Ebola Fund Watch

DONOR: The Open Society Initiative for West Africa

    Numbers:

  • 4 Countries - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea & Nigeria
  • 4 Correspondents - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea & Nigeria
  • 2 Reports – English & French
  • 1 Website
  • Tracked: $2.9m
  • Engagement Sessions

THE PROJECT: The Ebola Fund Watch project due to the May 2015 epidemic of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which infected over 28,000 people and killed at least 11300 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. The Fund was structured to guide the management of the emergency resources pledged and disbursed to manage a global spread of EVD. With about $2bn going to the West African region towards the containment of EVD, the project was designed to ensure the efficient use of the Ebola Fund, promote regional transparency and accountability by ensuring full access to data documenting how the Ebola funds were expended across affected countries for the benefit of the ordinary citizens within their borders, many of whom were direct victims. The Open Society Initiative for West Africa financed this project, and its progress was made possible with the assistance of other developmental partners; Ebola Alert, Campaign for Good Governance, Accountability Lab and HEIT Solutions.

    OUTCOMES:

  • BudgIT staff travelled to the affected countries to research and document the first-hand testimonies from the main stakeholders; the Survivors, health-care workers and caregivers, as well as relevant Public Institutions.
  • The resulting data and research findings were curated via a website - Ebolafundwatch.org - to monitor and amplify issues around the emergency funds as more information was received.
  • BudgIT conceptualized captivating Infographics to track the number of people affected by EVD and ascertain at a glance how much went into each country. These were shared using various online and offline multi-platform approaches to reach citizens and pique their interest in tracing the disbursement and usage of emergency fund tracking by public officials.
  • We reached over 175,200 citizens on social media and continue to promote civic participation in public governance, whilst simultaneously pushing for regional and possibly wider legislation where Governments are mandated to publish received funds, Donors must provide data on the status of pledges and the relevant institutions should compulsorily incorporate monitoring and evaluation frameworks for subsequent Funds, to enhance accountability.
  • BudgIT also supported IREX in Liberia, assisting the organisation in building an online platform to specifically track donor funding in Liberia (trackingaidliberia.org)