Hamzat Lawal, founder of FollowTheMoney, Africa’s largest social accountability movement, will join other world leaders at the 10th World Forum for Democracy (WFD), to uncover factors contributing to the global democratic decline.
The event set to be held in Strasbourg, France, this November will welcome some of the leading experts, politicians, activists, and patriots from across Europe and worldwide.
Lawal who has been invited as a discussant will engage panelists such as Leoluca Orlando,
Former Mayor of Palermo; Drew Sullivan, Co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project; and Lt Col (Ret.) Alex Vindman, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, and former Political-Military Affairs Officer on enhancing democracy.
Specifically, Lawal and others will be dissecting corruption and accountability and what it takes and means to keep faith in democracy.
For 2022, the WFD event is focused on addressing some of the key issues contributing to the downturn of democracy, with the aim of analyzing what kind of democratic future is desirable, and possible, in the interests of people across the world.
As the founder of Africa’s most prominent social accountability movement, Lawal, brings a wealth of experience in engaging world leaders on how innovation, advocacy, citizen engagement, and technology can enhance and rebuild democracy.
Speaking on his plans to drive insightful conversations, Lawal, submitted that he’s looking to highlight the role of accountability in sustaining democracy.
“Democracy is in distress because leaders (especially in Africa) are refusing to create accountability mechanisms in the public sector, thereby losing citizens’ trust.
“The WFD event is a great opportunity and platform to highlight some of the challenges confronting democracy as we know it and discover ways to improve it by leveraging technology and advocacy,” Lawal said.
Meanwhile, in 2019, FollowTheMoney emerged winner of the Council of Europe’s democracy innovation award.
FollowTheMoney is a participatory advocacy-based initiative that advocates for the proper use of government and international aid funds in grassroots communities, to ensure that public services work for the people ultimately.