Dear readers,
Thousands of delegates (including TAI) are in Sevilla for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) discussing how to make the most of the Compromiso de Sevilla agreement. The need to focus on domestic resource mobilization and sustainable debt is brought home by the latest OECD analysis that anticipates a 9 to 17% drop in official development assistance in 2025, following a 9% drop last year. Analyzing how remaining aid is used is crucial. So, the revival of the Aid Transparency Index is one encouraging step. Read more in this week’s Focused Topic.
FfD4 follows hard on the heels of discussions at London Climate Action Week - read Michael Jarvis’ takeaways from the inaugural Climate Governance Forum. And, of course, we have all the latest news, research, jobs, and events to fill your calendars. Happy reading!
TAI team
WHAT'S NEW?
The ZEG festival 2025 in Tbilisi provided crucial insights into contemporary challenges facing civil society, covering authoritarianism, radicalization, and threats to media freedom. These discussions offer valuable perspectives on navigating increasingly restrictive civic spaces.
The Judiciary School of Costa Rica, together with counterparts in Honduras and the Dominican Republic, is launching a five-week open online course on Open Justice. This collaborative effort demonstrates a growing regional commitment to judicial transparency and accessibility. Register here until July 6.
Youth engagement in fiscal justice is gaining momentum, particularly evident in build-up to this week’s FfD conference. There may not be so many in Seville this week, but we need to be listening to young advocates bringing fresh perspectives to complex fiscal policy discussions and highlighting intergenerational impacts of current financial governance decisions.
Tax and anti-corruption authorities across Asia are strengthening collaborative efforts to tackle complex cases, as revealed in Louise Russell-Prywata's recent reflections from the UNODC Asia Regional Meeting on Corruption and Tax. These partnerships represent a significant step forward in leveraging beneficial ownership transparency.
Natural resource governance is seeing policy shifts as Botswana's president announces plans to end exports of unprocessed diamonds. This move signals a broader trend among commodity exporters toward value addition and industrial policy revival, challenging traditional resource export models.
The right to information movement achieved a significant milestone as civil society organizations (CSOs) held their first parallel NGO Day event alongside the annual International Conference of Information Commissioners in Berlin. Participants adopted the Berlin CSO Declaration on the Right to Information and Environmental Justice.
Democratic innovation is being reimagined through new citizen engagement models. In "Better government in 10 minutes" Gideon Lichfield, offers visions of how citizens might participate in democracy more effectively in the future, moving beyond traditional electoral processes.
In her piece Performance is not Participation, Casey Harden reflects on the gap between symbolic and meaningful youth engagement. Drawing on her remarks at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum. She emphasizes that genuine participation begins with honest motivation, shared power, and letting go of ego and paternalism.
Media freedom challenges persist as at least 40 journalists have fled El Salvador amid the government's intensified crackdown on dissent. This exodus showcases the deteriorating press environment in Central America and the ongoing threats to independent journalism.
Artificial intelligence's role in journalism is being redefined through practical applications from budget tracking in Nigeria to fact-checking in Estonia. These examples demonstrate how AI can amplify journalistic capacity rather than replace human reporters, offering new tools for transparency and accountability work.
Francophone Africa's civil society networks are strengthening their voice in global governance discussions. The Open Dev Africa initiative, uniting over 700 members across 21 countries, represents a growing effort to ensure French-speaking nations have stronger representation in international transparency and accountability forums.
Didn’t make it to RightsCon this year? Part one of the Outcomes Report is now available, with crucial insights from the RightsCon community on the current state of digital rights protections and emerging challenges in the field.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING
In this 3D Dialogues conversation, TAI's very own Yery M. García and Ignacio Saiz speak with five narrative practitioners from Latin America, Africa, and Europe about the role of storytelling in defending democracy. They explore the narratives shaping participation today, what’s working on the ground, and how funders can better support inclusive, long-term narrative strategies.
FROM OUR MEMBERS
FORD FOUNDATION: In honor of Pride Month, the Ford Foundation spotlights the feminist tech movement and its vision for a digital world rooted in care, justice, and collective power. Monica Aleman Cunningham speaks with Jac sm Kee of Numun Fund about how feminist advocates are confronting online harm—and reimagining technology as a force for healing and liberation.
HUMANITY UNITED: Reflects on more than a decade of work in the Asia-Pacific seafood sector with The Freedom Fund, pointing out the need for deep, systems-level change to address exploitation in global supply chains. This blog outlines lessons on regulation, worker empowerment, migration pathways, and corporate accountability—emphasizing locally driven, adaptive strategies rooted in long-term partnerships.
PACKARD FOUNDATION: Nancy Lindborg, President and CEO of the Packard Foundation, underscores the urgent need to defend peaceful protest, freedom of speech, and due process, while standing against political violence. She also calls for protecting the vital role of nonprofits in serving communities.
TAI SECRETARIAT: In a new article for IDN-InDepthNews, TAI Executive Director Michael Jarvis argues that fiscal justice must start with those who experience the system most directly. Drawing on global examples, he highlights how civil society is driving fairer tax and spending decisions—and why funders must commit to long-term, locally rooted partnerships to make inclusive fiscal reform possible.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING
Discover how the upcoming harmonized grant reporting format and the world's first International Non-Profit Accounting Standard (INPAS) could transform your grantmaking operations when they launch in October. This podcast brings together voices from the Ford Foundation and Nigeria Network of NGOs to reveal how standardized reporting can slash administrative burdens while strengthening accountability.
TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS
Why do I care about this? Why is this happening? Why haven’t we solved this yet?
This framework, shared by Daniela Papi-Thornton, an educator and coach in systems thinking, can help funders and teams unpack the deeper motivations, assumptions, and systemic barriers shaping their work.
In Philanthropy Women, Yifat Susskind, Executive Director of MADRE, calls on funders to move beyond siloed efforts and organize a collective response to authoritarianism. "Much as we've seen in the university sector in recent weeks," she argues, "donors must act together."
A new Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) report reveals that grantees across Europe are asking for three key shifts: more intentional relationships, simpler processes, and more flexible support. This related webinar explores how funders can better meet these calls in today’s high-stakes environment for civil society.
As philanthropy takes on increasingly complex challenges, governance structures must evolve to keep pace. The Center for Effective Philanthropy highlights how outdated models may be limiting relevance and what funders can do to adapt.
FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK:
Transparent Data and Analysis - New Resources to Enable Accountability and Inclusion
With aid resources increasingly constrained, the ability to track how remaining aid is being deployed becomes not just a matter of good governance, but a fundamental requirement for maintaining public trust and ensuring resources reach those who need them most. To help, the Aid Transparency Index has experienced a remarkable resurrection, emerging from what many thought was its final chapter with a new financing model that promises to sustain this accountability mechanism. The index, which has been published every two years since 2012, tracks the transparency of funders, using data published via the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard, and its revival comes at a crucial juncture when understanding aid deployment has never been more important.
This development coincides with the release of the 2025 Development Finance Institutions (DFI) Transparency Index by Publish What You Fund, which provides a comprehensive assessment of 32 major DFIs. The findings reveal that while there have been clear improvements in transparency since 2023, particularly in data quality and accessibility, significant gaps remain in critical areas that affect the sector's ability to measure and communicate impact effectively.
The broader transparency ecosystem is also experiencing significant developments through various initiatives highlighted in recent OGP resources. Transparency International Brazil and Instituto Centro de Vida, supported by AFD, have launched the Environmental Democracy Index for the Brazilian Amazon, assessing elements including access to information, public participation, access to justice, and protection of environmental defenders.
Complementing these efforts, the second edition of the Global Data Barometer has been released, offering fresh insights on artificial intelligence, inclusion, and data transparency across 43 countries.
The European Partnership for Democracy has also contributed to this transparency landscape with the launch of the Global Youth Participation Index, a groundbreaking tool measuring youth participation in public life across more than 141 countries. This initiative reflects the growing understanding that transparency must be inclusive and engage diverse voices, particularly those traditionally excluded from decision-making processes.
These assessment tools remind us that transparency is essential infrastructure for effective and accountable development cooperation. The aid community and partner governments must embrace transparency not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a powerful instrument for learning, adaptation, and continuous improvement.
ESSENTIAL WATCHING
Ready to reimagine development finance? The UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign's presentation "Debt — A Development Crisis" challenges us to rethink what we know about funding sustainable development and reconfigure financial architecture to drive both economic growth and social justice.
JOBS
Multiple openings - Hewlett Foundation
Multiple openings - MacArthur Foundation
Multiple openings - Ford Foundation
Multiple Openings - Gates Foundation
Various Opportunities - Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Multiple positions - Brennan Center for Justice
Multiple Openings - Bard College Berlin
Business Development & Partnership Manager; and Social Impact Evaluator - Impact Mapper
Chief of Section (Universal Access to Information and Digital Inclusion) - UNESCO
Network Research Fellowship - WINGS. Deadline July 15, 2025.
Trustee Recruitment – Alliance Publishing Trust (APT). Deadline July 31, 2025.
CALLS
Take the World Bank's Introduction to Public Expenditure & Financial Accountability course. Learn about the PEFA framework, which assesses a country's public financial management system. Complete the course and pass the final quiz to earn a certificate.
Open Government Partnership has opened applications for the Helen Darbishire Fund for Civil Society, Deadline July 6.
FORGE is seeking Fund Advisory Committee members for the 2025 round of the Democracy at Work Fund. Committee members will contribute to fund preparation, review, and selection processes over a five-month period ending in December 2025. Apply by July 10, 2025.
Copenhagen Leadership Development - The Leading with Foresight expedition runs August 27-29, designed to help leaders and organizations prepare for uncertain futures through strategic foresight training. Final Registration Date: 27 July 2025.
The 10th edition of the School for Thinktankers returns to Fundació Bofill in Barcelona in 2026. Submit your early-bird application.
CALENDAR
2025 Global Procurement Forum, OECD, Paris, July 1 and 2, 2025.
Change Hub - July Session. Slow Throughput: the leverage points for a regenerative supply chain. July 2–3 | 3:00 PM CET
Rights and justice in the digital age: How can philanthropy ensure technology works for people and planet? registration - Webex, hosted by Luminate and Alliance, 7 July | 15:00 BST.
Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption, July 10th, 2025
Join the RINGO Community Gathering to hear the latest insights from the organisations that are testing this groundbreaking innovation, and explore how we can mainstream this approach. July 10th, 2025. 12:00 - 13:30 GMT (plus an additional 30mins for informal conversation)
6th African Philanthropy Conference. The American University in Cairo (AUC), July 29-31, 2025.
5th African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD V), Accra, Ghana, August 27-29, 2025.
New Economies: Hope in a time of collapse, Partners for a New Economy, Lyon, France, 1st-2nd October 2025.
The PPPN Conference 2025 focuses on "How to Push Back the Threats to Democracy" at the Olof Palme Centre, Stockholm, October 7-8, 2025.
Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, October 7-9, 2025
2025 IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival, Vienna, October 23 - 25, 2025.
International Civil Society Week 2025, co-organized by CIVICUS global civil society alliance and Asia Democracy Network, Bangkok. 1-5 November 2025.
Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC25). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thursday, November 20-24, 2025.
11th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP11) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Doha, Qatar. December 14-19, 2025.
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