By Jocelyn Soto Medallo and Gustavo Zullo For the past 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all. At the International Accountability Project (IAP), we shifted our work to address the immediate needs of our staff and partners. IAP also integrated tracking COVID-19 relief financing and addressing rights abuses…

By Vaishnavi Varadarajan Biba Devi Thapa Magar, an 83-year-old elder woman from the Magar Indigenous community at Rishing Paltyang in Tanahu district, shares how the land her community has lived on is sacred. Her ancestors were cremated here. Worrying about the future where she and her family may be displaced…

By Shoira Olimova, Medea Turashvili, Nina Lesikhina “Through information sharing, we are able to know basic understanding and potential impacts of a specific proposed project. It is also important to listen to the experiences of others to learn more about strategies and methods on improving our work.” — Umida Niyazova, Uzbek Forum for Human Rights The idea of organizing the joint regional meeting came spontaneously during one of the regular calls with Shoira Olimova and Hayk Abrahamyan of the International Accountability Project, Medea Turashvilli, CRE Regional Facilitator of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development, and Nina Lesikhina…

By International Accountability Project What comes to your mind when you hear the words research and communities? Too often, people associate communities as a mere object of research. The community can play a vital role in leading their own research. They may uncover things within their own during the process…

by Shoira Olimova I was excited to have a meeting with local partners and representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Tajikistan after two years of virtual meetings because of the COVID-19 restrictions. Partners from Khujand City, located at the northern part of Tajikistan, requested to organize an in person…

Por Alexandre Andrade Sampaio Com áreas de vegetação nativa a perder de vista, uma vibrante cena cultural, um dos parques tecnológicos e educacionais mais avançadas do mundo, a descrição de São José dos Campos, metrópole do Vale do Paraíba brasileiro, poderia fazer-nos pensar na cidade como o destino ideal para…

By Alexandre Andrade Sampaio With areas of native vegetation as far as the eye can see, a vibrant cultural scene, one of the most advanced technological and educational parks in the world, the description of São José dos Campos, metropolis of the Brazilian Paraíba Valley, could make us think of…

By Carlo Manalansan “In the next few days, I plan to take actions by spreading awareness to the youth and the community in Sta. Ana.” — Charelyn Monterde, Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City Civil society and communities in Cebu, Philippines were dismayed by the impending entry of a Waste-to-Energy (WtE) project…

By Hayk Abrahamyan “There is no independent civil society in our country, and the idea that communities can participate in decisions affecting their lives is something unimaginable. When we reached out to the bank representatives in our country [regarding the World Bank-funded COVID response project] they treated us as an annoying factor and would not answer our questions” — civil society partner in Turkmenistan