From the 18th – 19th of July 2024, SIVIO Institute joined other civil society organisations from the continent in Accra, Ghana for the 2024 ECOSOCC Citizens Forum. The Forum was held as part of the weeklong #ECOSOCC20 Commemorative Activities – as ECOSOCC celebrated 20 years of existence. The African Union’s Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) was established in July 2004 and is currently headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia. The African Union’s ECOSOCC is an opportunity for African civil society to play an active role in charting the future of the Continent, organizing itself in partnership with African governments to contribute to the principles, policies and programmes of the Union.
We were part of a panel on the 19th of July that spoke about “How to promote the ACDEG through civic technology: sharing the experience of the civic tech initiatives of the Charter Project Africa”. We shared on how “Online trackers as initiatives for people-driven accountability on the policy performance of governments: Lessons from www.africancitizenswatch.org”
The panel, which was curated by the Charter Project Africa, saw us share insights around our policy tracking work through African Citizens Watch and how citizens could use it to foster engagement with governments but also to enhance accountability and improved policy creation and delivery. We also shared the key lessons that we have learnt so far without tracking work as well as opportunities and challenges faced. Other members of the panel were Caroline Gaita- Executive Director, Mzalendo Trust (Kenya) and Rose Astou Diouf- Project Manager, WANEP (Senegal) who spoke about how civic tech was helping to improve citizen engagement in law-making processes and using digital platforms to monitor and mitigate electoral violence. All three organisations are grantees of the Charter Project Africa.
