Abstract
This paper explores efforts across Egyptian universities to enhance responsiveness and accountability for addressing and mitigating sexual harassment on campus. Though not a new phenomenon, harassment in Egyptian universities differs from other places in terms of scale, frequency, aggressiveness and the characteristics of perpetrators and survivors within the university settings. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part unpacks the research question and tries to build the relationship between the main concepts of collective action, accountability and networking. The second part presents the methodology with a particular focus on action research. The third part analyses the findings of the research.
Abstract
In this paper, we explore the use of a governance diaries methodology to investigate poor households’ interactions with authority in fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings in Mozambique. The research questioned the meanings of empowerment and accountability from the point of view of poor and marginalised people, with the aim of understanding what both mean for them, and how that changes over time, based on their experiences with governance. The study also sought to record how poor and marginalised households view the multiple institutions that govern their lives; providing basic public goods and services, including health and security; and, in return, raise revenues to fund these services. The findings show that, even if the perceptions and, with them, the concepts of empowerment and accountability that emerged do not differ significantly from those identified in the literature, in terms of action and mobilisation there are distinctions. In our research sites we
Abstract
This paper analyses findings from a study of the Consolidating Democracy in Pakistan (CDIP) and AAWAZ Voice and Accountability programmes, both funded by the UK government.
The study is a contribution to the A4EA Research Programme workstream ‘Unpacking Donor Action’. It is based on a secondary literature review, analysis of programme documents, and qualitative interviews with individuals who worked with these programmes at various levels.
The analysis explores the interaction between the two programmes to argue they produced strong synergies as an outcome of their adaptive programming approach. The synergising took place under conditions of growing constraints on civic society and the democratic process during the programme life cycles. The paper concludes that the beneficial interaction effects were an outcome of strategic partnerships with a common implementing agency (DAI) and deep engagement with civil society organizations, but without empowered local government
Abstract
In this briefing for the A4EA Demanding Power Workstream, researchers explore how organised labour and civil society organisations in Nigeria have recently lost their role in organising popular public protest against fuel price increases. The briefing draws out lessons on how to lead the people’s side of a volatile tussle on fuel subsidies.
This work is part of the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) Research programme
Citation
Ojebode, A. and Atela, M. (2021) ‘Fuel Subsidy in Nigeria: Lessons in Leading the People’s Side of the Tussle’, Utafiti Sera Research Brief Series 1, Nairobi: PASGR
Link
Navigating Civic Spaces in Pakistan
This paper is a review of changing civic spaces from July 2018 until the first lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020
From:
Abstract
This background paper is a review of changing civic spaces in Pakistan during the brief period from July 2018, when national elections brought a new government to power, until the first lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020. It will provide the context for interpreting events since the start of the pandemic, to show how civic spaces were grappling with growing pressure from the state even before this new emergency began. The source material for this paper is a combination of academic articles, advocacy organization reports, and press articles. The discussion begins with an overview of the governance context during these twenty months under scrutiny, followed by a section on the civil society context which provides examples of areas of mobilization and change. We then tu