The Ujima Project is a new experiment in journalistic transparency. The web site offers international journalists, nongovernmental organizations and others access to information and data that is not readily available in many countries. The project operates on the premise of reverse transparency, making available database, documents and other information from donor countries or organizations such as the United States, European Union, and IMF and providing it in an easily searchable manner. Want to know what NGOs are doing in your country? Want to know how much your government is spending to influence policy in the United States or to promote its image abroad? The Ujima Project can provide you the answers.
Each database on the site comes from a specific governmental or international NGO source. We obtain some data by parsing government Web sites, entering the information from documents and crawling the Web. In cases where the data is not online, we use open records laws in the countries to obtain the information. In each case, we document where we get the information and how often it is updated. We attempt to update the data at least once a month.
The site is aimed at journalists, but is open to anyone who wants to use the information.
The Ujima Project is an endeavor the the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Our project is made possible by several organizations including the Open Society Institute, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Ford Foundation, International Consortium for Investigative Journalists, Knight Foundation Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at University of Illinois and the Global Investigative Journalism Network and members of the Great Lakes Media Institute.
Yes, we are.
We are in the process of developing an API that will gives users direct access to the raw data we have. Stay tuned.
Stay tuned for that as well!.
Please contact us at ujimaproject@icij.org. We are excited to hear from you. If you have any datasets, sites or comments please let us know.
