Transparency, Accountability, and Civic Participation

As our name suggests, holding powerful actors accountable for human rights and environmental abuses is core to who we are. Our community-driven approach democratizes access to justice by amplifying community voices to demand transparency and accountability from international financial institutions. The scope of this work includes both public sector projects, like our case about high voltage transmission lines in Nepal, and private sector projects, like our case about agribusiness in Ukraine. As a result of supporting communities to engage through the accountability process, communities demand information of their governments and public institutions, enhance local communication and organizing, and often this leads to enhanced civic engagement, with community participants in accountability processes running for public office.

At the policy level, our advocacy shifts global finance towards greater accountability and transparency, ensuring that robust mechanisms exist to give communities a voice in decisions that affect them. Finally, our research is transforming transparency and accountability in global finance through the creation of our database, the world’s first repository of citizen-driven grievances about abuses tied to international finance. We also invented Zwazo, a direct engagement tool to enhance citizen participation in accountability processes, and beyond.