WHAT'S NEW?
Liban Mahamed reflects on how lack of accountability and perpetuating corrupt systems is undermining aid impact in Somalia amid a terrible drought.
OjoPúblico believes they have a crucial role to play in promoting accountability and raising the voices of those who have been exposed to abuse of corporate power, but upholding a free press has been a very real challenge in Perú.
Limited resources are creating a roadblock for “watchdog “ journalism to thrive, especially in the Global South.
David Medine argues that data localization policies risk being a tax on the poor. Data governance matters!
Both foreign state and non-state actors strategically use gendered disinformation to silence women, discourage online political discourse, and shape perceptions toward gender and the role of women in democracies. In a groundbreaking study, Canada, the European External Action Service (EEAS), Germany, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the United States jointly assessed the tactics used by these actors to sow gendered and other identity-based disinformation across the world.
The United Nations reports that 25 of the world’s poorest countries are now spending more on debt than education, health and social protection combined. To fix the system, Anjali Garg and Kristen Sample call for strengthened accountability systems to break the status quo.
TAI VOICES!
We have had a busy week sharing our thoughts on different platforms: Michael Jarvis joined Steering Committee member Justin Silvester to reflect on positive lessons from other sectors that can be applied as a starting point to avoid further green colonialism.
Eszter Fillipinyi co-authored the blog “What comes first, fairness or climate action? We can’t succeed in either unless we address both together”, with colleagues from E3G.
And we recently partnered with Geneva Global to review the state of funding in the anti-corruption sector. Collectively we looked at prospects for new funding partners, allied with existing peers to compile data and insights on giving trends, and developed an overview of all potential prospects currently working in or around anti-corruption. These are a few key lessons learned from this experience.
FROM OUR MEMBERS
MACARTHUR FOUNDATION:
By advancing gender equity and social inclusion (GESI), Nigerians can build power and agency to challenge corrupt systems and access services. Kole Shettima and Erin Sines, TAI steering committee members, write on Nigeria’s GESI statement and action plan outlining a framework and path for doing so.
FORD FOUNDATION:
“We are on a journey to shift the very foundations of philanthropy—to inspire transformative approaches to giving that can truly disrupt the staggering inequality taking over our planet. Fortunately, we are not alone”.
HEWLETT FOUNDATION:
The Inclusive Governance team of the Gender Equity and Governance program is revamping its Medium page. The new page aims to create a dialogue around the pathways they are exploring together with their grantee partners to make governments more responsive to the needs of all people. Hewlett invites your comments, questions, and feedback.
LUMINATE:
"The world is finally realizing the significant role African women have always played in our development on the continent and globally". Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola, Executive Director at African Women in Media, believes that inclusive democracy should not be limited to political spaces alone.
ESSENTIAL READING!
Samuel Sharp, Stephanie Diepeveen, and Ellie Collins urge us to think not just of shrinking but shifting civic space. “Looking at studies of civil society and activists across varied contexts reveals different ways in which civil society adapts and resists, and how different forms of activism emerge and become amplified.” - this resonates well with discussions at TAI Learning Days earlier this year (see our visual report).
TOOLS & TRENDS FOR FUNDERS
Tom Wein and former TAI Chair, Ruth Levine, explain how the philanthropic community can help advance dignity.
Stephanie Amoako and Gregory Berry urge Gates Foundation to match its massive global giving with a stronger commitment to accountability for what it funds.
Three funders reflect on trust-based philanthropy and question the arguments used to counter it.
Can AI aid fundraising and funding analysis? The Climate Finance Tracker, launched late last year, may be the first of a new generation of AI-enhanced tools to make philanthropic data more accessible. However, it prompts familiar concerns that the biases seen in other AI projects could be replicated again.
FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK
Summit for Democracy: Highlights!
It seems to be beneficial ownership everywhere all at once at the moment. Certainly, that continued into last week’s Summit for Democracy events – this time cohosted by five countries. Louise Russell-Prywata notes that beneficial ownership transparency is now recognised as a critical anti-corruption tool, so, asks where next?
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made new beneficial ownership commitments in partnership with 20 other countries and made a strong case for fighting corruption. “Corruption has fuelled the rise of kleptocratic regimes that are divorced from the interests of their own citizens.”
No shortage of grand words and some commitments made at the Summit – watch all the national statements. USAID was one of the busiest – see their list of relevant commitments. We are especially excited about the Integrity for Development funding challenge which we will be supporting.
Oligarchs close to Putin have successfully evaded sanctions with help of an often overlooked group: offshore expert advisors. A new report analyzes the complex structures of secrecy formed by these “wealth managers“ and their clients.
In time for the Summit, Tom Carothers and Ben Feldman looked at 32 democratic “bright spots” and offer a typology of citizen mobilizations, i) oust a leader, ii) promising authoritarian successions, iii) blocked power grabs, and iv) pivotal elections.
More than a hundred CSO released the Civil Society Declaration of Democratic Principles including calls for the protection of civic space, to fight disinformation and corruption, and promote gender justice.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING!
Corina Rebegea joins CIPE’s Anti-Corruption & Governance Center podcast to discuss crafting effective messaging that supports anti-corruption campaigns during windows of opportunity. Her report highlights specific ways to design effective anti-corruption communication campaigns to earn popular support for integrity reforms.
NEWS ROUNDUP
The state government of Assam in India has published its first-ever Green Budget building on civil society input.
South America's Andes region, rich in both fossil fuels and transition minerals like copper and lithium, will play a crucial role in the energy transition. But as extraction ramps up to meet demand, are companies respecting human rights? Regional civil society organizations highlight serious human rights concerns linked to mineral exploration and extraction.
USAID announced the selection of twenty semi-finalists in the Just Energy Transition Green Minerals Challenge.
Meantime, Guyana is determined to make good on its resources and is auctioning more oil blocks. Looking to learn from past rounds, its model contract seeks to ensure a better deal and less lost revenue for the country vs big oil companies.
JOBS AT TAI MEMBERS
Job postings at Hewlett Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at MacArthur Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at Open Society Foundations - ONGOING
Job postings at Luminate - ONGOING
Job postings at Ford Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at FCDO - ONGOING
Job postings at Skoll - ONGOING
JOBS LISTINGS
Executive Director, Engaged Donors for Global Equity (EDGE) Funders Alliance
Program Director, Project on Resources and Governance, UCLA
Associate, Cost Transparency Initiative
Program Assistant, Global Anti-Corruption Consortium
Senior Program Officers, Tax Equity in Ghana and Tanzania, International Budget Partnership
CALLS / OPPORTUNITIES
Consultancy, The Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum, World Wildlife Fund
Consultant to produce a study assessing governance and corruption risks in the renewable energy sector, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
Free online Access to Information course in French and Russian, UNESCO
Investigative Journalism Fellowship 2023 - Signature Investigative Journalism Fellowship in Barbados. Virtual sessions April 14th and 18th and in-person sessions April 23rd - 25th. Topics include storyboarding, digital security, mobile journalism, paper trailing, verification techniques and more.
Video and fine arts competition 2023- Transparency International is calling on young people across the globe to join the anti-corruption movement by submitting a video or artwork on new ways to fight corruption.
CALENDAR
Taxing multinationals in developing countries? What’s been achieved and what remains to be done? Center for Global Development, April 6, 2023, 9.00-10.15 am ET.
Democratic Reset: Transparency and Accountability Lessons to Break the Debt Crisis Cycle, Thursday, April 6, 2023, 11:30 - 12:45 EST/17:30 - 18:45 CAT/21:00-22:15 IST
Skoll World Forum, 12-14 April 2023
Quantifying corruption losses in health, Tuesday 18 April, 14:30-15:30 GMT+1
Open Gov Week 2023 - May 8-12
Rights Con 2023, June 5-8, 2023
EITI Global Conference, Dakar, June 2023
2023 #ShiftThePower Summit, Bogota, Colombia, December 2023
Michael Jarvis,
TAI's Executive Director