Voice and Accountability – Page 2

Youth-led communication for social change: empowerment, citizen media, and cultures of governance in Northern Ghana (Development in Practice 28(3):400-413, April 2018)

April 14, 2019

This article critically assesses the possibilities and limitations of strategic communication initiatives to enhance cultures of governance among youth in Northern Ghana. The analysis is embedded within contemporary debates about communication and social change, with particular focus upon dynamics between citizen media development, youth-centred citizen journalism, and processes of community mobilisation and development. Findings suggest that the project has opened up to dynamic, youth-led social change processes, evidenced by the creative, proactive enactment of citizen engagement. Youth changed not only their self-perception around agency and ability to act, but also influenced community development in a variety of ways.

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Dignity and humanitarian action in displacement (ODI report, 2019)

April 3, 2019

This report draws on the findings of a two-year HPG research project on ‘Dignity in displacement: from rhetoric to reality’. The goal of the project was not to define dignity, but to understand what it meant to affected people in different places, with different cultures and at different times. It explores how refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnees in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Lebanon, the Philippines and South Sudan understand dignity, and whether (and how) they feel that their dignity has been upheld in displacement.

It then compares their understanding with that of humanitarian workers in these responses, analysing what this means for humanitarian policy, programme design and implementation more broadly, and the localisation agenda more specifically.

It suggests six recommendations for incorporating dignity into a humanitarian response including:

Invest time and resources in listening to the affected population from the start of the response, and use this information to inform project design and implementation.
Use more face-to-face communication, especially in the assessment phase of the humanitarian response, and pay attention to what means of communication are appropriate at each stage.
To better understand the local culture and language, include anthropologists, sociologists, translators and others in the response, who can help in understanding the affected population and the dynamics of their situation.
Invest in programmes that promote self-reliance, where possible, and encourage more participation by affected communities in project design and implementation.

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Civil Society & Inclusive Peace (Peace Direct, 2019)

February 20, 2019

Inclusive peace, or the idea that all stakeholders in a society should have a role in defining and shaping peace, is receiving widespread global recognition. Still, despite the progress made through the increased recognition of inclusive peace at the theoretical and policy level, it has proven difficult to achieve in reality. Peace Direct teamed up with the Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict to explore the dynamics of inclusivity and peacebuilding in further detail in this report.

The report includes in-depth case studies from around the world, that help us to understand the strategies employed by grassroots peacebuilders to counter the challenges to effective inclusion in peacebuilding. From Nigeria to DR Congo, explore the case studies below to see what has worked (or not) in particular situations, and the successes, challenges and stalemates encountered on the pursuit to inclusive peace.

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Civic Tech in the Global South : Assessing Technology for the Public Good (World Bank, 2017)

February 12, 2019

This book is comprised of one study and three field evaluations of civic tech initiatives in developing countries. The study reviews evidence on the use of twenty-three information and communication technology (ICT) platforms designed to amplify citizen voices to improve service delivery. Focusing on empirical studies of initiatives in the global south, the authors highlight both citizen uptake and the degree to which public service providers respond to expressions of citizen voice.

The first evaluation looks at U-report in Uganda, a mobile platform that runs weekly large-scale polls with young Ugandans on a number of issues, ranging from safety to access to education to inflation to early marriage. The following evaluation takes a closer look at MajiVoice, an initiative that allows Kenyan citizens to report, through multiple channels, complaints with regard to water services.

The third evaluation examines the case of Rio Grande do Sul’s participatory budgeting – the world’s largest participatory budgeting system – which allows citizens to participate either online or offline in defining the state’s yearly spending priorities. While the comparative study has a clear focus on the dimension of government responsiveness, the evaluations examine civic technology initiatives using five distinct dimensions, or lenses. The choice of these lenses is the result of an effort bringing together researchers and practitioners to develop an evaluation framework suitable to civic technology initiatives.

Click here to download book.