Dear readers!
How did you celebrate international anti-corruption day last Friday? TAI was lucky enough to attend the International Anti-Corruption Conference - so good to see so many old friends and new connections in DC, and a welcome chance to cohost a funder gathering on the sidelines with USAID. Amid the conference, news suggested limits to impunity in Argentina as Vice President Cristina Kirchner received a six-year prison term for corruption. To time with all these events, ONE released a special edition of their Aftershocks newsletter focused on corruption. Check it out!
TAI team
P.S. Remember, TAI doesn't own the photos. All photos used in this weekly have a link to their source.
WHAT´S NEW?
EVOLVING CIVIC ACTIVISM, PROTEST, TAX FAIRNESS AND MORE
How is great power competition reshaping civic activism? Richard Youngs assesses how civic actors are grappling with the rivalries drawing on cases ranging from Thailand to Turkey to the US.
CIVICUS launched its new global assessment on protest rights for the past twelve months. Protests continue to be a powerful means of defending rights with rising costs of food and fuel sparking mobilizations against corruption, mismanagement and inequality. Protests were tracked in 131 countries – most of them peaceful.
In the face of disinformation, governments, social media platforms, and others working to counter influence operations rely heavily on investigations to inform their understanding of the problem, direct enforcement actions, and guide policy change. Yet what is best practice for how investigations should be done? Dean Jackson recaps efforts to distil what can be consider “best practice” today.
The European Commission remains determined to fight on against what it considers unfair tax schemes even though it has lost some recent high profile legal challenges from multinational companies. Javier Espinoza asks if challenging “state aid” is the right tactic in what amounts to a global governance challenge?
Are you familiar with the expression “Patriotic Millionaires”. Don´t miss this article arguing the rich should convince each other to pay more tax.
Projects at the Vaca Muerta oil and gas fields have led thousands to move across Argentina in search of well-paid jobs, but the need for a ‘just’ energy transition raises questions. Mattias Avramow’s article asks if Argentina will be able to balance climate, cash, jobs and justice?
TAI RECOMMENDS!
The World Bank is highlighting the threat of mounting debt for low income countries - the poorest are projected to spend $62 billion on debt service payments in 2022. That reminds us of this National Democratic Institute and Open Government Partnership brief on the threat of debt opacity to democracy (part of a series on countering illiberal influences of covert foreign finance).
FROM OUR MEMBERS
HEWLETT FOUNDATION:
Announce Mallika Dutt as Program Director for Gender Equity and Governance (We look forward to drawing on her insights for TAI conversations)
SKOLL FOUNDATION:
Welcomes Gayle Smith, CEO of the ONE Campaign, and Shashi Buluswar, founder of the Institute for Transformative Technologies, to its Board of Directors.
OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS:
denounces war crimes being uncovered during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In particular, Russia's forcible transfers of civilians, including 11,000 children, from Ukraine to Russia are particularly concerning.
CHANDLER FOUNDATION:
invites governments and philanthropists to stand with Martha Chizuma, Malawi’s anticorruption lead, who was briefly taken into police custody two weeks after filing corruption charges against Malawi's Vice President. Anti-corruption champions can’t do it alone.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING!
Listen to this discussion on whether billionaires can be effective altruists or should simply pay more tax.
TOOLS FOR FUNDERS
We’re excited that Melinda Gates is a fan of funder collaboration and wants to pool resources with the world’s wealthiest to make systems change at massive scale.
How do collaboratives work? Don’t miss TAI’s new article featured below, but here Craig Shelley offers 5 Things Nonprofit Professionals Should Know. Plus, check out these reflections on how funders can more genuinely collaborate with young people.
How do restricted project grants distort the missions of nonprofits? Beyond the well-known hassles of piecing together such funding, nonprofit leaders point to a deeper problem diverting from their core missions.
FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK
"STORYTELLERS UNDER THREAT"
Recent years have seen an alarming increase in attacks on visual storytellers and journalists, ranging from online harassment campaigns and lengthy legal battles to imprisonment, injuries, and even death. What can funders do to protect them?
Cambodian journalists are reporting authorities’ filing of charges against three reporters accused of taking bribes to cover up illegal logging.
The former UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression reviews the need for new training for staff in justice systems across Latin America on the right to freedom of expression. (ARTICLE IN SPANISH)
The Centre for Law and Democracy examines the proposed new access to information policy of the Inter-American Development Bank, welcoming a number of improvements, such as tightening the regime of exceptions by making most harm-tested and subject to public interest override.
This year, Liberties worked with over 120 activists campaigning on issues including climate justice, migration, press freedom, the rule of law and facial recognition. To help activists, Liberties is releasing its first training module on ‘How to message on human rights’, an introduction to the basic rules of persuasive messaging and this messaging guide.
NEW ARTICLE!
What makes funder collaboration effective? Aligned objectives, clear decision-making structures, knowledge flows, adaptability, and assuring utility for grantee partners. Writing in Stanford Social Innovation Review, TAI director, Michael Jarvis & Chantal Pasquarello’s aheadline insights from years of documenting specific collective action among TAI members.
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
Chief of Party (CoP), USAID/Haiti Resilient Environment South Activity, World Vision
Sponsorship Content Coordinator, World Vision
Deputy SVP, Global Humanitarian Emergency Programs, Americares
Country Director, Cognition Education
Political Officers, Africa, The Commonwealth Secretariat
Project Coordinator, Nutrition and Food Security Project, Myanmar
CALLS / OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Session Proposals, RightsCon – deadline in six weeks.
Soros Equality Fellowship, Open Society Foundations
CALENDAR
December 14, 2022, Racial equity in global development webinar
December 15, 2022, 12:00 - 1:30 pm ET, What is the Role for CSOs in IDA20? Partnering for Accountability and Impact
December 16, 2022, The Protection and Promotion of Civic Space: Strengthening Alignment with International Standards and Guidance
December 16, 2022, 3pm CET, Webinar - Launch of the OECD Global Report on Civic Space
June 5-8, 2023, 12th edition, RightsCon
Michael Jarvis,
TAI's Executive Director