My journey on the tortuous Ebola trail

This article was originally published by the Daily Maverick. By Brooks Mormon It’s not easy to assess the degree to which Ebola has impacted on daily – or nightly – life in Liberia, as a person who was stranded, hands tied, outside the country during the outbreak. One thing is clear, however: waiting for an emergency is an unhelpful strategy of crisis prevention. In early August 2014, I left Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, which was quickly descending into Ebola-induced chaos. I headed to South Africa on business travel for my employer, a youth empowerment NGO. Things had gone south [...]

2015-02-20T00:00:00+00:0020th February 2015|

Liberia’s Ministry of Sound

This article was originally published by Time. By Aryn Baker It seems like any typical Friday night in Monrovia. Out on the streets traffic snarls around the intersections, and taxis and buses are crammed with commuters on their way home after a long week. The ubiquitous sidewalk video bars are filing with patrons settling in to watch European club football on open air screens (Chelsea and Barcelona are favorites here), and the base is starting to thump at Code: 146, the Liberian capital's hottest live music club. Blake, the house DJ, is priming the audience with promises of a new [...]

2014-09-26T00:00:00+00:0026th September 2014|

Transparency International Announces Winners of the 2014 Social Entrepreneurs Initiative for West Africa

This article was originally published by Transparency International Secretariat. Alexise Ouedraogo, a TV journalist from Cote d’Ivoire, Victor Akinwande, a software developer from Nigeria, and Lawrence Yealue, a technology activist from Liberia have been chosen as the winners of Transparency International’s Social Entrepreneurs Initiative for West Africa competition, Transparency International said today. The Social Entrepreneurs’ Initiative is run by the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) within Transparency International with the aim of empowering young people to fight corruption in their own communities. This is the first time that it has been run in West Africa. Over 65 entries from young people [...]

2014-06-02T00:00:00+00:002nd June 2014|

Accountability Lab wins Making All Voices Count Grand Challenge for Development

The Accountability Lab has won the Making All Voices Count Grand Challenge for Development in partnership with the Engine Room for a proposal to produce a concrete resource to assist organizations in making appropriate technology choices. The project will also improve the implementation of ICT tools for accountability and transparency and addresses the weaknesses in the development and social expertise underpinning many ICT-supported initiatives. The project will assess, pilot and mentor ‘voice and accountability’ initiatives in various countries and follow up with an assessment of the utility and validity of the process from participants’ perspectives. Targeted dissemination will channel the [...]

2014-04-17T00:00:00+00:0017th April 2014|

Honesty Oscars 2014: Best Activist in a Leading Role

By: BLAIR GLENCORSE (This post was originally posted by ONE.) This week before the Academy Awards, February 24 to 28, ONE and Accountability Lab will unveil a category for our Honesty Oscars 2014, an award that honors not Hollywood films, but the creative work of activists and organizations that fight global corruption. Vote for your favorites, and we’ll announce the winners on Oscar night, Sunday, March 2.  Today, we unveil the second category in ONE and Accountability Lab’s Honesty Oscars (see the first category here): Best Activist in a Leading Role. Like the Academy Awards’ “Best Actor in a Leading Role,” this category honors [...]

2014-02-25T00:00:00+00:0025th February 2014|

From Dhangadhi to Davos – the Post 2015 Development Agenda from the Bottom-Up

By: Blair Glencorse. This post was originally published by Global Policy. —— This week, the world’s elites will descend on Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. Leaders from across business, politics and international organizations will spend three days listening to panels, devouring buffets and shaking hands. New ideas will develop, connections will be made and, subsequently, policies will change. This year, the post 2015 development agenda is high on the list of topics to be discussed. While conferences like Davos are absolutely essential to make sure decision-makers get development right in the future- it is also imperative that these meetings are informed by [...]

2014-01-20T00:00:00+00:0020th January 2014|

Building on the Open Government Partnership in Liberia in 2014: Knowmore LIB

By: Lawrence Yealue and Carter Draper. This post was originally published by the Open Government Partnership. As Liberia welcomes 2014, it is an opportune moment to look back at the impressive progress Liberia made in terms of open government in 2013. The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit in London in October last year was an important step forward in the broader West African movement for openness, transparency and accountability. Sierra Leone applied for membership, for example; and Liberia sent a high-level government and civil society delegation to the meetings. Ideas were formed, hands were shaken and commitments were made- but [...]

2014-01-06T00:00:00+00:006th January 2014|

Accountability Lab and Business Start Up Center (BSC) Monrovia partner to develop “Social Impact Tours” of Liberia

The Accountability Lab and BSC Monrovia are pleased to announce a partnership to develop social impact tours of Liberia. The tours will provide visitors to Liberia with alternative perspectives on Liberian society which go well beyond traditional tourism; generate a learning experience with important insights into developmental projects that work; and build relationships with Liberians for positive economic change. Participants on the tour will visit a variety of social entrepreneurs in Monrovia through tailored one or two day itineraries. The tours will include a boat ride with Olisco Kayea and his team of mechanics who build water taxis out of [...]

2013-12-11T00:00:00+00:0011th December 2013|

Accountability Lab Joins the National #GivingTuesday Movement

Accountability Lab has joined #GivingTuesday, a unique effort to harness the collective power of charities, families, businesses and individuals to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday aims to shift the focus of the holiday season towards giving back to one’s community and making the world a better place. Today, December 3, 2013, over 8,000 partners will harness the power of social media to inspire people to donate to the causes they care about and create a global movement of generosity. Accountability Lab asks you to consider [...]

2013-12-03T00:00:00+00:003rd December 2013|

Breaking the Silence: SMS Helps Liberian Schools to Improve Education

By: Blair Glencorse. This article was originally published by National Geographic. Students and academics in schools throughout Liberia are taking advantage of a system that allows them to gather information and discuss possible solutions to problems they face in the country’s corrupt education system. In this edition of Digital Diversity, Blair Glencorse talks about “Tell-it-True”, which uses text messages to allow users to share problems and concerns that would otherwise go unspoken. Digital Diversity is a series of blog posts from kiwanja.net featuring the many ways mobile phones and other appropriate technologies are being used throughout the world to improve, enrich, and empower billions of [...]

2013-12-03T00:00:00+00:003rd December 2013|
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