Who watches the rules of the game? Our experience as citizen observers

Throughout 2025, we accompanied the community of Yuguelito in Iztapalapa as they participated for the first time in Mexico City's Participatory Budgeting (PB). Things did not go as expected, however. The project the community put forward was rejected on vague and contradictory grounds, most notably the settlement's irregular status, which is not an official eligibility criterion. This experience made clear to us the enormous gap between what is designed on paper and what actually happens on the ground. It meant not only pointing out legal loopholes, but also making visible that the conditions for exercising the right to participate [...]

2026-06-08T13:05:43+00:008th June 2026|

Yuguelito and participatory budgeting: When the rules are kept out of sight

Can you imagine having an idea to improve your neighborhood and having public funds available to make it happen? In the Yuguelito community, they didn't just imagine it; they pursued it. After a collective mapping and needs prioritization process facilitated by Accountability Lab, a project was born: Todos juntos por un Yuguelito seguro. It was a Sendero Seguro combining paving, streetlights, security cameras, and neighborhood alarms. This project was a thorough proposal with undeniable community support. While exploring ways to bring it to life, we came across Participatory Budgeting as a potential avenue. This mechanism is meant to give everyone [...]

2026-04-23T15:37:16+00:0023rd April 2026|

Lo que la comunidad pidió, y lo que el sistema (no) respondió

[Lee la primera parte de esta historia: Yuguelito: Vivienda, Autogestión y Rendición de Cuentas] La primera parte de esta historia terminó con una promesa implícita: más de 250 encuestas completadas, un equipo de once Agentes Comunitarios de Campo, con el Yuguelito en el centro de todo, y la certeza de que lo que vendría después tendría que estar a la altura de lo que la comunidad se había tomado el tiempo de decir. Este es el relato de lo que pasó después. Lo que la comunidad dijo 255 voces. Una respuesta al proceso de recolección de datos que representa más [...]

2026-04-16T21:42:03+00:0016th April 2026|

What a community asked for, what the system rejected – and everything in between

[Read the first part of this story: Yuguelito: Housing, Self-Governance & Accountability] The first part of this story ended with an implicit promise: over 250 completed surveys, a team of eleven Community Frontline Agents with Yuguelito at the center, and the certainty that what came next would have to live up to what the community had taken the time to say. This is the story of what happened after. What the community said A total of 255 voices were captured—representing over 12% of the settlement’s population, or, put another way, roughly half of the ~500 families who call Yuguelito home. [...]

2026-04-16T10:59:42+00:0016th April 2026|

L’inclusivité en action : Le rôle du projet USAID Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni dans la transformation de l’accès à l’information au Mali

Le Mali est plongé dans une grave crise sécuritaire et sociale depuis plus d'une décennie, où la désinformation est devenue un puissant facteur de perturbation, divisant les communautés par la peur et la méfiance. L'information se propageant plus rapidement que jamais, on ne saurait trop insister sur l'importance de garantir l'accès à des informations fiables et vérifiées. C'est dans ce contexte difficile que le projet USAID Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni a été développé. Soutenu par l'USAID et exécuté par un consortium composé de Pact, Code for Africa et Accountability Lab Mali, le projet a pour objectif  d’apporter l'espoir d'un Mali [...]

2025-02-18T18:09:04+00:0017th December 2024|

Inclusivity in action: transforming information access in Mali

Mali has been entrenched in a severe security and social crisis for over a decade, where misinformation has emerged as a potent disruptor, dividing communities through fear and mistrust. As information spreads more rapidly than ever before, the importance of ensuring access to reliable, verifiable information cannot be overstated. It is within this challenging context that the USAID Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni (BTK) project was conceived. Supported by USAID Mali and executed by a consortium led by Pact, including Code for Africa and Accountability Lab Mali, the BTK project brings hope for a more informed Mali. The Importance of the BTK Project The BTK [...]

2025-01-13T14:11:21+00:0017th December 2024|

Action for Accountability champions environmental justice

This article, shared by GLOBE POST, highlights the inspiring work being done to promote environmental justice in South Africa through the Action for Accountability (A4A) project. Led by The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Accountability Lab South Africa, and the Public Service Accountability Monitor, the project brings communities together to tackle issues like wetland restoration and improving sanitation. The article shines a light on the important role of Civic Action Teams in driving these efforts, making a real difference in local communities. It also recaps the recent People’s Council event, where leaders came together to share ideas and collaborate on solutions for [...]

2024-09-05T12:36:08+00:005th September 2024|

What’s democracy without citizen participation?

This article presented by Grocott's Mail discusses the ongoing challenges in achieving meaningful citizen participation and accountability within South Africa's local municipalities, focusing on the case study of Makhanda. It highlights initiatives like the Action for Accountability project and the role of organizations like the Public Service Accountability Monitor in promoting civic engagement and addressing governance issues. It has been three decades since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, yet gaps between communities and government remain a talking point. The apartheid administration brought the blatant exclusive participation in governance, forcefully silencing a large portion of the population. However, the [...]

2024-09-05T10:01:58+00:0019th April 2024|

Bagira: Participatory Budget, Several Projects Selected For 2023

Several projects will be carried out by the municipality of Bagira in favor of its ten districts within the framework of the participatory budget for the year 2023. This is what emerges from the general assembly organized this Friday, February 24 in the Venus room. These include the rehabilitation of stairs and collectors in the Lumumba district and the construction of a shed in the Linda market, in the Nyakavogo district. For the Mulambula district, it is the installation of 5 lampposts in each avenue. The Cikonyi district will benefit from the construction of the bridge at Karwanyi. The projects selected for the Cikera [...]

2023-03-02T15:35:05+00:002nd March 2023|

Applying CivActs to Housing Insecurity in Mbare

By Kibo Ngowi What does it look like to close the feedback loop between citizens and authorities to ensure people-powered accountability? That’s the question we’ve been asking for the last seven years starting in Nepal after the devastating 2015 earthquake when we established the Mobile Citizen Helpdesks with a vision of galvanizing volunteers to bridge the information gap and respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.  Since then the program has been renamed Civic Action Teams (CivActs) and evolved to address a variety of challenges such as migration, human trafficking, inclusion and elections across the several countries where we operate including [...]

2023-01-09T08:51:59+00:009th January 2023|
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