Working Group
The current members of the Working Group on Governance and Democracy are:
Binoy Acharya has over twenty five years of experience working on issues of strengthening civil society and local self governance in India. He manages an NGO in India which he founded, UNNATI, and is involved in the coordination of programs on capacity building, promotion of self governance, research and advocacy, and rehabilitation efforts in earthquake affected areas in Gujrat. Working closely with grass roots voluntary organisations, the Indian Government, and international NGOs he has also been involved in the evaluation and appraisal of a number of their projects. His efforts were recognised by the Government of Rajasthan, India who chose to adopt the model of the Panchayat Resource Centre, an information resource centre in each village aimed at promoting citizen engagement in governance, developed by UNNATI and its partners.
Emmanuel Akwetey was a research fellow and senior lecturer in the Political Science Department at Stockholm University, Sweden until 1999. In 1999 he relocated to Ghana. Since that time he has worked primarily in the NGO sector on issues of civil society-state relations. He has also been involved in the public policy process. From 1999 to 2001, Dr. Akwetey was programs officer and research coordinator for the Civil Society Coordinating Council (Civisoc) which oversaw civil society participation in the global Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI). Thereafter, he worked as the founding director of the Institute for Democratic Governance where he is currently the executive director. He acted as a technical advisor to the UNDP Ghana Office and the Government of Ghana in the formulation of Ghana's 2002-2005 National Governance Programme (Consolidating Democratic Governance Programme); to the World Bank Ghana Office and the Ministry of Finance in the 2002 Country Portfolio Projects Review; to the National Development Planning Commission in the formulation of the 2002-2005 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; and the Ghana Association of Private Voluntary Organisations in Development in the formulation and subsequent updating of the National Policy on Strategic Partnership with NGOs. Today Dr. Akwetey acts as a member of the Technical Advisory Panel and Network on Civil Society and the Private Sector in Africa, which operates under the auspices of the regional organisation the African Capacity Building Foundation. He is a member of the International Political Science Association and coordinator of the Interface Capacity Building Project for non-state actors in civil society and the private sector. Further, he coordinates the implementation of the African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) in Ghana and continues to publish scholarly articles.
Monica Blagescu manages the Accountability Programme at the One World Trust, United Kingdom. She previously worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Centre for Emergency Training in International Humanitarian Response (Asia-Pacific) and the Peace and Governance Programme at the United Nations University (UNU) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. She has recently delivered research, training evaluations and policy recommendations on accountability and sustainability, capacity building and CSO policy influence for the Open Society Institute, Overseas Development Institute, CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and The Westminster Foundation for Democracy. She revised One World Trust's Global Accountability Framework and co-authored the 2005 publication Pathways to Accountability. While at UNU, she contributed to initiatives such as the World Governance Assessment. She is a member of the High Level Panel on IMF Board Accountability, of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International Standards Reference Group, and of the BOND Quality Standards Advisory Group.
Clare Doube is the manager of Civil Society Watch at CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally from Australia, she has previously worked in the Pacific, Vietnam and India. Based in Delhi for four years, she worked for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), coordinating CHRI's international advocacy work. She has been involved in civil society events around the last three Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM), including coordinating the last two Commonwealth Human Rights Forums and developing the Commonwealth Human Rights Network. Prior to her work with CHRI, Clare managed development projects in the Asia and Pacific regions, developed human rights networks in schools, taught cultural studies and founded a non-profit organization in Australia.
Drew Havea is the chair of the Tonga CSO Forum, the chair of Board of Tonga National Youth Congress and the Tonga Youth Volunteer Service. He worked for Peace Corps in Tonga for twenty five years. He is currently on the board of PIANGO where he is conducting consultations in the region to set up a regional youth volunteer scheme; an initiative of the Pacific Plan.
Gina Houng Lee is the chief resource trainer at the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT), a non profit training and technical resource centre specialising in human rights advocacy, law and education in the Pacific Region. She has been involved in assisting Pacific Island organisations in the area of participatory democracy as well as advocating for the protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights. Gina is also the current chairperson, and former co-ordinator, of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement and has strong links with other regional and local CSO's in the Pacific Region.
Hina Jilani is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is also known for her work in the areas of human rights. She is one of the founders of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell, established in 1980 as the first legal aid centre in Pakistan. She has specialized in human rights and constitutional rights litigation and some of the cases she has conducted are landmarks in setting the standard for human rights in Pakistan. She is currently the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the situation of Human Rights' defenders. She is one of the founding members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Womens Action Forum (WAF). She was appointed as a Commissioner on the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur by the UN Security Council in October 2004. She has many publications to her credit, the latest being: 'Human Rights and Democratic Development in Pakistan', 'Status of Women in Pakistan' and 'Hadood Laws: a divine sanction?' She has also been the recipient of many awards which include the Human Rights Award, by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in 1999, Millenium Peace Prize for Women, awarded by UNIFEM and International Alert, UK in 2001, and the Ginetta Sagan Award by Amnesty International.
David Robinson has been a leading thinker, and contributor, in the development of global civil society for the past forty years. He is a Senior Research Associate at the Victoria University Institute of Policy Studies and Director of the New Zealand Social and Civic Policy Institute which promotes the use of deliberation and sustained dialogue in communities dealing with issues marked by dysfunctional relationships. David co-chaired the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Forum, and served as vice chair of Australia-New Zealand Third Sector Research. He is an Advisory Council member of the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), has made presentations at ICNL conferences in Asia, Africa, and the South Pacific, and is Project Manager of the Pacific Civil Society Law Programme which is reviewing civil society legislation in the South Pacific. David is a Board Member of CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation and has participated in each of the CIVICUS World Assemblies, served as a member of panels, and as a workshop leader, as well as contributing to publications. He managed the Civil Society Index pilot in New Zealand and has facilitated discussions on the Index approach in Fiji and Cyprus. David is a Board member of ANGOA, (Association of NGOs of Aotearoa/New Zealand) and Vice-Chair of the Committee for the Study of the Non Profit Sector in New Zealand
John Samuel is a current member of the Commonwealth Foundation's Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) which provides guidance to the Foundation on its civil society work including, planning the biennial Commonwealth People's Forum. Mr. Samuel is also the director ActionAid International - Asia, senior advisor of the National Centre for Advocacy Studies, India (Pune and New Delhi); co-founder and coordinator of the Initiatives for Research, Education and Development in Asia (INASIA); founder, president and editor of Infochange News and Features; founder and managing trustee of the Centre for Communication and Development Studies, (CCDS) Pune; co-founder and member of the Governing Board of the Global Massive Effort Campaign (MEC) against HIV, TB and Malaria based in Geneva; governing board member of CASA (Church Auxiliary for Social Action); coordinator of the national level budget analysis network PEOPLE'S BIAS (People's Budget Analysis and Information Service); and an advisor to number of international organisations.
Nkoyo Toyo is a current member of the Commonwealth Foundation's Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) which provides guidance to the Foundation on its civil society work including, planning the biennial Commonwealth People's Forum. She is the founding co-ordinator and executive director of Gender and Development Action, Nigeria. She is responsible for policy, administration, organising and developing programmes, research, documentation, training and co-ordination of workshops and seminars relating to gender awareness and women's participation in development. Previously, she was co-ordinator of the Nigeria Youth AIDS Programme and an associate at a law firm where she developed an intervention programme on litigation and legal issues of concern to women. Amongst Ms Toyo's other experience she is co-ordinating the development of 'A Political Agenda for Nigerian Women', organising the workshop for the development of a National Adolescent Reproductive Health Programme and co-directing a nationwide grassroots women's mobilisation project. Ms Toyo was the chairperson of the Steering Committee of the 2003 Commonwealth People's Forum in Abuja, Nigeria.
Cecilia Babb of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre
Jassy Kwesiga of the Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA)
