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Jean Yves Maganda-Belalengbi – monitoring, accountability and learning assistant (SOS Kinderdorpen in Bossangoa)
“The kids who come to our child-friendly spaces live nearby, 5 km away at the most. They come by foot, the younger ones assisted by adult caretakers. About half of them are orphans. They all witnessed the horrors of war. Some have seen how their parents were killed. Many of the girls have been abused and violated. A lot of the older boys are former child soldiers.
We have classes for 3 different age groups, from 3 years old up to 17. They come here between regular school hours. This way we make sure they aren’t forced to work. Or don’t run into problems, wandering off all alone. Because that’s when kids are abused or led astray, when they are on their own and adult family members are working in the field.
These kids don’t know each other’s individual stories. But together we dance, we play games, tell fairy tales, play football, act in theatre plays. Younger kids also take extra reading and writing classes, older children are taught languages and arithmetic. We help them discover their bodies, to feel confident and secure, to explore their dreams, thoughts, and talents. We talk about anatomy, about sexuality, about abuse, about human rights, about what is allowed and what isn’t.
Our child-friendly spaces are located in the vicinity of regular schools, because that’s where families with kids live. We work complementary to what formal schools offer. Every day, we give them snacks and drinks. Once a week we offer hot meals.
Some kids are so traumatized they stay silent. They can’t dance. Very delicately, our psychosocial workers and psychologists assist and comfort them.
More than 10% of the children are malnourished. We refer them to the nearest Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital. And through the DRA we support parents of severely malnourished children financially, allowing them to buy extra food for their children and to supplement their income. We also offer legal assistance as well as psychosocial support to young single mothers, girls who are victims of gender-based violence and girls who were forced and sold into marriage or who run this risk.
Our community workers are constantly on the look-out for abandoned and abused children and refer them to our child-friendly spaces. We work with parents as well, to make sure kids aren’t sent to the fields as farmers or spend too much time fetching water. We support them in catering and caring for kids they had to abandon. Or we try to find foster care in wider family networks.
We offer this kind of protection to 3000 children and young people who are scarred by war, in five different child-friendly spaces.”
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Since 2015, the Dutch Relief Alliance, led by Cordaid, reached out to thousands of war-affected people in the Central African Republic. We joined hands with Central African responders to provide shelter, protection, food and livelihood assistance, clean water and cash support.
Larry and I were roommate my Junior year in college. He loved God and created many memories for me. Although we talked a lot about God, we were never accountability partners. I just thought the picture worked well for the blog post for accountability.
Syrian human rights defenders spoke out at a Human Rights Council side event September 21 to appeal to the international community to work to end the conflict in Syria and to ensure justice and accountability for the victims.
The discussion reinfored the essential role of Syrian civil society in the pursuit of a political solution to the war. The
The event was organized by No Peace Without Justice and the Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum, and co-sponsored by the U.S. and other national delegations to the HRC.
Speakers included: Hussein Sabbagh, Secretary General Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum; Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, Secretary General No Peace Without Justice; Riyad Al-Najem, Hurras, Syrian child protection network; Husam Alkatlaby, The Violations Documentation Center in Syria; Ola Aljounde, Women Now for Development; Diab Serrih, The Day After, Ambassador Peter Matt (Liechtenstein); Ambassador Julian Braithwaite (UK) and Ambassaodr Maurizio Enrico Serra (Italy). Ambassador Keith Harper, U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council delivered concluding remarks.
U.S. Mission Photo/Eric Bridiers
On 17 September, the EBRD’s Project Complaints Mechanism (PCM) team played host to around 40 colleagues from similar mechanisms at 15 other international financial organisations, as well as to NGOs and civil society representatives, at a one-day Open Symposium on the Practice of Independent Accountability Mechanisms
Pennsylvania school districts would save an estimated $395 million under Gov. Tom Wolf’s commonsense and fair bipartisan plan to hold charter schools accountable to students, parents and taxpayers. The governor announced the updated savings estimate during a press conference today at G.A.R. Memorial Junior & Senior High School, in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County. May 19, 2021 – Wilkes-Barre, PA
Woot!! Despite the fact that I had friends over to spin on Saturday and they brought crazy amounts of yummy food the numbers went down! Yay!
I'm finding the "loose it" app on the iPhone very helpful. It really does sort of put things in perspective for me and keeps me honest. I know that it's really only a calorie estimate at best, but it's helping me ask the question "Do I really *need* to eat that?"
Governor Hogan Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Accountability Initiatives. by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
On 17 September, the EBRD’s Project Complaints Mechanism (PCM) team played host to around 40 colleagues from similar mechanisms at 15 other international financial organisations, as well as to NGOs and civil society representatives, at a one-day Open Symposium on the Practice of Independent Accountability Mechanisms
On 17 September, the EBRD’s Project Complaints Mechanism (PCM) team played host to around 40 colleagues from similar mechanisms at 15 other international financial organisations, as well as to NGOs and civil society representatives, at a one-day Open Symposium on the Practice of Independent Accountability Mechanisms
On 17 September, the EBRD’s Project Complaints Mechanism (PCM) team played host to around 40 colleagues from similar mechanisms at 15 other international financial organisations, as well as to NGOs and civil society representatives, at a one-day Open Symposium on the Practice of Independent Accountability Mechanisms
South Sudan needs to move ahead now and enforce Justice and accountability, the top United Nations Diplomat, Ambassador Samantha Power, said on Saturday September 3, 2016, shortly after meeting with the council of ministers in Juba.
“For as long as armed actors, rape, loot and kill with impunity, for as long as they are not held accountable, it will be very hard for the cause of peace to take hold here,” Ambassador Power told the council of Ministers in Juba.
Security Council delegates reiterated that the United Nations and member states remain committed to see an end to violence so that people can begin to recover from years of conflict and alleviate the suffering of the people.
This image is excerpted from a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, available here: www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-66
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
The Inspection Panel is completing 25 years in its role, as an accountability mechanism of the World Bank. As you are aware, the Bank’s failure to comply with its operating policies was seen by the entire world in the Bank’s financing with the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on River Narmada. The tenacity of massive grass-roots uprisings from our communities in the 80’s and the sustained hard work of our social movements along with our resoluteness to link it with international coalitions to question the hegemony of the Bank, subsequently led the Bank, for the first time, to commission an independent review of its project. The Independent Review Committee (Morse Committee) constituted by the Bank in 1991 to review the social and environmental costs and benefits of the dam, after years of consistent struggle by Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) and its allies led to a demand from the civil society around the globe for the creation of a grievance redressal system for project-affected communities, which ultimately pressurized the Bank to constitute the Inspection Panel in 1993. We expected this might be a crucial backstop and an opportunity for us to raise our issues of livelihoods, economic loss, displacement from our lands, alienation from natural resources, destruction of environment and threat to our biodiversity and cultural hotspots, where Bank invested in large, supposedly ‘development’ projects like mega dams, energy and other infrastructure projects. Yet, the outcome we expected rarely delivered sufficient remedy for the harm and losses people have experienced over the years.
A number of accountability mechanisms over the next couple of decades in several development finance institutions were formed following the model of World Bank, commonly known as ‘Independent Accountability Mechanisms’[IAMs]. Each year the number of complaints rise which is an indication of the increasing number of grievous projects happening around the world. While IAMs of most MDBs are advertised to provide strong and just processes, many of our experiences imply that the banks are accommodating practices which suit their own needs and their clients, which are borrowing countries and agencies, and not the people for whom the IAMs were built to serve.
Many a time, we have been disappointed by these mechanisms, since these are designed by the banks who are lending for disastrous projects in our lands. And as a result, the already existing narrow mandate of IAMs is further restricted.
In our efforts to hold the lending bank accountable, the communities are always presented with the arduous process of learning the complex formalities and detailed procedures to initially approach the IAMs and get our grievances registered. Our many years’ time and energy then is channelised into seeing through the various cycles of these complaint handling mechanisms, that our entire efforts go into this process, and often our complaint gets dropped off in midst of the procedural rules of the IAMs. People are made to wait many months to clear procedural levels and our cases with the IAMs get highly unpredictable. Further, we face intimidation and reprisals from the state and project agencies for having contacted the IAMs who themselves do not possess any authority to address the violations hurled out to us when we seek dignity, fair treatment and justice from them. There are many of us who feel a loss of morale after long years of struggling with lenders when we fail to see concrete benefits or changes in our circumstances, by which time considerable irreplaceable harm is already done to our lives, environment and livelihoods.
In this manner, our immediate and larger goal of holding banks for their failure to consult with and obtain consent from communities before devising action plans for our lands, water and forests is deflected in the pretext of problem-solving and grievance hearing offered to us in the name of IAMs.
With over 50 registered complaints sent to different IAMS from India in the past 25 years, many more left unregistered due to technical reasons and only a few got investigated, assessed and monitored at different levels, we have a baggage of mixed experiences with the IAMs. A few of the prominent cases from India apart from Narmada project are Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project [WB’s IP], Tata Mega Ultra-01/Mundra and Anjar [IFC’s CAO & ADB’s CRP], India Infrastructure Fund-01/Dhenkanal District [IFC’s CAO], Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Limited-01/Himachal Pradesh [IFC’s CAO] and Mumbai Urban Transport Project (2009) [WB’s IP].
As we now know, what is being witnessed recently is an influx of approved and proposed investments majorly in energy, transport, steel, roads, urban projects, bullet trains, industrial zones/corridors, smart cities, water privatization and other mega projects in India. This has been financed from different multilateral and bilateral sources, foreign corporations, private banks as well as Export-Import Banks (ExIm Banks). It has become a brutal challenge for communities, social movements and CSOs, with lenders and governments constantly shutting their eyes and ears to us who demand accountability for their actions. A compelling and timely need has arisen among diverse groups amongst us to gather together and critically analyze the various trajectories of our engagements with accountability mechanisms of MDBs in order to bring together past 25 years’ learning, insights and reflections of various actors of this accountability process. This urging demand is also an attempt to define the collective experiences in India among our social movements, projected-affected communities and CSOs with IAMs and lending banks, especially appropriating the global political opportunity of Inspection Panel celebrating its 25 years this year.
Speakers:
Thomas Franco, Former General Secretary, AlI India Bank Officers’ Confederation
Arun Kumar, Eminent scholar, Former Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University
C.P. Chandrashekar, Economist, Professor Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sucheta Dalal, Managing Editor, Moneylife
Soumya Dutta, National Convener, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Dunu Roy, Hazards Center, New Delhi
Medha Patkar, Senior Activist, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Tani Alex, Centre for Financial Accountability
M J Vijayan, Activist and Political commentator
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Anirudha Nagar, Accountability Counsel
Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements
A J Vijayan, Chairperson, Western Ghats and Coastal area Protection Forum
Meera Sanghamitra, National Aliance of People’s Movements
Vimal bhai, Matu Jan Sangathan, Uttarakhand
Daniel Adler, Senior Specialist, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Birgit Kuba, Operations Officer, Inspection Panel
Anuradha Munshi, Centre for Financial Accountability
Bharat Patel, General Secretary, Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan,Gujarat
Awadhesh Kumar, Srijan Lokhit Samiti
Amulya Kumar Nayak, Odisha Chas Parivesh Surekhsa Parishad, Odisha
Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Legal Scholar
Manshi Asher, Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh
Syrian human rights defenders spoke out at a Human Rights Council side event September 21 to appeal to the international community to work to end the conflict in Syria and to ensure justice and accountability for the victims.
The discussion reinfored the essential role of Syrian civil society in the pursuit of a political solution to the war. The
The event was organized by No Peace Without Justice and the Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum, and co-sponsored by the U.S. and other national delegations to the HRC.
Speakers included: Hussein Sabbagh, Secretary General Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum; Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, Secretary General No Peace Without Justice; Riyad Al-Najem, Hurras, Syrian child protection network; Husam Alkatlaby, The Violations Documentation Center in Syria; Ola Aljounde, Women Now for Development; Diab Serrih, The Day After, Ambassador Peter Matt (Liechtenstein); Ambassador Julian Braithwaite (UK) and Ambassaodr Maurizio Enrico Serra (Italy). Ambassador Keith Harper, U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council delivered concluding remarks.
U.S. Mission Photo/Eric Bridiers
New York City Mayor Eric Adams holds a rally with union leaders for mayoral accountability on the steps of City Hall on Monday, May 9, 2022. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Governor Hogan Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Accountability Initiatives. by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
Governor Hogan Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Accountability Initiatives. by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf speaks to the press. The urgent need to hold charter schools and cyber charter schools accountable has increased as enrollment and taxpayer costs have swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Tom Wolf today unveiled a common sense and fair bipartisan plan that protects students, parents and taxpayers. The plan holds low-performing charter schools accountable to improve the quality of education, protects taxpayers by reining in skyrocketing charter school costs and increases the transparency of for-profit companies that run many charter schools. Harrisburg, PA – February 26, 2021
Panel 1: Can Shareholders Save Democracy?
(From left to right): Moderated by Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, with panelists William T. Allen, Robert Jackson, John Coates, Jennifer Taub.
The Brennan Center for Justice held a day-long symposium on Accountability After Citizens United at the Greene Space at WNYC in New York City.
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
“We are pleased that the NYPD is finally disciplining officers who have violated New Yorkers’ civil rights. But you shouldn’t have to be a public official to expect police officers guilty of mistreating you to be disciplined,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “What about the indignities perpetuated every day on the streets on New York City? This issue is bigger than these individual police officers -- every police officer should get a basic civil rights lesson.”
To get involved, visit the NYCLU at www.nyclu.org.
Down 1.5 lbs.
I can't freekin' believe I actually lost anything considering the weekend I had. The spin in could have been disastrous enough (everyone brings a dish to share and OMG do they bring good stuff) but then I went out with friends for brunch on Sunday and that was not good for the food intake either. I guess being fairly good the rest of the week counted for something.
I probably won't be able to post next week unless my hotel room has a scale. We'll see what 5 days on the road does to me.
It's been quite a while since I've done one of these! I've been sort of casually keeping track of my pregnancy weight gain, but decided on a whim today to weigh myself for accountablility wednesday.
On June 17, I weighed 136. I was counting my pre-pregnancy weight as 137, and had weighed 138 the previous week, so I'm guessing that was a fluke.
Today I weigh somewhere around 148, which puts my total weight gain at 11 pounds. I am 25 weeks pregnant. My first pregnancy, I had gained 19 pounds at 25 weeks. I am thrilled to be gaining more slowly, and definitely credit the fact that last time I was gaining weight when I got pregnant (from quitting smoking) and this time I was losing weight. It seems that my body likes to keep doing whatever it is doing.
(By the way, I am certain the actual numbers on the scale are wrong. However, I think the difference between them is correct or close enough.)
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill serves as the top-ranking Democrat, today unanimously approved three McCaskill-backed bills to save taxpayer dollars and strengthen accountability. The bipartisan pieces of legislation prohibit bonuses for employees who commit serious misconduct, target misuse of government purchase and travel cards, and make it easier for agencies to solicit feedback from taxpayers.
Click HERE for more photos from today’s committee meeting.
“We need to do all we can so taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars aren’t going to waste—and I’m proud to come together with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to help hold government more accountable to the people,” said McCaskill, former Missouri State Auditor. “There are many areas where we can and should work hand-in-hand to find solutions to common problems, and I’m committed to doing exactly that.”
The following bills unanimously passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today and now await approval from the full Senate:
• The Federal Agency Customer Experience Act rolls back federal regulations that make it difficult for agencies to get feedback from the public concerning their satisfaction with agencies’ performance. McCaskill introduced the bill with Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma.
• The Stop Improper Federal Bonuses Act prohibits bonuses to government employees who have engaged in serious misconduct. McCaskill introduced the bill alongside Republican Senators Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Dean Heller of Nevada.
• The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act cracks down on waste, fraud and abuse in federal agency travel and purchase cards spending. McCaskill joined Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware to introduce the bill.
Since her time as Missouri State Auditor, McCaskill has been a leading voice in Missouri and Washington for cutting wasteful government spending. In addition to the bills that passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today, McCaskill also introduced the Eliminating Government-Funded Oil-Painting (EGO) Act with Republican Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Deb Fischer of Nebraska to prohibit federal dollars from being used for lawmakers’ portraits. McCaskill has also targeted waste, fraud, and abuse by expanding whistleblower protections to government contractors, subcontractors, and others who the federal government directly or indirectly hires through bipartisan bills that have been signed into law. During her first term in the Senate, McCaskill waged a successful six-year effort to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in wartime contracting.
Accountability For Life (AFL) mentors at-risk adolescents in our York County, Pennsylvania community and beyond.
Syrian human rights defenders spoke out at a Human Rights Council side event September 21 to appeal to the international community to work to end the conflict in Syria and to ensure justice and accountability for the victims.
The discussion reinfored the essential role of Syrian civil society in the pursuit of a political solution to the war. The
The event was organized by No Peace Without Justice and the Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum, and co-sponsored by the U.S. and other national delegations to the HRC.
Speakers included: Hussein Sabbagh, Secretary General Euro-Syrian Democratic Forum; Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, Secretary General No Peace Without Justice; Riyad Al-Najem, Hurras, Syrian child protection network; Husam Alkatlaby, The Violations Documentation Center in Syria; Ola Aljounde, Women Now for Development; Diab Serrih, The Day After, Ambassador Peter Matt (Liechtenstein); Ambassador Julian Braithwaite (UK) and Ambassaodr Maurizio Enrico Serra (Italy). Ambassador Keith Harper, U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council delivered concluding remarks.
U.S. Mission Photo/Eric Bridiers
The Inspection Panel is completing 25 years in its role, as an accountability mechanism of the World Bank. As you are aware, the Bank’s failure to comply with its operating policies was seen by the entire world in the Bank’s financing with the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on River Narmada. The tenacity of massive grass-roots uprisings from our communities in the 80’s and the sustained hard work of our social movements along with our resoluteness to link it with international coalitions to question the hegemony of the Bank, subsequently led the Bank, for the first time, to commission an independent review of its project. The Independent Review Committee (Morse Committee) constituted by the Bank in 1991 to review the social and environmental costs and benefits of the dam, after years of consistent struggle by Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) and its allies led to a demand from the civil society around the globe for the creation of a grievance redressal system for project-affected communities, which ultimately pressurized the Bank to constitute the Inspection Panel in 1993. We expected this might be a crucial backstop and an opportunity for us to raise our issues of livelihoods, economic loss, displacement from our lands, alienation from natural resources, destruction of environment and threat to our biodiversity and cultural hotspots, where Bank invested in large, supposedly ‘development’ projects like mega dams, energy and other infrastructure projects. Yet, the outcome we expected rarely delivered sufficient remedy for the harm and losses people have experienced over the years.
A number of accountability mechanisms over the next couple of decades in several development finance institutions were formed following the model of World Bank, commonly known as ‘Independent Accountability Mechanisms’[IAMs]. Each year the number of complaints rise which is an indication of the increasing number of grievous projects happening around the world. While IAMs of most MDBs are advertised to provide strong and just processes, many of our experiences imply that the banks are accommodating practices which suit their own needs and their clients, which are borrowing countries and agencies, and not the people for whom the IAMs were built to serve.
Many a time, we have been disappointed by these mechanisms, since these are designed by the banks who are lending for disastrous projects in our lands. And as a result, the already existing narrow mandate of IAMs is further restricted.
In our efforts to hold the lending bank accountable, the communities are always presented with the arduous process of learning the complex formalities and detailed procedures to initially approach the IAMs and get our grievances registered. Our many years’ time and energy then is channelised into seeing through the various cycles of these complaint handling mechanisms, that our entire efforts go into this process, and often our complaint gets dropped off in midst of the procedural rules of the IAMs. People are made to wait many months to clear procedural levels and our cases with the IAMs get highly unpredictable. Further, we face intimidation and reprisals from the state and project agencies for having contacted the IAMs who themselves do not possess any authority to address the violations hurled out to us when we seek dignity, fair treatment and justice from them. There are many of us who feel a loss of morale after long years of struggling with lenders when we fail to see concrete benefits or changes in our circumstances, by which time considerable irreplaceable harm is already done to our lives, environment and livelihoods.
In this manner, our immediate and larger goal of holding banks for their failure to consult with and obtain consent from communities before devising action plans for our lands, water and forests is deflected in the pretext of problem-solving and grievance hearing offered to us in the name of IAMs.
With over 50 registered complaints sent to different IAMS from India in the past 25 years, many more left unregistered due to technical reasons and only a few got investigated, assessed and monitored at different levels, we have a baggage of mixed experiences with the IAMs. A few of the prominent cases from India apart from Narmada project are Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project [WB’s IP], Tata Mega Ultra-01/Mundra and Anjar [IFC’s CAO & ADB’s CRP], India Infrastructure Fund-01/Dhenkanal District [IFC’s CAO], Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Limited-01/Himachal Pradesh [IFC’s CAO] and Mumbai Urban Transport Project (2009) [WB’s IP].
As we now know, what is being witnessed recently is an influx of approved and proposed investments majorly in energy, transport, steel, roads, urban projects, bullet trains, industrial zones/corridors, smart cities, water privatization and other mega projects in India. This has been financed from different multilateral and bilateral sources, foreign corporations, private banks as well as Export-Import Banks (ExIm Banks). It has become a brutal challenge for communities, social movements and CSOs, with lenders and governments constantly shutting their eyes and ears to us who demand accountability for their actions. A compelling and timely need has arisen among diverse groups amongst us to gather together and critically analyze the various trajectories of our engagements with accountability mechanisms of MDBs in order to bring together past 25 years’ learning, insights and reflections of various actors of this accountability process. This urging demand is also an attempt to define the collective experiences in India among our social movements, projected-affected communities and CSOs with IAMs and lending banks, especially appropriating the global political opportunity of Inspection Panel celebrating its 25 years this year.
Speakers:
Thomas Franco, Former General Secretary, AlI India Bank Officers’ Confederation
Arun Kumar, Eminent scholar, Former Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University
C.P. Chandrashekar, Economist, Professor Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sucheta Dalal, Managing Editor, Moneylife
Soumya Dutta, National Convener, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Dunu Roy, Hazards Center, New Delhi
Medha Patkar, Senior Activist, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Tani Alex, Centre for Financial Accountability
M J Vijayan, Activist and Political commentator
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Anirudha Nagar, Accountability Counsel
Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements
A J Vijayan, Chairperson, Western Ghats and Coastal area Protection Forum
Meera Sanghamitra, National Aliance of People’s Movements
Vimal bhai, Matu Jan Sangathan, Uttarakhand
Daniel Adler, Senior Specialist, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Birgit Kuba, Operations Officer, Inspection Panel
Anuradha Munshi, Centre for Financial Accountability
Bharat Patel, General Secretary, Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan,Gujarat
Awadhesh Kumar, Srijan Lokhit Samiti
Amulya Kumar Nayak, Odisha Chas Parivesh Surekhsa Parishad, Odisha
Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Legal Scholar
Manshi Asher, Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
Governor Hogan Announces Proposed Legislation to Fix Failing Schools by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
Governor Hogan Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Accountability Initiatives. by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
A joint African Union-United Nations delegation has concluded a three-day visit to South Sudan, expressing hope for “full cessation of hostilities” and a promise to “hold accountable” those who may derail the peace process.
Speaking to journalists in the capital, Juba, they said the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 12 September 2018 “is the starting point of the hard work,” and that their visit sought to hear from the Government, civil society, women’s organizations and others about what needed to be done immediately in support of the agreement.
“The implementation of the peace agreement is primarily a responsibility for South Sudanese,” said the Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. “And I think the partners of South Sudan are keen to see a few things materialize on the ground, particularly the cessation of hostilities which would be, of course, so important – a full cessation of hostilities,” he added.
African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, acknowledged there would be challenges ahead, but warned, “let us just take note today that everybody wants to implement that agreement faithfully and we will [hold] accountable anyone going the other route.”
During their visit, the delegation said they had a chance to see first-hand and talk to some of those who had suffered years of conflict.
“The population has suffered tremendously,” said the UN Peacekeeping chief, Lacroix, adding, “We are looking forward to further improvement in the security situation and other such positive signals that will certainly generate confidence and mobilization from the international community.”
Listing various expectations from the women she met, UN Women’s top official said women wanted to be included in the security sector reforms which would include greater participation and contribution by women in securing the country.
“They also wanted to encourage the Government to interact with them directly so that they, too, can have an opportunity to exchange directly with Government about their expectations and get additional assurance about the future which they are very excited about,” said the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“They also want to make sure they take advantage of the 35% participation provision and they would put it on themselves to find the best candidates to fill in those positions,” she told journalists, adding that the women “want to go back to being economically productive citizens.”
The delegation had earlier met with various government officials, reiterating their support for the revitalized peace agreement.
“[It] was good to hear from both the UN [and AU] representatives about the commitment of the UN to support the peace process and they are waiting to see us giving important signals, milestones that prove our commitment and seriousness in implementing this agreement,” said Cabinet Affairs Minister, Martin Elia Lomuro after his closed-door meeting with the delegation, adding, “We have also heard from the African Union about their desire to participate with us in the security sector reform.”
He said the government was committed to implementing what it had signed, including the 35 per cent quota for women.
“That agreement was an agreement by all of us. They didn’t have to fight for it. They should remain calm and trust those in charge – particularly the members of the national review committee who will be ensuring that the objectives of the agreement are followed,” he said, voicing the government’s reassurance on an issue that was at the centre of the delegation’s visit.
Photo: UNMISS / Eric Kanalstein
The Moreton Bay Regional Council and its Major, Alan Sutherland, praise themselves for using environmentally paper in the publication of their "Moreton Living" and the "Major's Newsletter". Granted making environmental savings is a good thing.
Accountability would dictate that they disclose how many dollars they spent in the design, printing and distributuion of the 2 newsletters.
It would also be very interesting to know: how many tonnes of carbon emissions were produced with these newsletters; and how much water and energy was used.
Smiley knows that would be too much accountability for our council fathers to tolerate.............and Smiley also knows, that I will keep fighting on for what is right.
Governor Hogan Signs an Executive Order Regarding School Accountability Initiatives. by Joe Andrucyk at Governors Reception Room, 100 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401
Weak accountability leads to government failures or tragedies that affect the public – so what can be done to strengthen it?
The Institute for Government Launched it's report Accountability in modern government - recommendations for change, based on a year-long consultation and input from a high-profile advisory group.
To discuss the findings of the report, our panel:
Rt Hon Dame Margaret Hodge MP, Labour MP for Barking, former Chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee
Sir Richard Mottram, Visiting Professor at the LSE, former Permanent Secretary
Jonathan Slater, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education
The report was introduced by Benoit Guerin, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government, and the event was chaired by Emma Norris, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
#IFGAccountability
Photos by Candice McKenzie