Virtual Press Conference 

LAUNCH OF A PAN-AFRICAN CAMPAIGN TO TRACK FUNDINGS FOR ALL COVID19 INTERVENTIONS IN AFRICA

Geared towards advocating for transparency and accountability, Follow The Money; Africa’s leading social accountability initiative, has launched a Pan-African Campaign called theCOVID19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP) to effectively track spending of all COVID-19 Donations in 7 African Countries.

As nations of the world tackle the plague of Coronavirus, with funding for African countries amassing in millions of dollars, it has become expedient to demand accountable spending of the money to block financial leakages, ensure funds do not end up in personal pockets and ultimately advocate for an improved healthcare system in the continent. CTAP is an initiative that seeks to advocate for proper accountability and transparency of funding, interventions and finances targeted at combatingCOVID-19.

Through CTAP, Follow the Money seeks to

•  Track all donations and contributions by the Government, the InternationalCommunities, Local Organisations, Philanthropists, and supporters.
• Ensure judicious use of funds and blocking financial leakages.
• Visualize and publicize all expenditures ofCOVID19 as a way to promote transparency.
• Advocate for compliance with international best standards and practices and holding government institutions accountable to all stakeholders.

The CTAP believes that response to pandemics should prioritize the participation of the affected communities at all stages, including needs assessments and provision of palliatives procurement and delivery of items, program reviews, and evaluations, etc.

Recall CODE had urged theMinistry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, and the National Centre forDisease Control (NCDC) in Nigeria to aggregate and centralise data on all contributions and donations. This is an important approach to quenching fake news that may be intended to sway citizens against the government.

Follow The Money will pursue accurate dissemination of information to avoid fake news and misinformation. The team across the 7 African countries will mobilize community-driven interventions through a special COVID19 Community ResponseToolkit.

• Open contracting approach to regulate and monitor emergency COVID-19 procurement in various countries
• Create an online public repository of received funding, sources, amount, area of intervention and other relevant information.
• Ensure that emergency procurement have a structured reporting framework for all signed and concluded contracts be made public
• Ensure and establish a framework while collaborating with businesses and CSOs to establish real-time procurement monitoring.

In Nigeria (through CODE), Follow The Money is mobilizing over 6000 citizens on its social accountability platform www.ifollowthemoney.org, to advocate strongly for improved health-care facilities for all. It is also building their capacity through an online radio and webinar as well as providing them with tools to monitor, drive conversation to spark actions and advocate for a transparent and inclusive approach, urging government stakeholders to make public all funds released for the fight against COVID-19 and its implementation plans.

Follow The Money team, under Gambia Participates, is building a geolocation technology map for tracking COVID19 cases in the Gambia. The team is tackling government secrecy and researching on all funds and interventions the Government of the Gambia has received in the fight against CoVID19.

In Zimbabwe, the Follow The Money team under the Magamba Network has launched a Coronavirus tracker powered by Open Parly ZW that visualizes data about the pandemic in Zimbabwe. The tracker allows you to use your Google maps to see if you have been in a place where aCOVID 19 patient has been flagged. The data is from the Ministry of Health and is updated daily according to the latest stats. Data is aggregated according to gender, province, and source of transmission (ie. Travel, Local, etc) on cpovidzw.info.

Follow The Money, Liberia under the InspireLiberia Project, is actively tracking funding and participating in the WaterSanitation and Hygiene Intervention (WASH) COVID19 Response; monitoring ands upervising the adherence to health protocols put in place by the Government ofLiberia

Follow the Money, Kenya under the SlumsInformation Development & Resource Center (SIDREC) is engaging in civic education on plans/budgets set to combat COVID19, through the CSO COVID19 rapid response platform (http://CSOCOVID19rapidresponse.discussion.community)social media engagement, via a tweet chat platform called #KeBudgetTalk and also through a community radio station 99.9 Ghetto FM which broadcasts to one of the major slums in Nairobi. FTM Kenya also visualizes COVID19 funds allocation data to encourage citizens to assume an oversight role for public finances.

Follow the Money Malawi has started following up and tracking on money that was disbursed for COVID19 in Zomba, one of Malawi’s districts. The team is mobilizing and training CSOs on tracking funds disbursed, mining data for funds and developing a system where citizens can whistle-blow on misused funds.

In Cameroon, Follow The Money is tracking the proper dissemination of material support in terms of medical supply to practitioners across the country and food supply to marginalized communities during the lockdown. It is also working to visualize COVID19interventions and mobilize citizens to demand accountability from government institutions working to curb the pandemic.

The common challenge these countries face is poor access to information, secrecy in government and poor accountability. Now more than ever, the Follow The Money initiative in these countries are aligning in their mission to hold their respective governments to account, so that all interventions and funds can be put to proper use. The team is mobilizing citizens for social change, countering fake news and misinformation while using digital tools to engage with government accountability issues. We must be alert and seek for government, agencies and institutions to be transparent and provide civil society groups and the media acting as watchdogs in this crucial time with accurate and timely information.

While we commend theInternational Monetary Fund for granting debt relief to 25 African countries,CODE uses this opportunity to also urge the World Bank, the Chinese Government and other international bodies to toe the line of the IMF and grant debt reliefs to other African countries. This relief can position Africa to support itself as it battles COVID19.

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Charles Uche ESQ

I was recently asked how Civil Society Groups could contribute to the COVID-19 efforts. These are my thoughts;

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) can play key roles in monitoring, documenting and reporting multi-sectoral efforts such as ensuring human rights due diligence and equal access to health care; sensitisation (and combating fake news); tracking – accountability and transparency of measures with particular focus on fund donations; humanitarian intervention. They can also follow up with judicious distribution of relief items to low-income communities and marginalised people.

Although the lock-down is a welcome resolve to enhance social distancing, I am of the opinion that it should not have been extended to some or a coalition of Civil Society Groups working around COVID-19, just as members of the Press were given a free pass.

The restriction of CSOs limits them to advocating for digital accountability measures. This is limiting the call for transparency and accountability in the response to COVID19, knowing that public digital responsiveness and accountability is still quite alien to many Nigerian Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Unlike in the USA, Nigeria has no Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) that mandates MDAs to digitally publish all public expenditures. 

To compound this, the Freedom of Information Act would not avail anyone during this lockdown as there would be no one in the offices of these MDAs to take delivery or respond to such requests.

 My concern is that there may be no neutral party in the field to track human rights due diligence; and transparency and accountability compliance. No third party to ensure all humanitarian interventions/measures comply with the humanitarian principles.
Furthermore, CSOs should be involved in the identification, implementation and evaluation of COVID-19 measures and relief disbursement in Nigeria, and also assessing government’s response strategies to the pandemic.
The job of many CSOs is akin to the 4th arm of government – the Press. Any undue restriction is fundamentally detrimental to our democratic and civic space.

Indeed, Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution that empowers the Press and other agencies of the Mass Media to hold the government accountable and uphold constitutional tenets should extend to NGOs.

Those who fail to see reason here may be reminded of the 2012 Flood Relief Fund/Donations which was void of transparency – and flood victims never accessing reliefs mobilised by the government – from private, local and international donors.

The duty of good governance and social justice does not halt in times of crisis. CSOs, same as  the Press, are the bulwark of our fickle democracy.

By Charles Uche ESQ., Staff Attorney

COVID-19: We Are in this Together

Dear Friends of CODE and Follow The Money

Our world is currently threatened by COVID-19, with significant implications on health, personal and professional life. Even at that, this period has witnessed a great level of interdependence—that our collective success does not only depend on how we care for ourselves but also how we are looking out for other people around us.
 

In light of what we do at CODE, constantly advocating for public funds to be used for public goods, especially in the areas of education and more importantly healthcare, we most certainly believe that the state of a nation’s healthcare is tantamount to its wellbeing. Our call for accountability and transparency in public services is to prepare our society, our country and our world to tackle challenges that a pandemic of this kind presents.
 

Today, as the globe deals with COVID-19 and navigate its health, economic and social implications, we at CODE will continue to make proactive decisions to provide marginalised communities with access to information and also to ensure the personal health and safety of our team, our Follow The Money members across Africa, our partners across the globe and you, our friend.
 

We have taken remote work more seriously and have instituted strict social distancing and stay-at-home policies. Still, we will continue to impact our community and advocate for the government to be more responsible and accountable especially in this dire time. We will also be seeing all our engagements through the lens of COVID-19, structuring our work to tackle financial leakages, mismanagement of funds and advocating for social justice in fragile communities so these people can access clean water, proper healthcare and all-round improved public services.
 

We commend leaders, organisations, and individuals who are prioritizing our collective health and well-being over individual profit. Our thoughts and best wishes are with them.
 

Do not hesitate to reach us if you have ideas, resources and information on how we can better reach communities during this time. 
 

Please stay safe.

Hamzat Lawal
Chief Executive, CODE
Founder, Follow The Money

Every year, Nigeria loses N18b to illegal movements of money or capital from the country– especially through the oil and gas industry, yet very little attention is paid to this illicit financial flow.

Illicit financial flows can be generated in a variety of ways that are not revealed in national accounts or balance of payments figures, including trade mispricing, bulk cash movements, and smuggling. This illegally earned money is transferred across the international border, usually aided by technology.

Despite the nation’s huge resources, which is now referred to as a curse, the Country’s inability to transform its resources as shared wealth and prosperity for all, is making it difficult to block financial leakages, as a large chunk of its earnings are being pocketed by a few and transferred illegally to other countries.

Guardian Newspaper records that Africa’s current losses to IFFs outweigh the continent’s aid and foreign direct investment as the prevailing development is further worsened by trade underpricing, mis-invoicing, oil theft and smuggling, weak regulations and enforcement.

Global Financial Integrity estimates that the annual value of trade-related IFFs in and out of developing countries has amounted to, on average, about 20 per cent of the value of their total trade with advanced economies. 

IFFs pose a huge challenge to political and economic security around the world, particularly to developing countries. Corruption, organized crime, illegal exploitation of natural resources, fraud in international trade and tax evasion are as harmful as the diversion of money from public projects.

It is for this reason, Connected Development [CODE], in collaboration with OXFAM Novib, is galvanizing Nigerian citizens against corruption. The fight against corruption is not just for government agencies but citizens must take this as an obligation for a better Nigeria. Civil Society Organisations also have a responsibility to speak against this misnomer, enhance citizens capacity and amplify issues of illicit financial flows till urgent action is taken to address it.

CODE will be leveraging its social accountability platform, “Follow The Money”, to amplify data, infographics and relevant information on illicit flow of funds by public officials. Having also realised the strengthening of the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill that ensures violating companies and individuals are held accountable for IFFs, CODE will also leverage media engagements to create awareness and urge the Nigerian President to assent to the bill. 

Assenting to the bill will reposition the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and enhance the capability of the Office to execute its constitutional mandate of ensuring transparency, accountability and probity in the management of public funds; and establish an Audit Act in accordance with international best practice of other climes. 

These proposed outcomes, which will be achieved through strategic advocacy and multifaceted engagements with relevant public and private ‘CSOs/Media’ bodies, collaboration with anti-graft agencies (EFCC/ICPC) and social mobilization, would ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies submit their yearly audited financial accounts to the Auditor General of the Federation, hence preventing corruption, illicit financial flows, money laundering and mismanagement of public funds as reported in the Malabu and Dan Etete Case. 

Concerned by the marginalization of young people in governance structures, leading Non- Governmental Organization, Connected Development (CODE) in partnership with YouthHub Africa with support from Christain Aid has launched a nationwide Youth Challenge Fund that will provide Grant to young people to deliver innovative solutions to identified challenges within their communities. 

The project seeks to increase youth participation in community development and ensure youth become partners and leaders in development — where they are charged with creating a sustainable change that is measurable in their community. 

Speaking during the launch, Christian Aid Nigeria’s Country Director, Charles Usie said: “The fund is in recognition of the immense capacity of young people to address some of the growing developmental challenges across communities in Nigeria, if given the opportunity and required resources. We have therefore put this in place as part of our mandate to end poverty in Nigeria.” 

According to the Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, the government must understand the growing importance and potential of young people and consider their contribution to nation building. Lawal called for increased financing, education and technical support for Nigerian youth as this can greatly impact on the future of the country. 

He also urged the Federal Government to fulfil its obligation to the youth by increasing youth participation on all policies that affect young people.

Through funding from  Christian Aid, CODE will sub-grant the selected organisations with a total of Thirty thousand pounds (30,000) for their innovation to solve some of the difficult challenges limiting young people. While many projects of this nature seek to work with young people in the urban areas, the project will work with youths who are typically marginalised, excluded and who otherwise would have limited access to participation.

CODE’s project lead, Lucy James, stated that young people have some of the most promising solutions to contemporary problems and we hope to learn from this, especially from those in the grassroots who have the capacity to act, utilizing their skills and ability to improve their own lives.

The Sub-grantee Organisations:

Foundation for Equitable and Sustainable Human Advancement (FESHA) is a youth led disability inclusion organization focusing on Health, Advocacy, and economic empowerment. It seeks to empower people living with disabilities with information on the provisions of the law, rights and obligations of disabled persons as citizens.

Justice Development and Peace Caritas [JDPC] Nnewi is a Faith Based Organization that has Youth Empowerment and Development as one of the core thematic areas of its operation. It aims to strengthen participation of youths in Government policy implementation for Communal Development and Peace Building.

Women and children in support of community development initiative (WOCCI-Nig) is a national Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to provide community based programs that provide access to education, health, emotional and psychosocial services, and economic opportunities to vulnerable individuals and households. Increased resilience and sustainable livelihood of youths within project communities

Hope For Family Development Initiative (HFDI) is an initiative that seeks to improve the lives of marginalized and vulnerable groups. HFDI believes that marginalized and vulnerable groups are faced with unique issues and challenges which require empowerment, skills acquisition training and better community understanding for them to cope with their exceedingly difficult conditions.

Spotlight for Transparency and Accountability Initiative levitates standard of transparency and accountability in government (subnational governments) through citizen participation in governance. This project seeks to empower young people across 17 LGAs in Yobe State through multidimensional Capacity building on how to hold government to account for their spending using digital technology and improve service delivery on Health, Education and WASH

Access to Learning and School (ATLAS) Initiative is creating a platform called Enriching Lives Through Education (ELiTE) to empower young girls and boys in Ikorodu LGA, aged 17-25 with essential life skills, functional skills and access to platforms for learning – ensuring access to inclusive and equitable quality education.

ABOUT CONNECTED DEVELOPMENT (CODE)

Connected Development [CODE] is a non-governmental organization, whose mission is to improve access to information and empower local communities in Africa. Its initiative, Follow The Money, initiative has tracked government and international aid in grassroots communities to the tune of USD 25 million (in budgeted sums for projects) in over 25 Nigerian States.

ABOUT CHRISTIAN AID

Christian Aid is an international non-governmental organisation that exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. Christian Aid works in some of the poorest and hardest to reach areas in Nigeria, prioritising those most vulnerable and in need to ensure access to services and opportunities for improved wellbeing. Christian Aid works in the areas of good governance, health and humanitarian response. 

ABOUT YOUTHHUB AFRICA

Youth Foundation for Development, Education & Leadership (YouthhubAfrica) is a non-profit organization founded in 2011. YouthhubAfrica is a platform for young people in Africa involved in social change to interact, learn and collaborate in new, creative and easy ways. It was registered in Nigeria with the CAC in 2014. YHA is a youth advocacy and policy-oriented organization based in Abuja, Nigeria, but programming into Africa and beyond.

Anne Alagbe

There have been notable improvements in Nigeria concerning the treatment of women. More women are filling roles in public offices but not enough has been done to promote Gender Equality. The law for the prosecution of rape within marriages have still not been passed in court, foreign men cannot claim their wives Nigerian nationalities, and women still experience difficulties in using their documents to access opportunities without the help of their father or husbands (a nuisance I have experienced a number of times). 

Waiters still assume my husband is paying (despite the fact that I pay sometimes). They give him the bill without even giving me an ounce of eye contact. When he firmly and curtly comments to them saying, ‘ please give it to her’ the reaction is almost always the same! A mix of confusion and embarrassment on their part as they meekly give to me the bill. Now imagine, if for people to unlearn and de-condition their mindsets of basic behaviours such as ‘men always paying’ how much harder as a country will it be for gender equality to truly take place.

The truth is that women in Nigeria are not valued as they should be, they are seen as a commodity instead of an important necessity. Thank God we have some women seated in government roles to give us some hope but when you look at the amount, it’s enough to defuse your bubble all over again. It would be idealistic to think the government is responsible for this issue and they should fix it (although a part of it is true), when, honestly, we are all to be held accountable– an orientation that must  be unlearned by the Nigerian population. Citizens need to see women and their purpose differently, and not just as domestic beings. Fellow women need to start deconstructing years, centuries even, of conditioned gender roles and start paving their own paths for change. It’s quite unfortunate that there still are cases of women who are subject to and silent about sexual assault and also harassment at the workplace. Many women are marginalised and are not seen beyond their faces. One wonders  when this degradation will end. 

Beyond wishful thinking and short term feminist campaigns, it will take a complete unlearning of years of conditioned gender ideas and an acceptance from both men and women that, in order to achieve change, we must transform our attitude towards small basic things. Each for Equal is the responsibility of all.

Hyeladzira James Mshelia

Greenhouse gas emissions constantly pose significant threats to flora and fauna,  economic development, as well as environmental sustainability. From shifting weather patterns, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, intense drought, storms, heat waves, warming oceans,  rising sea levels and melting glaciers. We do not need soothsayers to tell us the effect of and unprecedented scale of climate change and global warming.

 I remember having a conversation with a well-learned person on the dangers of leaving electric appliances on when not in use. He insisted he had no interest in matters of climate change because it was neither his concern nor did he believe in it. I thought that was sad. How can something so glaring and severe be easily shrugged off.

According to the NOAA 2019 Global Climate Summary, the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.07°C (0.13°F) per decade since 1880. This is alarming. In 2020, predictions of far warmer temperatures have been made, regardless of which carbon dioxide emissions pathway the world follows. 

As one of the world’s most densely populated countries  with a population of over 200 million people, half of which are considered to be in obsequious poverty, Nigeria is known to be vulnerable to climate change. The sunny days are extremely hot while the rainy days are extremely wet.  The Nigerian agricultural sector depends largely on rain and fair weather–from crop production to livestock rearing to fisheries name it all. How then do we intend to survive when  the rainy season fluctuations and the weather temperature that tends to be unbearable for livestocks? Research shows that livestock mortality has increased drastically. These impacts are already being felt and will increase in magnitude if action is not taken. Despite increasing awareness on the effect and dangers of climate change, scores of people still claim ignorance. Many are ignorant of their adverse contribution they are making to increase climate change and are very much oblivious to the moral significance of mitigating climate change.

No one is asking you to restore beach vegetation to shade marine turtle nests in the Caribbean or Secure access to fresh water for elephants during periods of drought yet. Instead, we need to ask: “what can we do? What little efforts we can make towards mitigating the effect of climate change. Proper education on the subject matter is crucial at this point.

 Healing the planet starts in your living room, kitchen and garages.  Limiting the use of fossil fuels such as oil, carbon and natural gas and replacing them with renewable and cleaner sources of energy. An attempt to switch  to a ‘green’ energy provider and change what you buy and eat, turning off electrical appliances when not in use; are important steps to reducing climate change.

Saater Brenda Ikpaahindi 

Walking up the stairs to Connected Development’s (CODE) office, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The first thing that caught my attention as I reached the door was the graffiti and pictures sprawled on the wall that instantly told me this was going to be a cool place to work. As I sat across from Hamzat Lawal (Chief Executive of CODE) telling him why I wanted to volunteer with CODE, honestly, I was clueless about how I was going to be of help to the organisation. I knew I wanted to volunteer because at the time, I was newly out of a job and felt that I could do some pro-bono work for an organisation and I was referred to CODE. The conversation was at best awkward as I grappled with what to say.

I remember Hamzy (as he likes to be called) saying that the organisation needed someone to support the communications team, especially around social media. Wow! Social media was not really my thing I thought. Although I knew enough about social media, I hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon of using it daily and just caught up with it from time to time (I love technology but social media… let’s leave for another discussion). But, after much inner turmoil, I agreed. I was determined that I had something to give and determined that I would add value to the CODE team. And to be honest after seeing that cool graffiti, who wouldn’t want to work here? I had to be that ‘someone’!

On reaching home, I started to think about all the things I believed I could bring to the team. I listed all my strengths and how I thought these would benefit the organisation and so began my journey with CODE. I started off by working with the communications team at CODE, supporting the team to draft and edit documents. The programme’s team also asked me to support in drafting project proposals, from this, I was given the opportunity to lead an application for the 100 million & Change MacArthur grant. A task that not only challenged me but enhanced my perseverance and team skills.

Working at CODE also helped me to tap into my creative side. New ideas were welcomed and celebrated, and this was one of the best things I loved about volunteering with CODE. The air felt light. I was unaccustomed to the idea of an open-door and easy access policy with senior management in a workplace. I remember walking in on a Monday morning to pitch an idea to Hamzy and he said go run with it,  I was taken aback, but I ran with it. The focus here was not really on bureaucratic processes or not making mistakes, it was about how what we do can positively impact people’s lives across Nigeria and Africa.

At the heart of CODE’s work is a determination to bring social change to marginalized and vulnerable communities and this drives the people who work here. It was palpable, I felt it in the way each staff member worked, their drive, their passion, young people, who are determined that public funds work for the people; young people who are determined that Nigeria becomes a better place; young people who are ready to go to the most remote and hard-to-reach communities to empower them to demand for essential public services. Their words, their pictures, their videos of work in communities across Nigeria says it all and more. What they want, what they work for, what they fight for, what they envision is for every community in Nigeria to have access to quality schools, health care centres and WASH facilities in order to end extreme poverty and inequality.

One thing I realised from this experience is that, it is important to challenge yourself. You may be at the start or the pinnacle of your career but there is always something new to learn. It also reinforced in me that it is important to do what you love because your passion will drive you to excel and be excellent. Find you niche and slay at it.

For many young people out there, my advice is to actively seek out volunteer positions, not only do these roles help you gain new skills, help you to meet new people and expand your world, they can also be a pathway into an exciting career path. For organisations, I encourage you to take on volunteers. What many young people need especially in a country like Nigeria with a myriad of challenges is an opportunity. 

If given another opportunity, I will gladly volunteer for CODE again as I immensely enjoyed working with the organisation.

Although as they say in CODE, no one ever really leaves CODE, so, I’m still a CODER!