About Us
Through a rigorous deployment of data journalism, story telling and policy advocacy tools, iWatch Africa is shaping the national and regional discourse to deepen transparency and accountability, as well as to encourage citizen participation in the governance process in Africa.
iWatch Africa is a non-governmental media and policy organisation with considerable national repute and significance. We have carved a niche in Ghana’s policy and journalism environment for putting out objective, fact-based and independent assessment on many issues.
iWatch Africa tracks digital rights in Africa, trans-national organised crime, human rights abuse, climate change and ocean conservation and overall government performance in Ghana.
Our Focus
1.Leveraging the Power of Data Journalism and New Media technology to Promote Transparency and Accountability in Africa.
This initiative employs the power of data journalism and new media tools to put the spotlight on government spending in key promised areas; Education, Health, General Government Expenditure (corruption), and Job Creation to increase citizen participation in governance and also promote transparency and accountability.
Trained correspondents and volunteers across the ten regions of Ghana have been equipped to drive this initiative. Our findings are projected via news websites and our new media platforms as well as our over 15 media allies in Africa.
Data journalism with its special focus in the use of data in the production and distribution of information in the digital era is very critical to the work at iWatch Africa.
Data journalism as a tool to enhance transparency and reduce corruption serves two important purposes for our work;
1. Finding unique stories to execute our watchdog function by providing relevant content that bothers on government expenditure (corruption), job creation, education and health.
2. It also presents the opportunity where hard economic, social and political data is translated into easily digestible information to readers. It enables citizens to visually understand government statistics and make meaning out of it. But, most importantly, it brings governance closer to citizen and increases their participation in governance.
(The United States government provided seed funding for this initiative)
2. iWatch Africa also uses data and investigative journalism tools put the spotlight on the following challenges confronting the continent;
1. Organised crime/ trans-national Crime (Drug Trafficking, Illegal Mining, Illegal logging, Human Trafficking, Organ Trafficking etc.)
2. Illicit Financial Flows in Africa ( Trade Misinvoicing, Money Laundering, Transnational Crime and Terror etc)
3. Digital Rights in Africa: Our reportage and advocacy focuses on three main areas: I. Data Governance, II. Digital Inclusion and III. Security, Safety, Stability and Resilience.
4. Gender Force: Gender Force is a team of journalists and advocates focused on tracking cases involving violence and discrimination against women and girls in Ghana.
3. Together Against Corruption
Together Against Corruption’ is a 2-year project being implemented by iWatch Africa, Socioserve-Ghana and JMK. The project seeks to build citizens’ capacity to fight corruption in their engagements with the Police as well as increase the responsiveness of the Police Administration to cases of corruption involving Police Officers.
‘Together against Corruption’ is sponsored by STAR-Ghana with funding from UKaid, DANIDA and EUROPEAN UNION.
4. Leveraging the power of data, investigative and digital tools to stop human rights abuse and corruption: an iWatch Africa, Ghana Police and CHRAJ Collaboration.
The ongoing project is aimed at training sixty (60) journalists in the use of data, mobile and investigative journalism tools to report on cases involving human rights abuse and corruption by use of digital media platforms. The project will also refer reported cases to oversight bodies such as CHRAJ and PIPS for further investigation and action. This project is supported by the US Embassy Ghana.
5. Ocean Conservation and Climate Change
iWatch Africa following receipt of UN special accreditation on Ocean Action has set up a desk dedicated to tracking and promoting ocean conservation and protection of marine resource in West Africa. iWatch Africa also promotes climate action by planting trees as part of the WEF 10 billion trees initiative.