A Niyel publication to shine a light on transparency, participation and accountability initiatives in West Africa

WHILE governance experiences are widely dissected and shared worldwide, the West African footprint in Transparency, Participation and Accountability hasn’t been very prominent, despite the fact that the region is rich with experiences that would greatly contribute to reflections of the development community at large.

Drawing on an extensive literature review and interviews with over 30 leading organizations as well as government officials and donors agencies from the three countries, Social Change in Ghana, Senegal and Burkina Faso: A hit? A Miss or a Work in Progress is an illustrated report that encapsulates the West Africa’s unique take on social change.

“How does change happen? What are the triggers? Can we identify the tipping point? Is there a formula that is replicable? These are questions that all human rights advocates and development actors ask. Civil Society and governments in West Africa offer a unique set of valuable experiences, impactful practices, initiatives, tools and persisting gaps in its attempts to ground a good governance agenda” Valerie Gnide Traore, executive director of Niyel, said at the launch of the report in Dakar.

This study casts a light on the efforts that civil society organisations in West Africa and their supporters dedicate to achieving greater social justice. In speaking about the content of the report, Nafissatou Traore, the report’s lead author explained, “the report highlights the existing national and regional mechanisms, successful initiatives by government as well as civil society organizations and social movements and finally looks at the persisting challenges to accountability. It features case studies from the three countries and maps out what their process of change and the key elements that contributed to their success.”

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation commissioned the report to learn what strengthens accountability between citizens and their governments in West Africa. The report will inform their Global Development and Population Programme grantmaking in the region.

– Dec.  15, 2017 @ 13:37 GMT