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Closing Feedback Loops in Sindukot

By Kanchana Sthanumurthy Photos by Shweta Gulati Sindukot, in Sindhupalchowk district, is a mere 70 kilometers from Kathmandu, but the roads leading to the district are so heavily potholed and narrow that the journey takes over three hours from Kathmandu by car. In this beautiful community of terraced hills dotted with houses, our Citizen Helpdesk team has been working for over two years to gather information from citizens on their key concerns and working to close feedback loops related to critical priorities. The focus initially was earthquake relief and recovery, but the Helpdesks have now shifted the focus to foreign [...]

2017-08-01T00:00:00+00:001st August 2017|

Understanding how to learn in Liberia

By Heather Gilberds and Blair Glencorse This blog was originally published by Making All Voices Count. Recently, we concluded a Making All Voices Count Practitioner Research and Learning grant, focusing on the dynamics, process and outcomes of building accountability with young people in Liberia. The research generated some useful insights – as we’ve written about previously – including the need to make governance changes meaningful for citizens; the importance of a collective, eco-systems-building approach; and the opportunities that exist around more creative, and less institutionalised, governance programmes. The research involved a survey of over 1,000 citizens in four of Liberia’s 15 counties, [...]

2017-07-07T00:00:00+00:007th July 2017|

Rapping to Be Repped in Liberia

 By: Anne Sophie Ranjbar, Associate Director and Maima Caranda, Volunteer As you walk through Monrovia, you can’t miss the catchy West African beats that play on every street. While Nigeria has traditionally been the hub for music in the region, Liberia’s young “Hip Co” artists are rapidly building a following in the region and beyond. Music has the power to inspire and inform people—acting as a medium through which to channel popular sentiment and shape collective dreams. As Liberia faces its next presidential election—a critical opportunity to consolidate democracy and peace after a troubled past—music can also serve as a [...]

2017-05-06T00:00:00+00:006th May 2017|

Nepal’s earthquake disaster: Two years and $4.1bn later

By: Narayan Adhikari. This article was originally published by Al Jazeera. Despite the billions pledged, the majority of Nepalis affected by the earthquake still don't have proper housing. The Nepalese government demolished the only earthquake shelter in Kathmandu, where hundreds sought temporary sanctuary after the 2015 earthquake [EPA/Narendra Shrestha]   On April 25, 2015, a powerful earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed more than 824,000 homes in Nepal. Shortly after, the country's Reconstruction Authority published a vision for "well-planned resilient settlements and a prosperous society". But it is clearly falling short of that goal because of poor coordination between government [...]

2017-04-25T00:00:00+00:0025th April 2017|

Seeing Students See Civics

By: Ilana Panth, Accountability Lab Intern Last summer, while visiting my family in Kathmandu, I was compelled to get involved with the community. I got in contact with a local organization funded by Accountability Lab, Sambhawana, which aims to provide meaningful civic education to young people in Nepal. After several discussions with the Sambhawana team, we decided that I would be able to make the most impact by teaching civics through debate, a subject I have been heavily involved with in my high school. Sambhawana gave me the freedom to design my own 3-day curriculum, which I created to be [...]

2017-04-12T00:00:00+00:0012th April 2017|

Celebrating The Lab’s 5th Birthday With A New Strategy for Building Accountability

By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director. Today, the Accountability Lab turns 5 years old. What better way to celebrate a birthday than to reflect on what we’ve done, think about what we’ve learned, and spell out where we’re going in a new strategy?! We’re proud of this new roadmap, which has grown out of a lot of hard work in West Africa and South Asia, hundreds of conversations with other organizations and individuals working in this space and significant field and desk research into accountability eco-systems to understand where we can add the most value. This refresh comes at an important [...]

2017-03-16T00:00:00+00:0016th March 2017|

Why we have to reimagine education to fight corruption

Image: REUTERS/Michaela Rehle By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director of Accountability Lab, and Vasilis Koulolias, Director, of eGovlab at the University of Stockholm. This article was originally published by the World Economic Forum. Traditional approaches to fighting corruption tend to focus on rules, compliance and enforcement. Regulations are passed and organizations are formed to root out graft. These efforts may provide part of the solution, but are often hamstrung or ineffective in places where opacity and patronage are ingrained, and where there is a gap between legal frameworks and everyday behaviors. To truly build systems and societies with integrity we need to rethink [...]

2017-03-10T00:00:00+00:0010th March 2017|

Announcing the 2017/18 Accountability Incubator’s Cohort of “Accountapreneurs”

The Accountability Lab catalyzes a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. Our core work is through the Accountability Incubator: a two-year program of support for the very best “accountapreneurs”. This year the application process was incredibly competitive; we had hundreds of applications across our three focus countries–Nepal, Liberia and Pakistan. We have selected 15 amazing young change-makers to join our Incubator and work with us to transform their societies through new and sustainable ideas for accountability. We've seen inspiring projects from past accountapreneurs, and this year we'll have a dynamic mix of first year and second [...]

2017-01-27T00:00:00+00:0027th January 2017|

Integrity Summit 2017: What Can We Learn from Integrity Idols in Nepal?

Background In January 2017, the Accountability Lab brought together the three winners of the Integrity Idol Nepal competition since 2014 (Gyan Mani Nepal, Pradip Raj Kanel and Dor Bikram Shrees), along with other Integrity Idol finalists (including Bindu Kunwar, Tara Subedi, Bhishma Kumar Bhusal, Krishna Prasad Danchha, Bhuwan Kumari Rai, and Ram Narayan Shah), experts in anti-corruption and governance (including Suryanath Upadhyay the former head of the CIAA, Dr. Tarak Bahadur KC the Deputy Executive Director of Nepal Administrative Staff College, Bharat Bahadur Thapa the Head of Transparency International and Jiwan Prabha Lama the former Secretary of the Nepali Government, [...]

2017-01-23T00:00:00+00:0023rd January 2017|

Dor Bikram Shrees Becomes Integrity Idol of the Year

This article was written and originally published by Glocal Khabar. Dor Bikram Shrees, a school teacher from Gulmi, has been declared the Integrity Idol of the year 2016. Shrees was felicitated with the award amidst a special award gala organized in the capital on Thursday. Integrity Idol is a national honor to recognize the most sincere and responsible government officer. The Principal of Siddhababa Higher Secondary School in Gulmi, Shrees is a favorite among teachers, students, and guardians alike, and a trusted member of the community. To implement practical and timely learning in the school, he initiated compulsory computer classes, [...]

2017-01-05T00:00:00+00:005th January 2017|
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