From the founding of ancient Harappa–Mohenjodaro, to the ascent of Rome and Constantinople, to the flourishing of today's teeming cities, urban agglomeration bears testimony to humanity's transitioning from agrarian existence towards opportunity-laden clustered inhabitation. Now for the first time…

As governments prepare to spend up to US$100 billion annually by 2020 to limit climate change and prepare for its impact, Transparency International (TI) warns of the corruption risks of climate finance flowing through new, untested channels and recommends strengthening governance systems to tackle…

As Americans remember the tragic events of the BP oil spill one year ago, international humanitarian organization Oxfam America urges Africa's newest oil producer to avoid the same mistakes other oil producing countries have made. A new report by the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, a coalition…

In 2008 Rwanda's Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (Minecofin) embarked on a gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) programme. This document describes the development of the programme to date. It describes the first, preparatory phase as well as the second phase of implementation. It explains why…

Les organisations de la société civile africaine forment un secteur qui est devenu de plus en plus Les organisations de la société civile africaine forment un secteur qui est devenu de plus en plus important pendant ces dernières décennies de par sa participation aux processus de développement et…

We are talking about the media and journalists. In the history of humankind, and no less so in South Africa’s turbulent history of colonialism, apartheid and the struggle for democracy, the media has played a key role in shaping and recording events and public opinion. In its various forms, it has…

The European Union awarded NIDPRODEV a 10-month grant in June 2010 to conduct Citizen Report Card surveys in 120 Niger Delta communities in the three southern geopolitical zones. The purpose of a Citizen Report Card is to provide public officials, as well as international donors, with the information…

This is the report of a Gender Audit of the Ministerial Policy Statements of key sectors of the economy for FY 2010/11. The purpose of the audit was to generate proposals and recommendations for effective integration of gender and equity issues in sector activities as a measure to promote…

This book is about the threats to education quality in the developing world that cannot be explained by lack of resources. It reviews the observed phenomenon of service delivery failures in public education: cases where programs and policies increase the inputs to education but do not produce effective…

A case study of the key issues in Zimbabwe's mining sector. This handbook constitutes one of the battles being fought by civil society organisations to promote and protect the rights of communities living adjacent to mining areas against the operations of extractive industries, the state and other…

The Woreda and City Benchmarking Survey (WCBS) was designed initially as a core monitoring and evaluation tool for the Public Sector Capacity Building Program (PSCAP). But the application of the survey has now expanded to include several reforms and donor supported operations.

The African Parliamentary Index (API) measures the level of engagement of selected African parliaments with the budget process in their respective countries. The API is a core component of the Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Program (APSP) for Budget Oversight and provides a scientific assessment…

The last several decades have seen countries around the world decentralizing key services to the local level. Decentralisation has been seen as a way to improve efficiency of state structures, and bring decision-making closer to the people affected by policymakers' decisions. In Ghana, the process…

Prior to the onset of the global financial crisis, Africa had made significant progress toward sustainable economic development. It had achieved five years of growth at an annual average of six percent, an indicator of success seen in many nations across the continent, not just in oil-producing and…

Born out of the optimism at the new millennium that Africa's time had come, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a tool designed to promote good governance on the continent, is built on the belief that the continent does not lack ideas to advance its development, but that states have struggled…

Ghana has made incredible progress in recent years, both in terms of democratic consolidation and development outcomes. In addition to the achievement of an increasingly competitive political sphere and greater macroeconomic stability, successive governments have made important commitments to spending…

The Mozambican civil society is still characterized by a large number of informal organizations. On the formal side, the National Institute of Statistic (INE) registered 4853 non for profit institutions in 2003, most of which were religious associations.

In November 2010, around 100 of the world's leading experts in public financial management (PFM) met in London to debate why more progress is not being made in fragile states. Gathered at the sixth annual CAPE Conference, entitled Accelerating the transition out of fragility, these experts focused…

We, representatives of African women's civil society organisations and African women leaders meeting under the umbrella of "Gender Is My Agenda Campaign" (GIMAC) at the 17th African Women's PreSummit on Gender Mainstreaming in the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from January 24-26 2011, convened by Femmes…