Human rights lawyer and Senior Program Officer on MacArthur Foundation’s On Nigeria program, Yvonne Darkwa-Poku, joins us on the TPA Full Disclosure series to discuss human rights, civic participation, and strengthening civic participation.
What we heard:
- Political will to strengthen and sustain the civic space is seriously lacking
- There need for a cross-generational desire for change where the old and young can come together and make things happen
- To governments: Change cannot be a one-sided action. You cannot expect your citizens to always be the ones to raise funds, resources, and tools to demand full action or accountability. It’s necessary to sustain those actions with strong commitment from the government.
- To funders in the West: Your strategy needs to be informed by the field. The field needs to shape your approach because there is no one-size fit all strategy. Everything you propose to do should be informed by the need and the priorities of those doing the work.
- To Program officers who sit in funder seat: Allow strategies to be informed by people who are on the ground.
Listen to the conversation!