The Soweto Crisis Committee was originally known as the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee when it formed in 2002 in response to cut-offs for non-payment by Eskom, the public electricity commission. Eskom was cutting off as many as 300 customers per day in the community of 1.5 million. According to Zodwa Madiba, a member of the Crisis Committee and a Johannesburg city councillor, residents where unable to pay because Eskom has hiked its rates as part of the new cost-recovery strategy.

In 1986, a local board of commissioners - the equivalent of a municipal council - was appointed in the informal settlement of Epworth with two mandates: to facilitate the registration of land titles and to promote the local economy. Formalizing land titles in Epworth, however, posed a threat to the use of empty plots for grazing by many residents. Many of the informal settlers hence refused to cooperate with the local board and even opposed the proposal to hold local elections...

In 1998, the government of Kenya advertised a call for proposals for community-based projects. Financed by the European Union, the Community Development Fund expected community-based organizations to raise 25 percent of the proposed budget. One self-help group based in the town of Vihiga (which bears the same name as the district in which it is located) was interested to apply, but could not raise the necessary funds from among its members. The group of women sought advise on the matter...

In South Africa's eastern coast town of Durban, local government leaders felt it was their responsibility to resolve the legacy of injustice left by apartheid. When in 1996 the 48 distinct local councils were unified into six local councils and one municipal council (eThekwini Municipality), they thought they had their chance.

After a decade of political crises and wars that left more than 5 million people dead from violence, famine, and disease – one of the greatest disasters in human history – the warring factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a power-sharing agreement and peace deal in 2002. The violence, however, continues, especially for women of eastern Congo, who have suffered immeasurable harm at the cruel hands of the remaining militias.

This two-page document summarises research into the Bangladesh garment export sector, showing that a context where companies adhere to codes of conduct is not the same as a culture of accountability where citizens mobilise to hold their employers and other companies to account.

This two-page document describes an action research project that sought to restore accountability in the management of water resources - through institutions that linked indigenous communities in the hills of southern Veracruz and municipal governments along the coast.

This two-page document summarises research into Bangladesh's attempt to enhance community participation in the public health sector.

This two-page document summarises a study of the role of Aboriginal people in the deliberative aspects of the Romanow Commission, established in April 2001 by the Canadian government to deliberate with citizens on the future of healthcare in Canada.

This brief research summary describes how Researchers from the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC) at Ahmadu Bello University used participatory theatre as a methodology for encouraging discussion among communities of the Niger Delta on the breakdown in accountability of local and state leaders to citizens.