Shrinking development funding has revealed the structural weaknesses of a top-down funding framework. It has also created an opportunity to reorganise models around frontline actors for long-term resilience. In her piece, Building Resilience through Transitions: A New Model for Democracy Support, Accountability Lab Co-CEO Jean Scrimgeour encourages more flexible, people-centred approaches that are grounded in political reality rather than idealised assumptions. 📰 Read the latest edition: bit.ly/3Uaj7fY 📮 Subscribe here: bit.ly/4sG6YdM

People affected by disasters know the challenges of recovery firsthand. How can their experiences help shape the decisions that follow? @@accountlabnp has collaborated with Dr Nimesh Dhungana, Senior Lecturer in Disasters and Global Health at @OfficialUoM, alongside communities and activists, to explore this question. Drawing on experiences of Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes, COVID-19 and the 2024 floods, the research helped develop the Just Recovery framework, putting human rights, social justice and community participation at the heart of rebuilding. Through public hearings, community discussions and policy dialogues, people are sharing their concerns and helping shape recovery decisions. Lessons are also being shared across our network in Liberia, Pakistan and South Africa. 👓 Read more: bit.ly/4BnyAKw

How can a funder's exit be responsible and help build a resilient civil society? Our Co-CEO, Cheri-Leigh Erasmus and Eszter Filippinyi of @TAICollab, explore this question in “Leaving with Care: Responsible Funder Exits.” When a funder exits, the consequences can extend beyond the loss of funding. But a funder’s departure does not have to be an unavoidable crisis. The authors highlight practical ways to make exits more responsible: 📌 Give organizations time to plan. 📌 Support a collective approach. 📌 Build a resilient civil society. Read more about some promising practices that can help organizations navigate funding transitions: bit.ly/47n1ooB

What does shifting power look like in practice? Carolyn Dallmann and Lior Ipp join Cheri-Leigh Erasmus on AccountabiliTea to explore innovative approaches to grantmaking. 🎧 Watch, listen or read: bit.ly/4d5BYyU

"When money can buy influence and technology can multiply it, how can we protect elections from these forces?" At the 3rd Electoral Integrity in Africa Summit in Accra, Ghana, participants highlighted the urgent need to equip citizens to assess and question online content, find ways to position young people as co-creators of democratic innovation, and build solidarity to protect citizen election observers’ independence and facilitate transparent and fair accreditation procedures. We’re proud that Accountability Lab East and Southern Africa (ALESA) was among the Summit’s partners and that Habibou Diaou, Executive Director of Accountability Lab Mali, was among the speakers.

Transparency and accountability depend on a civil society that can act independently. @accountlabng is among 31 civil society organizations calling for the withdrawal of Nigeria’s proposed Foreign Aid (Regulation, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill, 2026, which seeks to regulate foreign aid and funding. The coalition warns that requirements to align projects with government priorities, alongside severe penalties for non-compliance, could restrict independent civic action – including work that challenges government decisions and holds public institutions accountable. Its joint statement calls for strengthening existing transparency mechanisms while protecting freedom of association and communities’ ability to organize and support one another. 👓 Read more on Accountability Lab Nigeria’s website: bit.ly/4zgZYYx 📄 View the statement: bit.ly/47F9d95

🎙️ What if shifting power made partnerships stronger? Carolyn Dallmann of @humanityunited makes a point we keep coming back to: funders can create more room for others to lead and remain strategic partners. Hear her explore the possibilities with Lior Ipp of Proximate Futures Fund and host @cherileighe in our AccountabiliTea episode on innovative approaches to grantmaking. 🎧 Watch, listen, or read via the link in our bio.

💭 Should every new initiative become its own organization? Should every organization be built to last indefinitely? In 'Beyond the Heroic NonProfit', Jacob Harold and Archie Kindon explore how mission-driven organizations can rethink their structures as circumstances change – from legal form and independence to what they might share or distribute. 🔎 Read the new report from Civic Strength Partners: bit.ly/4xHgXlF Learn more about CSP: civicstrengthpartners.org/

🎙️ A grant is a starting point. What happens after it’s made? In this AccountabiliTea conversation, Lior Ipp and Carolyn Dallmann explore how funders can work alongside organizations, value the knowledge they bring, and stay engaged with the problems they’re trying to solve. 🎧 Watch, listen, or read: bit.ly/4d5BYyU

Who says civic learning belongs in a meeting room? 🏢 In western Liberia, @accountlablb and local women-led partners took conversations about participation and leadership to the markets where women gather. In Bomi, women described how a lack of information had made it harder to get involved in leadership. The market lectures created space to ask questions, talk about the power of their votes, and consider how they could support one another to lead. This International Day for Universal Access to Information, their story asks us to think beyond whether information is available: who is it reaching, and where are the conversations happening? 🔗 Read the full story by Parnneh T. Mallobe: bit.ly/4yjPIyL

📢 Opportunity alert! Local Works Global is recruiting its first-ever cohort of interns across four areas: → Storytelling and community engagement → Policy and research → Network engagement and community support → Fundraising and business development These remote roles offer interns the opportunity to take ownership of meaningful work, learn alongside an experienced global team, and receive support from a dedicated coordinator and mentor. The internships are open to applicants worldwide, with a flexible commitment of about 5 – 10 hours per week. Please note that the roles are currently unpaid. Local Works Global acknowledges the barriers this can create and encourages those who are interested but unable to take on unpaid work to reach out and stay connected for future paid opportunities. 📅 Applications close on October 5. 🔗 Learn more and apply: localworksglobal.org/interns…

What happens to peace when we can no longer agree on what is real? AI-generated content, manipulated media, and algorithm-driven narratives are changing how conflicts are understood – often allowing fear and outrage to travel faster than verified information. This International Day of Peace, we’re reflecting on why investing in peace must also mean investing in trustworthy information, media literacy, and digital accountability. Read “Battleground Algorithms” by Muhammad Abubakar of @accountlabpk: 🔗 bit.ly/4y6e6DH

🎙️ What changes when the people closest to a problem are trusted to help shape the solution? Our latest #AccountabiliTea episode explores lived experience, decision-making, and new approaches to risk in grantmaking. Listen, watch, or read the transcript: bit.ly/4d5BYyU

Democracy is about more than casting a vote. And participation is about more than being invited to speak. On this International Day of Democracy, we’re reflecting on what it really means for every voice to count – and what needs to happen for those voices to shape decisions. Across our network, teams and communities are putting this into practice: 🇳🇵 In Nepal, young people are examining electoral integrity and the barriers that can prevent people from participating fully – during elections and beyond. Read the story from @accountlabnp: bit.ly/4cHrohE 🇳🇬 In Nigeria, residents spoke up about an unmanaged dumpsite affecting their health and daily lives. Their experiences were documented and shared with the responsible institutions. The site was subsequently cleared and barricaded. Read the story from @accountlabng: bit.ly/46p78he 🇲🇱 In Mali, communities are learning to recognize and resist disinformation by questioning, verifying, and thinking carefully before sharing information. Explore the work of @accountlabmali: bit.ly/4AfBvEm These stories remind us that democracy delivers when people can participate meaningfully, see institutions respond, and access reliable information. #IDD2026

🎙️ Our new AccountabiliTea episode is out, asking what it takes to shift power in philanthropy. Cheri-Leigh Erasmus speaks with Carolyn Dallmann from @HumanityUnited and Lior Ipp from the Proximate Futures Fund about participatory grantmaking, proximate leadership, and rethinking trust, power, and risk in philanthropy. 🔗 Watch, listen, or read the transcript: bit.ly/4d5BYyU

Meet Masha Lisitsyna, our Senior Non-Resident Fellow! With 25+ years in human rights, accountability & democracy, she has worked to protect human rights defenders & marginalized communities, advance accountability & strengthen collaboration. We're excited to have her expertise shaping our work.

🌍 Who truly holds the reins in “country-led” development? In a new piece for @InDepthNews, AL Senior Non-Resident Fellow Soheila Comninos argues that civil society and communities – not governments alone – must help shape development priorities. 🔗 Read the full article: bit.ly/3UvZPS0

Pakistan’s digital transformation is moving fast – but who risks being left behind? Muhammad Abubakar, Program and Communications Manager at @accountlabpk, explores digital trust, online rights, information integrity, and AI – and what they mean for an inclusive digital democracy. Read more: bit.ly/4xDjnml #DigitalDemocracy #DigitalInclusion #ArtificialIntelligence #InformationIntegrity #Pakistan

Meet @Halloran_B, our Senior Non-Resident Fellow! Brendan supports organizations, coalitions and communities of practice to develop participatory, systems-oriented approaches to analysis, strategy, research and learning. His current work explores how locally rooted, participatory approaches can help democratic and accountability ecosystems move from isolated interventions towards collective, sustained change. Read more about his approach here: thepolicypractice.com/govern… We look forward to the perspective, energy, and insight he brings to our work.

💬 What could shared leadership make possible in your organization? Accountability Lab, Digital Action & the Human Rights Measurement Initiative invite you to a Co-Leadership Community of Practice. Meet fellow leaders, exchange bold ideas & shape the future of shared leadership! 👉 Join the Co-Leadership Community of Practice: bit.ly/4zqB9KI #CoLeadership #SharedLeadership #Leadership #CommunityOfPractice

📍Since 2022, Gen Z movements have been at the forefront of demonstrations across the world. In a short 4 years, 5 heads of state have been toppled, and the definition of what constitutes civic action has expanded. They took their grievances – corruption and elite privilege, public service failure, economic insecurity, and repression – to the streets. In the coming weeks, we’re catching up with movement participants from Nepal to Kenya on how they’re working to build lasting civic structures, and what that process reveals about the gap between youth energy and institutional readiness. #BridgingTheGap #GenZ #GenZMovement

What helps a civic-tech tool continue serving its purpose after its first grant cycle ends? Through Lexicon Procurement and ePMS, two HackCorruption teams, Khadijah Chang explores why stakeholder relationships and resource planning must be part of the build itself. Read the blog here: 🔗 bit.ly/44Oqonr #HackCorruption #CivicTech #AntiCorruption #LexiconProcurement #ePMS

@accountlabpk latest policy brief explores the 2026 Gilgit-Baltistan elections through the broader lenses of governance, constitutional uncertainty, and representation. Between Hope and Despair places the elections within their historical, legal, and institutional context, examining the factors that continue to shape governance in the region. Read the full policy brief: bit.ly/4aX9uqe

🎉 Congratulations to @Ysallay97, Finance Officer at Accountability Lab Liberia, on her election as Student President of the Graduate School at Starz University! Alongside her work with @accountlablib, Yassah is pursuing a Master's degree in Human Resource Management. We are pleased to celebrate this exciting milestone and wish her every success in her new leadership role. 👏 Congratulations, Yassah!

📮 We’re excited to invite you to a side event at the 2026 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) Join us for a powerful, online showcase of how local efforts contribute to advancing the 2030 Agenda and SDG16+, with an emphasis on evolving, scaling, and flourishing amidst crisis. 📅 Thursday, July 9, 9-10:30am EDT / 3-4:30pm CEST | Online 🔗 Register here: bit.ly/4p8W7sR The event will showcase video stories submitted to the Voices of SDG16+ 2026 campaign, highlighting inspiring stories of civil society actors working at the local level to promote peaceful, just, and inclusive societies amid complex challenges. #SDG16 #VoicesOfSDG16 #HLPF2025 #CivilSociety #2030Agenda

As the Nepal government completes its first 100 days in office, it has shared a series of fiscal, administrative, infrastructural, and investment-related initiatives, hopefully paving a different route from the past. Yet the central question remains as to whether the government has lived up to its commitments to good governance. In this new edition of the Governance Weekly newsletter, Team Nepal outlines the government's key thematic commitments and maps their progress: bit.ly/4vK2G7x Follow @accountlabnp for more.

How can reporting help us make better decisions – not just document our work? 🤔 In her latest article for @PhilanImpact, Florencia Guerzovich explores how reporting can support learning, adaptation, and stronger decision-making when change depends on relationships and collaboration. 📖 Read more: bit.ly/3QUrgDF What makes reporting most valuable in your work? #MEL #SystemsChange #Philanthropy #accountability #funding

🎙️ Can collaboration become civil society's greatest strength? As funding pressures continue to reshape the sector, organizations are finding new ways to work together – from building coalitions to sharing resources and rethinking how change happens. In this episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, Cheri-Leigh Erasmus speaks with Anabel Cruz, Dr. Fay Hodza, and Leah Shearman about what this moment means for civil society and what comes next. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via the Accountability Lab website: bit.ly/3QD0X4s

📈 GDP growth is a positive sign, but does it tell the full story? The latest Accountability Lab Pakistan's (@accountlabpk) latest Country Analysis Report explores what it takes to turn economic growth into inclusive, sustainable progress. 📖 Read the report: bit.ly/4ateJ0A

Strong public institutions are built by people committed to serving others. @UN #PublicServiceDay gives us another reason to recognize public servants across our network who are helping to make governance more responsive, accountable, and effective – from strengthening judicial capacity in Nigeria to supporting public-sector innovation in Pakistan to advancing inclusive local governance in Nepal. 📖 Read more in our 2025 Annual Reports: lnkd.in/gmMkDeWq @accountlabng | @accountlabpk | @accountlabnp

🚨 Happening tomorrow! We're excited to bring together leaders and practitioners to explore a simple but important question: What happens when leadership is shared? Join @AccountLab, @rightsmetrics, and Digital Action as we discuss the opportunities, challenges, and lessons that emerge when leadership becomes a collective practice. Plus, be among the first to explore Accountability Lab's new Co-Leadership Toolkit. 📅 23 June 2026 ⏰ 6:00 AM ET | 12:00 PM CET | 10:00 PM NZT 🔗 Register: bit.ly/SharedLeadershipConve…

Can leadership be shared? 🤔 Join @AccountLab, @rightsmetrics, and Digital Action as we explore the opportunities, challenges, and lessons that emerge when leadership is a collective practice. The conversation will also mark the launch of Accountability Lab's new Co-Leadership Toolkit. 📅 23 June 2026 ⏰ 6:00 AM ET | 12:00 PM CET | 10:00 PM NZT 🔗 Register: bit.ly/SharedLeadershipConve…

🎙️ What if one of the biggest barriers to collaboration is the system itself? In the latest episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, Leah Shearman shares her reflections on how funding models have encouraged competition across the sector – and what that means for organizations being asked to work together in a rapidly changing environment. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via our website: bit.ly/3QD0X4s Cheri-Leigh Erasmus | Anabel Cruz | Fay Hodza

💭 Trust. Collaboration. Shared responsibility. Join Accountability Lab, @rightsmetrics, and Digital Action for a conversation on the opportunities, challenges, and lessons that emerge when leadership is shared. The conversation will also mark the launch of Accountability Lab's Co-Leadership Toolkit, a practical resource for organizations interested in exploring collaborative leadership structures. 📅 23 June 2026 ⏰ 6:00 AM ET | 12:00 PM CET | 10:00 PM NZT 🔗 Register: bit.ly/SharedLeadershipConve… We look forward to seeing you there!

🎙️ What does meaningful change require in a time of uncertainty? In this episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, @HodzaFay reflects on the importance of collaboration in responding to today's challenges: "There was a realization that we cannot do this alone. You need to work in consortia, you need to work in coalitions, you need to work with others to drive the change that you want to do." As organizations navigate shifting realities, the conversation highlights the value of partnership, collective action, and working together to create lasting change. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via our website: bit.ly/3QD0X4s Cheri-Leigh Erasmus | Anabel Cruz | Leah Shearman

📣 Applications for 2026 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders (ADEL) Program are now open! Are you a young leader (25-35) from Africa or the Atlantic Basin driving change in your field? Join an immersive leadership experience, connect with fellow changemakers, and take part in the Atlantic Dialogues Conference. 📍 Rabat, Morocco 📅 Dec 6-12, 2026 ⏳ Application Deadline: June 14 🔗 bit.ly/49TGlvF

"We can either rebuild the old system, with all its silos and competition, or build something more collaborative, more relational, and more honest about what civic work actually requires." AL Co-CEO Jean Scrimgeour sat down with @Alliancemag to talk about this moment as one of opportunity – to look at the ways in which we can work more effectively by prioritising those with proximity to the problems we want to solve and the crucial assets they bring. 👓 Read the full interview: bit.ly/4a2tl6K

Join us in welcoming Jed Miller, our Senior Non-Resident Fellow!🎉 With 20+ years at the intersection of accountability and digital transformation, Jed brings deep expertise on AI, and the role of culture and narrative in shaping effective governance of technology. We’re excited to have his expertise guiding our work.

🪧 From lowering the barrier to civic participation to creating emotional memory that drives the will to change, creativity can and does drive civic engagement and accountability. In an expansive conversation artivists Nishchhal Kharal, Rafid Ariyan, Amanda Chenai Makombe, and Leiden shared their experiences of how art has democratised access to governance issues for many. Most pointedly for youth who participated in uprisings across the globe, what could feel like inaccessible topics meant for elites to wrestle over, became theirs to challenge. These poignant takeaways were just some of the nuggets from a conversation that underscored the value of the artivism archive, institutions and governments using creative principles, and the democratisation of art.

🎙️ How are civil society organizations responding to uncertainty? In our latest #AccountabiliTeaPodcast, Anabel Cruz reflects on disruption, solidarity, and how organizations are adapting to shifting realities. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via our website: bit.ly/3QD0X4s Cheri-Leigh Erasmus | @HodzaFay | Leah Shearman #GlobalDevelopment #CivilSociety

🌍 As civic space continues to shift across East and Southern Africa, what must civil society keep in focus? In this reflection from the @accountlabalesa Learning Lab, Dr. McDonald Lewanika unpacks 'Nine Things We Must Not Forget' – from the intersectional nature of civic space challenges, to the rise of digital activism, uneven access, the need for context-informed responses, and why people must remain at the center of innovation. The piece is a timely reminder that strengthening accountability requires more than tools or technical fixes. It calls for solidarity, sharper analysis, adaptive thinking, and a return to the fundamentals of organizing, trust, and collective action. 👓 Read more: bit.ly/4wG5pje

We're working with the Allard Prize to host a conversation among organizations that design prizes in the anti-corruption and #integrity space. This convening is a first step toward building a more connected and mutually supportive #ecosystem. Individually, prizes can spotlight and support integrity leaders. Collectively, they can significantly expand their influence, protection, and long-term impact. Register to join us on May 27 at 9am ET: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…

As we reflect on 2025, we’re reminded that #accountability begins with participation. Across our network, teams worked with communities, artists, youth leaders, and public institutions to strengthen civic engagement, counter disinformation, and expand inclusive participation in public life. From participatory budgeting in Mexico to judicial dialogues in Nigeria, media literacy initiatives in Mali, and digital democracy programming in Pakistan – these efforts reflect the many ways accountability is practiced across contexts. 👓 Read more in our annual reports: lnkd.in/gmMkDeWq #AnnualReport | Accountability Lab Mexico | @accountlabng | @accountlabML | @accountlabpk

💡 When traditional pathways to participation fall short, young people find new ways to be heard. Join us for a virtual showcase featuring spoken word, music, and creative acts of protest and participation from around the world, followed by a panel on how young people are increasingly turning to music, spoken word, art, and storytelling as alternative pathways for civic engagement. 🗓️ Wednesday 20 May, 9am ET /1pm UTC 🔗 Register here: bit.ly/3P9L59h

What happens when the city you live in does not see you as part of it? Today, Accountability Lab Mexico premieres Del Papel al Territorio (From Paper to Territory) 🎬 The documentary follows Yuguelito in Iztapalapa, a self-organized community navigating the gap between participation as designed and participation as lived. A powerful story of accountability, transparency and participation. ▶️ Watch and join the conversation: bit.ly/4wy7DRV

Reflecting on our work in 2025, words like courage, solidarity, and agency have resonated deeply. In releasing our annual reports, we're excited to share some of the resilient pivots our teams implemented. We're also proud to have been able to provide information and support for peers and partners who navigated great changes. In response to January 2025's aid cuts – and funding contractions more generally – Accountability Lab's translocal network sprang into action to gather data that would inform donors and partners who were mobilizing resources, information, and tools to try to assist organizations and people in need. Accountability Lab Global, Accountability Lab Mali, Accountability Lab Pakistan, and Accountability Lab Nepal, deployed global and local surveys to inform actions to be taken to mitigate fallout. Through Open Co Hub in Kathmandu, affected groups engaged in critical discussions on the aid freeze, health rights, elections, and democracy. Rooted in #ShiftThePower principles, these efforts prioritized locally led engagement, amplified community voices, and fostered trust-based collaboration. 👓 For the full findings from these surveys read our annual reports: accountabilitylab.org/our-im…

📢 Excited to share that our Co-CEO Blair Glencorse has joined the Strategy Steering Committee of the Youth Democracy Cohort (YDC). As YDC evolves into a collaborative, member-driven network, its new governance structure puts members at the center, ensuring decision-making is more inclusive, representative, and grounded in their expertise. The Steering Committee will: 📌 Guide strategy 📌 Strengthen youth participation 📌 Drive collective advocacy & partnerships 📌 Support inclusive, effective governance 🔗 bit.ly/4d9XaDb

🩺 This International Nurses Day, we’re reflecting not only on the care nurses provide, but on the responsibility we all hold to support them. Because the future of care doesn’t rest on individuals alone. It depends on the systems we build, the support we enable, and the value we place on those who keep services going. Across our network, we’ve had the privilege of recognizing nurses through our Integrity Icon campaign – an initiative that celebrates public servants who lead with honesty, accountability, and a deep commitment to others. Hema Thapa, recognized by @accountlabnp in 2023, is one such example. 🎧 Watch her story – and explore more stories of integrity in action on our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3PkeTQl