MacArthur announces $6.5m funding to advance anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, on Thursday, announced nearly $6.5 million in funding to advance anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria.

The grants are part of the Foundation’s On Nigeria grantmaking, which seeks to reduce corruption by building an atmosphere of accountability, transparency, and good governance in the country.

According to the organisation, the grants support nonprofits working to inform and empower communities in the fight against corruption and to promote anti-corruption as a national priority in advance of the 2019 Presidential and Assembly elections.

They include support for efforts to strengthen systems and study what works to reduce corruption. These awards build on decades of Foundation support for projects to enhance credibility, integrity, monitoring, and security around past elections. They continue MacArthur’s recent support for organisations working to capitalise on the national momentum and increased political will to tackle corruption, with projects ranging from monitoring and transparency measures around the political process to public education about the costs of corruption.

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“The country has begun an important process of addressing the corruption that plagues it on so many levels.

“It is more important now than ever to keep anti-corruption work front and centre on the national agenda, and to empower people and communities with the information and platforms they need to advocate for themselves and fight for the issues that impact their daily lives,” said Kole Shettima, Director of MacArthur’s Nigeria Office.

The grants include:

• Accountability Research Center (Washington, D.C.): To partner with the Center for Democracy and Development in Nigeria to assess the success of approaches and strategies to strengthen accountability around the world and in Nigeria.
• Centre for Information Technology & Development (Kano): To support efforts by civil society organizations to provide platforms and forums for social discourse around accountability and anti-corruption in advance of the 2019 elections.
• Chatham House (London): To research the efficacy of behavioral change strategies to reduce corruption and promote accountability in Nigeria.
• Legal Defense and Assistance Project (Lagos): To support efforts by six states to fully implement 15 core elements of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act that improve criminal investigation and prosecution efforts in corruption cases.
• Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (Abuja): To support efforts by civil society organizations to galvanize public and political debates on accountability and to keep anti-corruption as an important national issue in advance of the 2019 elections.
• Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation (Abuja): To support regional organizations to galvanize public and political debates on accountability and highlight anti-corruption as a broad national issue in advance of the 2019 National election.
• Women’s Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (Abuja): To mobilize and support women and women’s groups to document the cost of corruption on women, speak out against corruption, and promote anti-corruption and accountability as priority issues through traditional and social media in advance of the 2019 elections.

MacArthur’s On Nigeria grantmaking supports Nigerian-led efforts to address the corruption, impunity, and lack of accountability that have posed major governance challenges in Nigeria, with far-reaching impacts on the well-being of Nigerians and development in the country.

The Foundation is focused on reducing incidences of petty corruption that citizens experience every day, addressing issues of grand corruption that siphon needed resources from the public sector, strengthening the criminal justice system, and building citizen demand for and confidence in anti-corruption efforts through support for independent media, journalism, and entertainment organizations. MacArthur has been making grants in Nigeria since 1989, opening an office in Abuja in 1994 staffed by Nigerians.