manufacturing sectors suffering mainly from poor policy decisions, resulting in massive unemployment. It is estimated that 90% of the Zimbabwean population ekes out a living in the informal sector, vending in open urban marketplaces. Among these are the municipal markets in Mbare - a low-income suburb of Harare. Mbare is home to the largest informal marketplace in Zimbabwe, where trading space is expensive and oversubscribed. To create access to the market, informal traders have resorted to setting up illegal stalls in [...]

2022-01-17T13:52:49+00:0017th January 2022|

Civil Society Engagement in the Summit for Democracy- What Does Online Data Show?

Written by Blair Glencorse Last week, the US government hosted the Summit for Democracy (S4D)- the beginning of a process to focus on the challenges and opportunities facing democracies around the world. The official Summit itself was a two-day series of high-level conversations, speeches and events (with other official side events over the past few weeks) that have kicked off what the Biden Administration is calling a “Year of Action” (YoA) during which participating countries will then work towards commitments made as part of these efforts. Around the Summit itself there are many unofficial ongoing side efforts to support the [...]

2021-12-15T15:59:56+00:0015th December 2021|

Call to Create the First Citizen Observatory for Participatory Budget in Mexico

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST Ethos, Accountability Lab, Ollin and Borde gathered representatives of the civil society organizations, actors of the private sector, community leaders and guarantor agencies involved in monitoring, and public policy design and/or programs that aim to foster the 2030 Agenda.   They want to trigger positive narratives around the accomplished achievements for citizens and public servants in order to build bridges of trust and achieve greater citizen involvement. They will socialize and promote the participatory budget topics in other legislative entities, aiming to deepen its understanding. Tuesday, October 26th 2021, Mexico City - This morning, civil society [...]

2021-11-08T11:02:02+00:008th November 2021|

Citizen engagement in the fight against corruption – the C20 and the Italian G20 Presidency

Written by Jean Scrimgeour - 2021 co-chair of the C20 Anti-Corruption Working Group and Global Director of Growth and Strategy at Accountability Lab   The key aims of the Italian G20 Presidency were centred around three broad, interconnected pillars of action: People, Planet, and Prosperity. Within these pillars, there has been a focus on ensuring a swift international response to the pandemic through equitable, worldwide access to resources that can reduce inequality, ensure women’s empowerment, support young people, and protect the most vulnerable. Achieving these goals is impossible without directly confronting corruption, building accountability of governments and businesses, and supporting [...]

2021-10-21T11:43:27+00:0013th October 2021|

Youth engagement in policy making

Written by Momina Sahar International Youth Day is commemorated annually on August 12th to draw attention to issues concerning the youth and the fundamental causes of such issues. It provides an opportunity to raise awareness about youth engagement in political, cultural and legal issues and contributes to creating stronger and more inclusive communities. In a national context, this day is of immense importance to Pakistan considering a major portion of the total population consists of people ranging from the ages of 15 to 25. The youth of Pakistan are the critical juncture of Pakistan’s development. The country can capitalize on [...]

2021-10-08T09:13:46+00:008th October 2021|

LGBTQI+ enforcing their existence

The LGBTQI+ community is doing it for themselves, enforcing their rights and celebrating their existence. Deekay Sibanda takes a closer look.   September is national Pride month in South Africa. LGBTQI+ people commemorate the month by  organising different activities and events to celebrate their identity and the diversity of their community. Activities also raise awareness around the wide spectrum of injustices committed against LGBTQI+ people and to reclaim their rights.  In the past few months we have seen weekly reports covering stories of discrimination and hate crimes  members of the LGBTQI+ community have had to endure,  in response to their sexual [...]

2021-09-23T15:01:44+00:0023rd September 2021|

Corruption: Reward system introduced to promote integrity in public sector

Piqued by the high rate of corruption plaguing both the private and public sectors, a Civil Society Organisation, Accountability Lab Nigeria, has introduced what it called Integrity Icon Nigeria (IIN), a reward system to encourage sincerity in Nigeria. Its Country Director, Odeh Friday Odeh, while selecting the over 1000 entries across the country, added that the initiative would deodorize the public and private space for foreign investors to come in. Odeh explained that after the selection process, 5 persons would be selected, contacted and awarded on December 9th a day earmarked by the United Nations as the International Day for [...]

2021-08-25T13:08:25+00:0024th August 2021|

Communiqué du réseau Nigérien Anti-Corruption

La faiblesse des actions dans la lutte contre la corruption et les détournements de biens  publics menace les efforts de développement au Niger  Niamey le 09 aout 2021- L’application des bonnes pratiques en matière de gouvernance et de  lutte contre la corruption au Niger est une urgence pour consolider les efforts déployés dans la  lutte contre les maux qui minent la gestion des biens publics. Les récents rapports publiés sur  le Niger relèvent qu’il y a une nécessité absolue de mettre en branle les mécanismes adéquats  pour endiguer la corruption et la prédation des deniers publics qui ont tendance à [...]

2021-08-10T10:18:53+00:0010th August 2021|

Betting on local media to strengthen local democracy

Written by Raju Sharma The debate around democracy on a local level is marginalized in the media today. Everybody seems concerned with what the Prime Minister says but seldom puts focus on what the mayor of their local government thinks. It is against the backdrop of this absence of focus on local democracy that we see a rise of electoral dictatorship in the country. Constitutionally, we should be more concerned with what our local leaders are doing because their decisions affect our lives as much as the decisions taken by our national leaders - if not more. Our local leaders [...]

2021-06-29T17:17:25+00:0029th June 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|
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