Practical Ways CSOs Can Manage Closing Civic Space

Civic space has been closing everywhere for a long time - from the UK to Mexico to Zimbabwe - and represents, along with the corruption that accompanies it, one of the biggest threats to democracy everywhere. For citizens, and particularly for those of us interested in free, open societies, this can be an existential threat - not a day passes without protesters being killed, journalists going missing or activists being murdered. For a translocal network like Accountability Lab this is also a question of survival, so we are doing everything we can to understand how we can proactively manage the [...]

2022-07-28T11:42:12+00:0013th July 2022|

Accountability Music Awards opens nominations for 2021

Nominations have officially opened for the 2021 Accountability Music Awards (AMAs). The 2021 AMAs are a collaboration between Accountability Lab, the ONE Campaign and the African Union to honour African musicians whose music calls out the vice of corruption or advocates for good governance through the fight against corruption. By providing a platform for conscious musicians, the AMAs aim to galvanise citizens in demanding greater transparency and accountability from institutions, corporations and the African citizenry. The campaign also recognises the critical role that music can play in getting citizens involved in anti-corruption reform by shifting norms and behaviours. Nominations can be submitted [...]

2021-10-11T10:50:15+00:007th October 2021|

Public Trust and the Nigerian Police: The Abba Kyari Story

The recent suspension of the once-celebrated police officer, Abba Kyari, on suspicion of links to an international fraudster, has set off a tidal wave of socio-political debate. Lack of trust in the police was already a widely accepted consensus among Nigerians prior to this latest indictment, owing to many reports of corruption, ineptitude, and impunity. The country is still sour from the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality; even more so from the grim Lekki tollgate shootings that followed. Nowadays, many citizens no longer look to the nation’s security apparatus for protection, but rather pray not to encounter them in [...]

2021-08-25T13:00:06+00:0025th August 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|

The Language of Accountability in Pakistan

By Fayyaz Yaseen Almost all the words referring to accountability in one way or another – such as responsiveness, transparency, participation, inclusion, accountability, rule of law – are used just as they are (as English words), despite the fact that there are stronger Urdu corresponding words that can spell out an even stronger meaning that also relates to the local context. For example, the Urdu word for ‘responsiveness’ is ‘jawabdahi’, which means that one is not only expected to respond in a timely manner but is also accountable for doing/not doing so. Similarly, the term ‘rule of law’ is understood [...]

2022-11-10T06:46:22+00:0030th June 2021|

Odeh Friday – Accountability Lab Nigeria’s Country Director

Odeh Friday is Accountability Lab Nigeria’s Country Director and brought a wealth of experience to the Lab’s global family when he led the establishment of a network lab in Nigeria. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Degree from the University of Abuja, Odeh was placed at the National Space and Research Development Agency for his one-year service in the National Youth Service Corps. “In that period I discovered and joined an organization called All Nigerian United Nations Students Association which promotes the ideals and principles of the UN like, no discrimination based on sex and religion, so it [...]

2021-06-21T11:22:11+00:0018th June 2021|

Accountability in the time of Covid-19

It’s been a challenging but productive year as the Lab adapts to the effects of working under the new normal of the Covid-19 pandemic, along with the rest of the world. A key part of our work this year was launching a Virtual Accountability Incubator and also supporting our existing accountability entrepreneurs in our network on projects aimed at strengthening Covid-19 response and recovery efforts. Earlier this year we created a fund for our accountapreneurs who pitched ideas for these mini-grants on a competitive basis. We've been excited by the quality of projects that have come out of this initiative. [...]

2020-10-06T08:46:31+00:005th October 2020|

Government Accountability Explains Differing Pandemic Responses

The coronavirus health crisis has brought about deep challenges related to misinformation, governance and trust. In a webinar sponsored by the Center for Strategic International Studies on Wednesday, Accountability Lab panelists on the ground in South Africa, Mali and Nepal detailed how the pandemic is affecting government accountability and corruption. The Accountability Lab is a non-profit international project, which works to engage citizens in conversations surrounding civil service in nine countries. Citizens, civil society groups and public sector reformers across several countries are finding creative ways to rebuild trusted communication between states and their people, in the absence of effective [...]

2020-07-23T12:22:47+00:0023rd July 2020|

M&E of the Intangible: Resources on Social Norms

Social norms have risen significantly in profile amongst those working on behavior change related to gender, female genital mutilation, public health, child marriage and increasingly corruption. With the increase in attention comes the difficulty of determining how to monitor and evaluate (M&E) change. By Dhaval Kothari Unlike behaviors, social norms are intangible and invisible, making simplistic checklists inadequate. M&E of social norms must take into account injunctive norms, descriptive norms and sanctions at a minimum. (To learn more about the components of social norms see pages 25-27 in Understanding Social Norms: A Reference Guide for Policy and Practice.) As a [...]

2020-07-14T22:56:32+00:0014th July 2020|

Grant Makers Can Improve Government Effectiveness in the Covid-19 Era

Philanthropy has committed billions of dollars in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While certainly generous, that’s a fraction of the trillions committed so far by governments worldwide. And therein lies a largely untapped opportunity. By Leslie Lang Tsai Grant makers can have an outsized impact by supporting efforts to improve government efficiency, accountability, and effectiveness in responding to the pandemic. Philanthropies should start by asking themselves some critical questions: How much of this massive tranche of government resources will be lost through corruption? Who is even monitoring what may be governments’ largest non-wartime spending in history? And what can grant [...]

2020-07-14T22:27:59+00:0014th July 2020|
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