Our 2022 Annual Report is out. It includes reflections on shifts in external context and among our members, learnings, progress and details of what we did. Let us know what you think.
TAI doesn't own the photos. All photos used in this weekly have a link to their source.
WHAT'S NEW?
Battles to defend integrity
How long does a culture of integrity survive without transparency? Mercedes Ruehl highlights an interesting test case in Singapore. While known for being strong on corruption, the lack of public disclosure of parliamentarians outside pay (they can hold second jobs) is leading to questions.
G-Watch utilize awareness-raising campaigns to promote accountability in post-pandemic Philippines.
UK prosecutions of tax evasion are down 80% - highlighting the rhetoric vs action gap in UK’s efforts to toughen fiscal fairness and cleanliness.
Maria Nizzero makes recommendations for adjusting the UK’s asset recovery mechanisms drawing on the experiences of other countries. Can we make it easier to claw back funds from kleptocrats?
Russian oligarchs hide money in U.S. Greg Baer and Gary Kalman say only reliable data (not least beneficial ownership information) can stop them.
Junaid Haleem makes the case that political reform remains critical to promoting good governance and accountability in Pakistan.
How will you use open contracting to strengthen democratic institutions, improve climate resilience, or promote inclusion? Open Contracting Partnership is now accepting applications for its impact accelerator program, Lift. Select teams can receive up to 200 hours and $35,000 of direct support.
ESSENTIAL READING!
Unlock Aid make the case for transparency as a driver of funder accountability and efforts to shift the power in development.
FROM OUR MEMBERS
OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS:
Amid rising inequality, a debt crisis, and religious nationalism, Premesh Chandran knows firsthand that the Asia-Pacific region’s deep pluralistic and democratic traditions and argues the region needs to rediscover its tradition of openness.
HEWLETT FOUNDATION:
Knowledge is most powerful when shared. Open Education Resources help educators create collaborative learning environments with customizable materials that center student experiences and easily adapt to meet needs
FORD FOUNDATION:
Hilary Pennington asks “How can we address the root causes of inequality in every sector, including philanthropy?” she drives inspiration from WIEGO - Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing, a network calling for greater rights and protections for informal workers, especially women.
LUMINATE:
Juana Kweitel has joined the Luminate Group as Vice President, Global Programmes, and will lead the team working on transregional initiatives. Juana has previously served as Executive Director of Conectas in Brazil, one of the leading organizations dedicated to the defense of human rights and democracy
ESSENTIAL WATCHING & READING!
For International Women’s Day, the Open Government Partnership shared local voices on strengthening gender perspectives in local government and examples of gender commitments made through OGP.
TOOLS & TRENDS FOR FUNDERS
Connective Impact has kindly copied all of the insights and policy recommendations from Humentum's report, From Operations to Outcomes: A Policy Blueprint for Locally-Led Development.
Green 2.0 has released its 2022 NGO and Foundation Transparency Report Card - an interesting exercise in encouraging organizations to be transparent and accountable in terms of their own diversity.
Erin Ganju explains Trust Creates Impact, an initiative that brings together more than 30 foundations from Germany and Switzerland to explore how philanthropy should look in the future. Among their theses - more listening, diversity and also investing ethics.
FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK
Quo Vadis, Democracy?
Two major democracy and freedom reports are out, and, yes, democratic freedom is still eroding. However, there are signs of hope.
The gap between the number of countries that improved and those that deteriorated was the narrowest since the negative anti-democratic trend began in 2006. Which country saw the biggest decline? Burkina Faso. The biggest boost to freedom? Colombia. Learn much more in the 50th edition of the Freedom in the World report.
When you turn to the latest Varieties of Democracy Institute research, it reveals that for the first time in two decades, there are more closed autocracies than liberal democracies in the world. Staffan Ingemar Lindberg notes that the decline has taken place globally, and we are back to 1986 levels of democracy.
The source of hope? Some countries have managed to return after long periods of democratic dismantling. Bolivia, Moldova, Ecuador, the Maldives, North Macedonia, Slovenia, South Korea, and Zambia have all succeeded in reversing their autocratic evolution.
ESSENTIAL READING!
A mere 0.1%–0.35% of foundation giving globally went to Black women, girls and trans people. Just one of the statistics underpinning a call to action to boost funding for Black feminist movements. This report examines the extent and the impact of long-standing under-resourcing and draws the connection to how illicit financial flows and extractivism have fuelled a system skewed against Black women’s rights.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Nicola Woodroffe and Erica Westenberg call for considerations of climate and governance risks when petroleum assets change hands: “Simply selling petroleum projects may… actually increase, climate impacts if assets are transferred from companies with stronger environmental and reporting commitments to those with weaker commitments.”
Researchers “propose a multi-stakeholder model to consolidate climate finance and facilitate the country’s energy transition” in Nigeria.
The transition to sustainable economies that have low greenhouse gas emissions is forcing polluting industries to change. Fermin Koop asks what a just transition means in Latin America and argues that the way in which this takes place is just as important as its speed.
The first comprehensive guide to sustainability reporting against the new EU standards has been issued by the Prague Stock Exchange and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
JOBS AT TAI MEMBERS
Job postings at Hewlett Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at MacArthur Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at Open Society Foundations - ONGOING
Job postings at Luminate - ONGOING
Job postings at Ford Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at FCDO - ONGOING
Job postings at Skoll - ONGOING
JOBS LISTINGS
Executive Director, Engaged Donors for Global Equity (EDGE) Funders Alliance
Associate Program Manager – Climate Justice. Open Society Foundations, New York
Program Director, Project on Resources and Governance, UCLA
Associate, Cost Transparency Initiative
Program Assistant, Global Anti-Corruption Consortium
Director of Fellowship, Keseb
Community Engagement Manager, Open Ownership
Short term contract: BOT, privacy and access researcher, Open Ownership
CALLS / OPPORTUNITIES
2023 Milead Fellows Program for Young African Women Leaders. Application Deadline: Wednesday 22 March 2023
Investigative Journalism Fellowship 2023 - Signature Investigative Journalism Fellowship in Barbados. Virtual sessions April 14th and 18th and in-person sessions April 23rd - 25th. Topics include storyboarding, digital security, mobile journalism, paper trailing, verification techniques and more.
2023 Research Symposium, Data Foundation, deadline March 31, 2023
Video and fine arts competition 2023- Transparency International is calling on young people across the globe to join the anti-corruption movement by submitting a video or artwork on new ways to fight corruption.
CALENDAR
Can deliberation bridge divided publics? Lessons from the Philippines, PeoplePowered webinar, March 16, 8am EST
Open Government Partnership webinar on the value of civil society, 16th March, 13:00-14:30 CET.
Ariadne Network’s '2033' Annual Meeting- March 28 – 30, 2023
OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum, 29-30 March, Paris, 2023
Summit for Democracy, 29-30 March (multiple locations)
Asia in 2050: What role will philanthropy play?” March 30, 2023 - 12:00 UTC (London)
Skoll World Forum, 12-14 April 2023
Open Gov Week 2023 - May 8-12
Rights Con 2023, June 5-8, 2023
EITI Global Conference, Dakar, June 2023
2023 #ShiftThePower Summit, Bogota, Colombia, December 2023