Building Knowledge and Capacity through Fellowships

By Rebecca Iwerks, RWI Program Officer for Training and Capacity Building

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"Now I understand what my role is and what the role of every stakeholder and institution is, and I know that it is my right to advocate for and conduct activities that can help Uganda to escape the resource curse. I would never have been equipped if I didn’t take part in this fellowship."  - Sophie Kutegeka

	Nelly Busingye and Sophie Kutegeka

In 2008, the Revenue Watch Institute launched two groundbreaking, intensive fellowship programs. In contrast to our traditional investments in civil society organizations, the Capacity Advancement Fellowship in Extractives and the Petrad Fellowship seek out individuals interested in engaging in the extractive industries or starting a new direction of work. These rigorous programs aim to build the knowledge, networks and confidence of the fellows so that they can provide improved programming in their home organizations or coalitions.

Although these programs are still growing in definition and structure, after two years we can begin to observe the growth and impact of RWI fellows over time.

Capacity Advancement Fellows
Capacity Advancement fellows spend six months in New York city pursuing original research, working alongside RWI staff, auditing courses and attending networking events.  During the second half of their fellowship, the participants return to their home countries to implement a project based on their learning in New York.

2008 Fellows
Sophie Kutegeka—Sophie came to New York after working for several years with the Ugandan civil society organization Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE). While in New York, she gathered experience from RWI staff and their partners about Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) report analysis and dissemination. Upon her return to Uganda, she was motivated to make sure an EITI implementation in Uganda included the voice of the communities in the oil-rich districts. "My in-country project has been very instrumental in promoting EITI awareness among the communities in the oil districts," explained Sophie. "Communities now appreciate what EITI is all about and how information dissemination and advocacy are very important in promoting transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector." Sophie reports that as a result of her fellowship, she, her organization ACODE and the resource rich districts in Uganda are all better informed about EITI and more confident about their ability to play an active role in promoting natural resource revenue management.

Nelly Busingye—Before starting the fellowship, Nelly was working with the Ugandan civil society group Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) to begin a Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition in Uganda. Through conversations with her mentor, former PWYP-US Coordinator Sarah Pray, and a network of RWI partners, Nelly learned how the scope of PWYP could extend beyond the revenue transparency issues traditionally dealt with in the EITI context. She spent several months investigating potential links between contract transparency and the EITI. When she returned to Uganda, Nelly designed a workshop to discuss contract transparency and its ties to EITI with civil society and parliamentarians. Nelly explains that she would not have had the connections and knowledge necessary to run this workshop without having the fellowship beforehand. "The workshop would not have taken place without the six months background," she says. As the controversy around contract transparency continues to heat up in Uganda, Nelly and AFEIGO will be at the forefront of the debate.

2009 Fellows

	Jamus Joseph and Dionisio Augusto Nombora

Dionisio Nombora—Coming from a young PWYP coalition in Mozambique, Dionisio Nombora sought out this fellowship to help expose his coalition to a variety of issues related to natural resource management throughout the value chain. His technical focus during his time in New York was investigating contract transparency, but what he enjoyed most was being introduced to RWI's network.  "It was extremely useful in the sense that I met people with long experience on extractive issues and thus built a network for collaboration and technical support on different areas," said Dionisio. As Dionisio returns to Mozambique this month to complete his fellowship, he looks forward to sharing lessons from the tactics of other PWYP coalitions advocating for contract transparency.

Jamus Joseph—Although oil accounts for an extremely high percentage of government revenues in Southern Sudan, civil society in the region has just begun to investigate issues related to the extractive industries. Jamus Joseph came to New York to develop his technical understanding in extractive issues and inform his efforts to build the capacity of civil society, media and government in Southern Sudan. While in New York, he investigated national policies of other resource rich nations in anticipation of Southern Sudan's need to develop their own policy. Jamus appreciated the "inspiration and detailed understanding of the subject matter of interest to me" that he acquired from his mentor, Macartan Humphreys. He will continue to compare multiple national policies as he returns to Southern Sudan and creates plans for a local consultation process to promote debate about how the region can best manage its natural resource wealth.

Petrad Fellows
Petrad Fellows take a challenging eight-week technical course on petroleum revenue management alongside petroleum ministry officials from around the world. 

2008 Fellows
Bishop Akolgo—Bishop joined the Petrad fellowship just after his country of Ghana declared large petroleum finds. Although he already had an extensive background directing the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) and participating in the national PWYP coalition, Bishop was not familiar with the technical issues related to oil and gas. The Petrad fellowship allowed him to develop a nuanced understanding of these issues. As a result, Bishop and his organization have been intimately involved in a national debate over oil revenue management. In addition, Bishop has acted as a resource to other civil society groups in the region, conducting trainings in Nigeria and elsewhere.

Ridaya Laodengkowe—PWYP in Indonesia was in its infancy when Ridaya Laodengkowe went on the Petrad fellowship.  Ridaya commented that the course gave him the opportunity to increase his understanding of revenue management polices and also to learn about the geological underpinnings to some of the policy decisions. Since his return from the fellowship, Ridaya has continued to work as PWYP-Indonesia Coordinator, equipped with this expanded policy knowledge as he negotiates the terms of his country's EITI implementation.

2009 Fellows
Andrea Ordóñez—During the fellowship, Andrea, a Public Policy/Economy Researcher from Ecuador's Grupo Faro, and her colleague began work writing a policy brief on the institutional arrangement of the mining sector in Ecuador, drawing lessons from other countries on how to create transparent institutions with more effective checks and balances. This project, Andrea says, is part of their aim to influence the development of the new large-scale mining sector in the country. Additionally, Andrea worked to support a team in Grupo FARO that is creating and promoting disclosure standards for the government and private companies with ideas on how information is disclosed abroad. Andrea says that Petrad's course, and various visits to companies gave her invaluable inputs for this discussion. "This course allowed me to work collaboratively, primarily with public officials from thirty-seven other countries, and learn in depth the technical, economical and political challenges of promoting a transparent and accountable industry," said Andrea. "Understanding the international trends has also given me more tools to interpret local oil policies in a broader scenario."

Chhay Sarath—Chhay, who came to the Petrad fellowship from Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT), has spent much of his time after his return home catching up as coordinator in a busy civil society office, working on project management and crafting annual donor reports. So far, he has shared the knowledge gained from the Petrad fellowship in Norway with local people in Cambodia through two public forum meetings organized by CRRT on understanding the extractive industries. Additionally, Chhay says, he and other CRRT members have discussed with their international advisory group the possibility of organizing echo trainings. Further, he is planning a three-part series of workshops for university students this year in collaboration with another CRRT member. In developing training and workshop materials for these many upcoming plans, Chhay will have the benefit of support from his RWI mentor, energy analyst Dr. Keith Myers.

Karin Lissakers, RWI Director, said, "Revenue Watch considers it vital to help build tomorrow's transparency champions. The fellows represent the future of their countries' efforts to fight poverty and opaque business deals, and we hope they'll also be partners in our own work and that of our allies in the years to come."

Learn more about RWI Fellowships and how to apply for next year's openings:

Capacity Advancement Fellowships

Petrad Fellowships