A Special Conference to be held at James Madison University’s Washington Center facility, in Washington, DC, February 2025.
Conference dates: 12-15 February 2025
The Accountability conference is an annual event occurring in February at one of two locations: James Madison University Center in Washington, DC, or the main campus in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In 2024 about 100 people attended i.e., presenters and participants both online and in-person.
A Special Conference to be held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
o-sponsored by JMU’s Department of Political Science and the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Supported by the Institute of International Education’s Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program.
This Conference will be held concurrently with the 15th Annual African, African
American, and Diaspora Studies (AAAD) Conference hosted by James Madison University, 12-15 February 2025. This is an in-person conference and presenters who encounter insurmountable difficulties will be offered an opportunity to present virtually.
Deadline: 1 September 2024.
Land is an important factor of production that can be a source of conflict and instability if not well governed. The African Union Commission (AUC) together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) established the African Land Policy Initiative (LPI) in 2006. This eventually saw them establish the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), which works to enable the use of land to advance Africa’s development. The African Union (AU) has mandated the ALPC to support national and regional land policy processes in Africa.
African governments, traditional authorities, research and epistemic communities, land activists and various African and international stakeholders have identified critical land issues that need attention to improve its governance for development. Their views draw inspiration from and are consistent with the LPI, the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa, the AU Agenda 2063, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs), the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the World Bank Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF). Land governance and administration are among the critical issues they flag as weak and fraught with persistent corruption. Deep and extensive political interference in land governance processes exists at all levels. These challenges require a better understanding of corruption, its sources, and its nature to combat it and establish systems of land administration that promote transformation and sustainable development. They need the promotion of transparency in land use, land development, land tenure, land value, and land market functions.
Given the AUC’s mandate to the ALPC, the AU’s aspirations to use the land to accelerate Africa’s development, and, most importantly, the urgent need to transform Africa for the wellbeing of its peoples, the Department of Political Science at JMU in association with the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, in the University of Pretoria, South Africa, welcomes scholars, policymakers and practitioners to the 2025 15th AAAD Conference from February 12 to 14, 2025. The conference aims to explore the complexities of accountability in African public policy and administration and to examine corruption, the use and abuse of land, and their impacts on land governance, administration, and development in Africa.
We invite interested scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from across disciplines to submit proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. We welcome papers that focus on but are not limited to the following themes:
Land and corruption.
Land distribution and marginalized groups.
Land grabbing and dispossession.
Land formalization and land rights recognition.
Land access and foreign direct investment.
Land and resource extraction.
Land and remnants of colonial structures that encourage abuse.
Land, civil society, and donor engagement.
The urgent need for transparency, accountability, integrity, ethics, and responsibility in administering public resources and land.
Challenges of theft, misuse, fraud, wastage, maladministration, and mishandling of public resources.
The challenging conditions in which anti-corruption initiatives are being implemented in Africa.
The nexus between anti-corruption initiatives and national development.
2024 Conference Recap
On February 7th through February 9th, 2024, the Department of Political Science hosted the Accountability in African Public Policy and Administration conference at JMU’s Center in Washington, DC.
The conference was a collaboration with the University of Pretoria, Department of Political Science, JMU’s African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center (AAAD). The conference brought together scholars, practitioners, and government officials from several African Countries and the United States. This conference was convened by Sombo Muzata, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science. This was part of Sombo’s Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program activities. https://www.jmu.edu/news/global/2024/01-23-accountability-conference.shtml.
JMU and University of Pretoria have signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). The MOU between JMU and UP will facilitate academic exchanges between both universities. Having the MOU between both universities, the conference will be part of the annual AAAD. To follow the conference activities, visit: https://www/jmu.edu/africana/conference.shtml.
CFP: Accountability in African Public Policy and Administration – 2025
A Special Conference to be held at James Madison University’s Washington Center
facility, in Washington, DC, February 2025.
Conference dates: 12-15 February 2025
The Accountability conference is an annual event occurring in February at one of two locations: James Madison University Center in Washington, DC, or the main campus in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In 2024 about 100 people attended i.e., presenters and participants both online and in-person.
A Special Conference to be held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
o-sponsored by JMU’s Department of Political Science and the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Supported by the Institute of International Education’s Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program.
This Conference will be held concurrently with the 15th Annual African, African
American, and Diaspora Studies (AAAD) Conference hosted by James Madison University, 12-15 February 2025. This is an in-person conference and presenters who encounter insurmountable difficulties will be offered an opportunity to present virtually.
Deadline: 1 September 2024.
Land is an important factor of production that can be a source of conflict and instability if not well governed. The African Union Commission (AUC) together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) established the African Land Policy Initiative (LPI) in 2006. This eventually saw them establish the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), which works to enable the use of land to advance Africa’s development. The African Union (AU) has mandated the ALPC to support national and regional land policy processes in Africa.
African governments, traditional authorities, research and epistemic communities, land activists and various African and international stakeholders have identified critical land issues that need attention to improve its governance for development. Their views draw inspiration from and are consistent with the LPI, the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa, the AU Agenda 2063, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs), the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the World Bank Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF). Land governance and administration are among the critical issues they flag as weak and fraught with persistent corruption. Deep and extensive political interference in land governance processes exists at all levels. These challenges require a better understanding of corruption, its sources, and its nature to combat it and establish systems of land administration that promote transformation and sustainable development. They need the promotion of transparency in land use, land development, land tenure, land value, and land market functions.
Given the AUC’s mandate to the ALPC, the AU’s aspirations to use the land to accelerate Africa’s development, and, most importantly, the urgent need to transform Africa for the wellbeing of its peoples, the Department of Political Science at JMU in association with the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, in the University of Pretoria, South Africa, welcomes scholars, policymakers and practitioners to the 2025 15th AAAD Conference from February 12 to 14, 2025. The conference aims to explore the complexities of accountability in African public policy and administration and to examine corruption, the use and abuse of land, and their impacts on land governance, administration, and development in Africa.
We invite interested scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from across disciplines to submit proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. We welcome papers that focus on but are not limited to the following themes:
Land and corruption.
Land distribution and marginalized groups.
Land grabbing and dispossession.
Land formalization and land rights recognition.
Land access and foreign direct investment.
Land and resource extraction.
Land and remnants of colonial structures that encourage abuse.
Land, civil society, and donor engagement.
The urgent need for transparency, accountability, integrity, ethics, and responsibility in administering public resources and land.
Challenges of theft, misuse, fraud, wastage, maladministration, and mishandling of public resources.
The challenging conditions in which anti-corruption initiatives are being implemented in Africa.
The nexus between anti-corruption initiatives and national development.
2024 Conference Recap
On February 7th through February 9th, 2024, the Department of Political Science hosted the Accountability in African Public Policy and Administration conference at JMU’s Center in Washington, DC.
The conference was a collaboration with the University of Pretoria, Department of Political Science, JMU’s African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center (AAAD). The conference brought together scholars, practitioners, and government officials from several African Countries and the United States. This conference was convened by Sombo Muzata, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science. This was part of Sombo’s Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program activities. https://www.jmu.edu/news/global/2024/01-23-accountability-conference.shtml.
JMU and University of Pretoria have signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). The MOU between JMU and UP will facilitate academic exchanges between both universities. Having the MOU between both universities, the conference will be part of the annual AAAD. To follow the conference activities, visit: https://www/jmu.edu/africana/conference.shtml.
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