Director’s Remarks for 2025

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer”

These were the words of Zora Neale Hurston in one of the chapters of her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. 2025 posed serious questions for civil society. It disrupted many plans and indeed the entire ecosystem. It challenged our assertions about agility and tested our capacity to manage complexity. It threw numerous curveballs – shrinking civic space, funding uncertainty, democratic backsliding, rapid technological changes, and increasing pressure on civil society actors to do more with less.

We attempted to answer, but our responses were incomplete and occasionally incorrect. However, we remain hopeful that the future we envision – one in which resources are used wisely, decisions benefit everyone fairly, and people live secure lives – is still achievable despite the changing global order.

Throughout most of 2025, we focused on holding the line; sustaining relationships, keeping civic actors connected, strengthening the ecosystem, and ensuring that ideas, movements, and people working on accountability were neither isolated nor invisible. Survival required us to respond to the context, to seize opportunities as they arose, and to invest in platforms that protected a governance ecosystem under significant assault, so it could remain relevant and vibrant. Conferences and gatherings became spaces to exchange ideas and build strength to sustain work in innovative ways that aligned with the evolving environment. We utilised both invited and self-created spaces to connect, root ourselves, and share solidarity. These forums enabled us to highlight African thought and experiences on issues related to digital governance, electoral accountability, climate justice, natural resource governance and public finance, while fortifying relationships that will sustain the work and progress beyond projects.

After two years of testing ideas, listening attentively, and adapting to real-world challenges, November 2025 marked a significant milestone for us as ALESA was officially launched. The launch demonstrated the maturity of Accountability Lab’s national labs and highlighted the urgent need for coordinated cross-border responses to shared governance and human rights issues. Operating across East and Southern Africa, ALESA’s challenge is to enhance citizen-led governance and amplify critical voices in key policy spaces at the regional level, while remaining deeply connected to local realities.

The Citizens Action for Rights, Democracy and Accountability (CARDA) initiative is ALESA’s primary programmatic effort to enhance human rights and accountability across the region. Building on longstanding relationships with community-based movements and a dedication to nurturing and promoting youth leadership, CARDA directly addresses intersecting pressures and institutional complexities in governance and human rights. Its incubators, initially centred on digital governance and climate justice, exemplify ALESA’s commitment to supporting youth-led, innovative approaches that are practical, ethical, context-aware, and suitable for the digital age, yet aware of the constant threat that climate calamities pose for our world despite denials and deprioritisation by some of our major funders.

In a year that asked serious questions, ALESA chose action, and Accountability Lab broadly chose to adapt rather than die. It chose connection and solidarity over isolation, learning over rigidity, and adaptability over fidelity to old methods and ways of working.

It’s early days yet, but establishing ALESA formally reflects Accountability Lab’s commitment to fostering a connected governance movement that understands lasting accountability is rooted in relationships, shared learning, and ongoing civic action.

The hope is that, after the thorough examination of 2025’s questions, 2026 and subsequent years will be characterised by coherent, credible, and transparent answers, motivated by the need to make governance serve the people. As a new network lab, part of ALESA’s remit is to strengthen the impact of other Labs that have been affected by funding cuts, the war in DRC, changing donor priorities, and other factors — particularly in the DRC and South Africa — and to develop programming initiatives and partnerships that the Lab has initiated in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi.

It may be too early to discuss impact, but as the rest of the report shows, ALESA is well on its way and will continue to build on the 2025 foundations, hopefully answering the questions that the year asked and responding to the challenges of our time.

Vision and Mission

An Africa where resources are used wisely, decisions benefit everyone fairly, and people lead secure lives. It is a continent where citizens are empowered to exercise agency in governance, and leaders are responsible and responsive. Land institutions are accountable.

ALESA’s mission is to make the African governance architecture work for people by supporting active citizens, responsible leaders, and accountable institutions.

Values

1. Learning

ALESA is committed to continuous learning as a core institutional practice. The organisation integrates reflection, documentation, and adaptive learning into programme design and implementation to improve effectiveness, respond to contextual changes, and strengthen impact over time.

2. Equity

ALESA applies an equity-centred approach across its work by recognising and addressing power imbalances that affect participation and access to opportunities. The organisation intentionally designs programmes and platforms to enable meaningful inclusion, fair resource distribution, and representative participation, particularly for historically marginalised groups.

3. Integrity

ALESA operates with integrity by aligning its actions with its mission, values, and commitments. The organisation prioritises ethical conduct, responsible stewardship of resources, and accountability in its engagements, ensuring consistency between stated intentions and practice.

4. Solidarity

ALESA advances solidarity through collaborative engagement with young people, communities, and ecosystem partners. The organisation emphasises collective action, mutual support, and long-term partnerships, recognising that sustainable accountability outcomes are strengthened through cooperation and shared responsibility.

5. Transparency

ALESA upholds transparency by maintaining open and clear communication in its decision-making, operational processes, and programme implementation. The organisation prioritises timely information sharing and clear articulation of roles, expectations, and outcomes to strengthen trust, accountability, and effective collaboration with stakeholders.

Pillars

Ecosystem and Coalition Building:

ALESA supports vital and emerging elements of the accountability ecosystem in East and Southern Africa. It promotes the growth of young civil society leaders and social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to governance issues at both national and local levels through its incubators and movement-support initiatives. ALESA aids in implementing AL Global initiatives to develop and reinforce the ecosystem via the Civic Strength Partners and Wayfinder programmes. It is creating a multisectoral, geographically diverse coalition of activists, researchers, creatives, and practitioners across its five key focus areas: Natural Resource Governance, Climate Justice, Digital Governance, Electoral Accountability, and Human Rights.

Learning Pipelines and Coalitions

ALESA develops learning coalitions to promote continuous learning and agility among CSOs in the governance sector across East and Southern Africa, focusing on Human Rights, Natural Resource Governance, Democratisation, Climate Justice, Electoral Accountability, and Digital Governance. ALESA is well positioned as a learning partner and has previously served by convening the Partners Learning eXchange Dialogues (PLxD) for BHP Foundation’s NRG partners and facilitating the Community Smart Ownership and Consent Project’s – The Resource Exchange. It offers coaching and facilitation for committed members of the accountability and governance ecosystem throughout East and Southern Africa and beyond, aiming to foster ongoing learning beyond events and sustain progress beyond projects.

Convening and Platforming

ALESA creates spaces for critical reflection on governance, human rights, and accountability processes, bringing together a diverse range of participants from the governance and accountability sector to discuss vital issues affecting the sector. In partnership with other organisations, ALESA was the main organiser of the Citizens’ Summit in Defence of Democracy, held ahead of the Democracy Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2023, as well as subsequent Global Democracy Coalition Africa Forums on Democracy in Ghana and Nairobi. ALESA supports and platforms important national voices in discussions at key policy centres on accountability and human rights through travel grants, speaking opportunities, and participation. It has also facilitated giving young people a voice at key forums such as the Open Government Partnership, various Communities of Practice, and Human Rights Defenders summits.

Thought Leadership, Knowledge and Creative Narratives

ALESA shifts narratives and expands civic imagination by producing and amplifying African ideas on democracy, accountability, and human rights through both authoritative knowledge and creative civic storytelling. This pillar holds ALESA’s thought leadership platforms (including issue-focused think tanks), applied research and writing by Africa’s public intellectuals, and dissemination through print, broadcast, and ALESA’s own channels (including the Accountability Journal and flagship talk/podcast series). It also houses ALESA’s Arts4change approach supporting artivism, popular education, and relatable narrative framing through poetry, film, multimedia storytelling, and digital campaigns. These strategies challenge deficit-based portrayals and make governance issues accessible, emotionally resonant, and mobilising well beyond traditional policy circles.

Thought Leadership, Knowledge and Creative Narratives

Staff Costs and Programming Costs

Micro Interviews

Tatenda Everjoy Muwomo | WasteXchange founder | Zimbabwe

One key change I have observed in my area is increased attention to road safety and infrastructure protection, particularly around overloaded heavy vehicles damaging public roads. Through advocacy discussions within technical and transport spaces, there is growing awareness of the need for better monitoring and enforcement systems. A critical challenge that needs urgent attention is weak enforcement of vehicle load regulations, which leads to road damage, accidents, and public resource loss. Through my technical background and engagement in accountability conversations, I have contributed by promoting the importance of on-board weighing systems as a preventive and transparent solution. My advice to others strengthening governance is to combine practical innovation with accountability to create sustainable and enforceable solutions.

Khadija Jilo | Advocate for Inclusive Cultural Tourism | Kenya

Mombasa being the second largest cities in Kenya after Nairobi houses a variety of communities. When having Trade expos or events, we always find the same people showcasing modern tourism, yet we have diverse communities and entrepreneurs offering unique heritage tourism, such as the indigenous communities and the refugees from different countries, which not only symbolises inclusion but also recognition and appreciation of diversity.

Strengthening governance and policy isn’t as easy as it may sound it requires courage, consistency and alot of pushing, every joint efforts towards it counts and every progress no matter how small it is, is positive results.

People should strive to seek information and knowledge. Most of the governance and accountability issues come as a results of liniency in inforcement and monitoring or lack of information. Making participation and policy engagement difficult.

Susan Salome Chisi | Green Her Path founder | Malawi

A key change I have observed in governance and accountability is the increased inclusion of women-led organizations in government consultations on disaster-risk response, creating space to identify gaps and recommend improvements. Through our advocacy work at Girls on the Lead, we have influenced district-level discussions to meaningfully include women’s voices in disaster-preparedness planning, helping to ensure that community realities inform decision-making. However, a major challenge that still requires urgent attention is the weak implementation of gender-responsive accountability frameworks, which often results in women’s priorities being underfunded or overlooked. My participation in advocacy and coordination platforms has helped bridge the gap between community women and decision-makers, ensuring that grassroots concerns shape government actions. My advice is simple: continue advocating for inclusive governance, because lasting change begins when every voice—especially those of women and girls—has a real influence on policy decisions.

Eseru Abels | Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM) Programme Officer| UGANDA

One significant change I have witnessed in governance and accountability is the reform of campus politics in Uganda, particularly the revision of student guild electoral frameworks to curb the commercialization of student elections. In 2018, through ACFIM’s engagements with student leaders from Kyambogo University, Makerere University, Makerere University Business School, Kampala International University, and Uganda Christian University, long-standing concerns around vote buying, excessive campaign spending, and electoral malpractice were openly discussed and translated into concrete reform proposals.
A key outcome of these advocacy efforts was the publication of revised Guild Election Regulations at Makerere University under General Notice No. 39 of 2019 in the Uganda Gazette. The reforms introduced strict limits on campaign activities, including banning rallies in halls of residence, capping candidates to four rallies, criminalizing bribery and hooliganism, and clarifying nomination and campaign guidelines. Similar measures were later adopted at Kyambogo University, strengthening accountability, electoral integrity, and democratic participation within campus politics in Uganda.

Eseru Abels | Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM) Programme Officer| UGANDA

One significant change I have observed in governance and accountability in my country is the growing recognition of digital spaces as critical arenas for democratic participation. Civil society organisations are increasingly working collectively to promote transparency, protect digital rights, and safeguard electoral integrity, resulting in stronger and more coordinated advocacy platforms. A concrete outcome of these efforts has been improved collaboration between CSOs, media actors, and digital rights activists to monitor online political narratives during sensitive periods such as elections. Through my work in the digital rights space, I have contributed to strengthening these collaborations by supporting structured monitoring initiatives, facilitating dialogue among diverse stakeholders, and intentionally creating pathways for young people to meaningfully participate in digital accountability and monitoring processes. Despite this progress, a pressing challenge remains the absence of coordinated digital accountability frameworks that can effectively address online manipulation while safeguarding freedom of expression. My work continues to influence this space through sustained collaboration focused on producing evidence-based analysis and advancing youth inclusion in governance conversations. Going forward, my advice is that greater emphasis should be placed on below-the-line advocacy approaches that engage communities directly and translate policy commitments into practical, locally grounded action.

Accountapreneurs 2026

Accountability Lab East and Southern Africa (ALESA) is supporting youth civic leaders across East and Southern Africa through the 2026 Climate Justice Incubator and Digital Governance Incubator to address interconnected challenges of climate change, digital exclusion, and governance systems that often fail to reflect people’s lived realities. Implemented throughout 2026, the incubators bring together Accountability Entrepreneurs developing locally grounded initiatives that strengthen transparency, inclusion, and citizen participation in climate justice and digital governance. This work responds to the disproportionate impact of these challenges on young people and marginalised communities, where limited access to information, public services, and democratic participation remains a persistent barrier. Donations in support of ALESA’s 2026 Accountability Incubators enable these youth civic leaders to strengthen their initiatives, build operational and digital capacity, and expand their reach to more communities, contributing to the sustainability and growth of people-centred accountability solutions across the region.