Sylff News

In February 2026, Cynthia Kwakyewah—a 2016-17 Sylff fellowship recipient and currently a course director in social science at York University—published an article in The Conversation examining the evolving landscape of corporate responsibility and community activism in Ghana’s mining, oil, and gas sectors. The piece draws heavily on her doctoral research, supported by a Sylff Research Abroad grant in 2019–20.

Kwakyewah is a global sociologist specializing in human rights, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable development. In the article, she provides both an empirical analysis and a hopeful narrative of how communities, civil society organizations, and state institutions in Ghana are challenging longstanding patterns of corporate abuse.

A History of Resource Extraction, a New Wave of Accountability

Ghana’s long history of gold, stone, sand, and salt mining has often displaced people, polluted the environment and destroyed livelihoods. While public perception commonly assumes that such abuses persist with few consequences, Kwakyewah’s findings reveal a more complex and rapidly shifting reality.

Her research analyzed 27 human‑rights‑related cases filed between 2000 and 2020 and included interviews with policymakers and civil society leaders to illuminate on‑the‑ground dynamics.

One key insight was that 83% of rights violations stemmed directly from the actions—or inactions—of extractive firms themselves, rather than from multinationals enabling host governments to carry out abuses. Many cases involved inadequate compensation for lost land or crops, forced displacement, physical abuse, and environmental contamination.

A major contribution of her study is the recognition of how Ghana’s civil society organizations have stepped in to fill governance gaps, emerging as de facto regulators increasingly capable of holding corporations accountable. She shows that such “accountability from below” can often by more effective than top-down enforcement.

The Sylff Association secretariat is proud to have supported her research and looks forward to supporting similar initiatives that empower local communities, strengthen global governance, and promote human rights around the world.