ICPA takes stewardship of Ghana’s Political Performance Index

New York, NY – A new, nonpartisan organization, the International Center for Public Accountability (ICPA), has launched in New York City. The goal of the organization is to promote public accountability and transparency in governments across the globe.

ICPA's mission is to provide credible and timely information about government performance, to promote effective leadership and civic participation in decision-making processes. The organization plans to collect and publish data about various government activities, officials, and programs.

Toward that end, ICPA has taken stewardship of Ghana's Political Performance Index (PPI), an annual evaluation of public officials that was previously produced and published by Africawatch, a leading pan-African magazine. ICPA plans to make the PPI its flagship project, and build upon the index's success and reputation as an innovative rating system for helping citizens assess, monitor and evaluate the performance of their own public officials.

Both ICPA and Africawatch are led by veteran journalist Steve Mallory, who has long made government accountability and participatory democracy key themes in his publications.

Mallory says that having ICPA take control of the PPI will allow Africawatch to focus on producing the high-quality news and analysis it provides in each monthly issue.

In assuming directorship of the PPI, and making it the cornerstone initiative of the organization, ICPA intends to expand the purview of the index and increase its global visibility.

All future PPI reports will be conducted by ICPA. The findings will be broadcast on television and radio stations and distributed to the print and Web media. The index also will be made available electronically, free of charge, on the ICPA website.

The PPI was conceived in 2010 by Africawatch, the esteemed monthly political magazine. The first index, and a subsequent one in 2011, each focused on the performance of public officials in Ghana – but high penetration in other countries sparked interest in the creation of new indexes that would serve those nations.

The results of the 2011 report can be accessed on the ICPA website: www.icpaweb.org The 2012 PPI and all future editions of the index will be conducted and presented by the ICPA.

ICPA's goal is to make the Political Performance Index an indispensable tool, a model to be replicated for the benefit of citizens around the world.