Accountability Lab | accountlab.bsky.social

Who benefits from Mali’s mining wealth – and what say do communities have?

From making mining information accessible to documenting environmental concerns and supporting women’s participation, @accountlabML's accountapreneurs are connecting transparency with community priorities.

Read our latest blog on mining revenues, community rights, and local oversight: bit.ly/4A4biaP

We’re excited to share that Accountability Lab Nepal is co-hosting the Possible Now #ShiftThePower Global Summit, taking place from 2 to 4 December 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

At a time when existing systems are exhausted and our imagination is limited, a different kind of future is already emerging. Rooted in the belief that a new architecture of coherence is possible, this summit will bring together people from around the world who are exploring and cultivating new ways of organizing, resourcing, governing, and collaborating.

Stay tuned as they explore how small but powerful acts of imagination, solidarity, and experimentation taking place around the world can lay the foundation of a more coherent system.

🔗 bit.ly/3Wr7iTt

Who are the invisible champions behind a team’s success?

Every organization has a backstage. Like in a theater, there are people working behind the scenes whose contribution may be less visible, but whose efforts make collective progress possible.

Our colleague, Asif Farooqui at Accountability Lab Pakistan reflects on Adam Grant’s book Give and Take and explores why organizations need to recognize people who share knowledge, solve problems, support colleagues, and help others succeed.

So, how can organizations better recognize “the work behind the work”?

Read Asif’s article to explore how looking beyond individual achievements and valuing the relationships and behaviors that build collective success can create more collaborative and supportive workplaces.

Read more: bit.ly/4iYui3V

How can funding translate into lasting change at the community level? Drawing on observations from recent monitoring visits across Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka under the DDI South Asia program, our colleague Asif Farooqui, Director of Programs at Accountability Lab Pakistan, reflects on his interactions with community-based organizations.

He explores how these organizations use local knowledge, trusted relationships, and modest grants to strengthen citizen engagement and public accountability. Asif also highlights how lasting relationships with citizens and institutions, as well as continued use of technology beyond a project’s formal completion, can create value that conventional indicators may not capture.

Asif reflects on the challenges these organizations face and the growing importance of flexible funding, practical support, and accountability systems that respond to local realities. Read how grantmaking can be more effective to help community-based organizations sustain and support their impact: bit.ly/3WidsVN

Shrinking development funding has revealed the structural weaknesses of a top-down funding framework. It has also created an opportunity to reorganise models around frontline actors for long-term resilience.

In her piece, Building Resilience through Transitions: A New Model for Democracy Support, Accountability Lab Co-CEO Jean Scrimgeour encourages more flexible, people-centred approaches that are grounded in political reality rather than idealised assumptions.

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