Women Grassroots Organisations as Accountability Stakeholders

Programme | Registration | Speakers

Background

While civil society organisations (CSOs) and social movements play a significant role in shaping fiscal policies, their role as accountability stakeholders in fiscal governance is not well recognised. CSOs’ contributions are often overlooked in discussions on tax and fiscal policies, despite being directly impacted by decisions that have profound effects on social welfare and economic stability. CSOs can act as crucial intermediaries, highlighting the needs and vulnerabilities of marginalised groups that must be addressed through fair and inclusive fiscal policies. The International Budget Partnership (IBP), for instance, plays a pivotal role in advancing transparency, accountability, and tax equity worldwide. IBP also prioritises gender and intersectional equity to ensure public resources address systemic inequalities and advance the rights of marginalised groups, particularly women and girls. By enhancing capacity and fostering partnerships with CSOs, IBP supports efforts to make fiscal policies more inclusive and responsive to the needs of marginalised groups. Through its work on tax equity, IBP empowers grassroots movements particularly in Africa to advocate for reforms that promote fairness in revenue collection and public spending. 

IBP’s collaboration with local organisations, such as the Association of Nigerian Women Business Network (ANWBN) and the Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT), in Nigeria, exemplifies how evidence-based advocacy can challenge unjust tax policies and administration and ensure that the voices of women including in the informal sector are heard in fiscal governance. ANWBN and SWIT’s efforts uncovered systemic injustices and irregularities in tax practices that disproportionately affected the economic opportunities of women operating in local markets. Through evidence-based advocacy and collective action, ANWBN and SWIT, in collaboration with other grassroots organisations and stakeholders, successfully advocated for the reduction of the burden of multiple taxation in the Ika Ika Oqua market in Nigeria’s Cross-River State. This achievement highlights the transformative potential of civil society in holding governments accountable, ensuring fiscal justice, and promoting economic equity. 

Development partners can also play an active role in building and strengthening the capacity of both international and local CSOs in the latters’ effort to improve the fairness and transparency of tax systems. While ATI partner country governments need to provide opportunities for accountability actors like CSOs to engage in tax and budgetary processes, strengthening the capacity of these stakeholders by availing resources (finances, staff, and knowledge) to participate in the opportunities provided is equally crucial. For instance, in line with its Feminist Diplomacy, France has been implementing a project titled “Gender Equality in Taxation (GET)” which aims to contribute to the reduction of gender inequalities in African tax and customs systems. This project has three main pillars – (1) provide technical assistance to African countries in their effort to reduce gender inequalities in their tax and customs systems; (2) support research on the specific gender and tax issues; and (3) support CSOs that work on the issues of gender inequality in African tax and customs systems. Through various engagements with different stakeholders, it contributes to the improvement of the equitability of tax systems. 

Objectives of the event 

ATI Commitment 4 of the ATI Declaration 2025 specifically underscores the pledge to bolster the space and capacity of accountability stakeholders, including state and non-state actors (CSOs, social movements, private sector, labour unions, media, and academia) in tax and revenue matters. This concerted effort should ideally result in an augmented pool of domestic revenues, ultimately contributing to close the gap between domestic revenues and financing needs for the fulfilment of the SDGs.

Women Grassroots Organisations are key accountability stakeholders that play an increasingly significant role in tax matters. Their contributions go beyond mere oversight. They actively engage in tax policy analysis, promote equitable fiscal systems, and highlight the challenges faced by marginalised communities, especially those in the informal sector. ATI Consultative Group 4 ─ the group supporting the implementation of ATI Commitment 4 ─ have also included CSOs and social movements as one key actor in the accountability stakeholder mapping [1] developed by the group.

Against this background, the ATI is hosting a webinar to highlight the role of local women organisations as accountability stakeholders. The event will focus on the Nigerian experience, showcasing how grassroots movements have pushed for fiscal reforms and challenged tax injustices through organised, evidence-driven advocacy. Through the engagement of Expertise France, it will also highlight how development partners – France, in this case – has been supporting the efforts of CSOs. By doing so, it hopes to inspire actionable solutions for equitable tax governance.

Audience of the event 

The target audience of the event includes the broader ATI membership, adding representatives from civil society in partner countries and other interested stakeholders.

Follow-up 

ATI Consultative Group 4 will follow up on the outcomes of the discussions held during the event. A news article summarising the topics discussed will be prepared by the ATI Secretariat for dissemination on the ATI website and social media outlets. Based on the interest raised by the audience, a follow-up event/product might be conceptualised and implemented.