Civil society taking centre stage on accountability
Release Date: 15 December 2006
By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General
Dear e-CIVICUS Subscribers,
We in CIVICUS join the United Nations in paying tribute to outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and in welcoming Ban Ki-moon. I would like to thank all those individuals who have challenged and inspired the work of civil society in 2006. Throughout this past year, civil society has continued to attract growing levels of scrutiny in its role as a major public actor. It has been forced to grapple with both external and internal challenges, from those who are seeking to make civil society stronger and more credible, as well as from those who question its right to play certain roles. In this week’s column, I would like to share with you the thoughts of Diana Eltahawy, CIVICUS Civil Society Networks Coordinator, on why civil society has taken centre stage on accountability?
Warmest regards,
Kumi Naidoo
International Advocacy NGO Accountability Charter: Walking the talk
By Diana Eltahawy, CIVICUS Civil Society Networks Coordinator
In recent years, debates around the concept of accountability have increasingly resonated throughout academic, policy-making, business, government and civil society circles. While there is no consensus on the meaning of accountability, there exists a common agreement that those who wield power or influence need to account for their actions and for the consequences of those actions. As the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has evolved from that of embryonic actors to key players in the defence and promotion of public goods such as sustainable development, environmental protection, human rights, poverty eradication and security; the issue of NGOs accountability has taken centre stage both internally and externally.
The proliferation, visibility and increased access to public money and decision-making fora have questioned the sufficiency of the premise from which NGOs traditionally drew their legitimacy and accountability: their values and ethical objectives. External criticism of NGOs’ lack of accountability emanate from actors that wish to see the curtailment or even the demise of the sector, all well as those that support NGOs’ right to exist and believe in their capacity to challenge the status quo. Within the sector, the realisation that NGOs’ performance and sustainability largely depend upon their ability to balance multiple accountabilities have led to calls to improve their accountability particularly to people whose rights and well-being they claim to protect and advance. While significant progress has been made in terms of NGOs’ functional accountability or accounting for appropriate resource usage for designated activities, there remains a lack of strategic accountability which refers to the wider impact and bearing of NGOs’ activities and advocacy particularly on those stakeholders that unlike governments and donors cannot exercise sanctions by withholding NGOs’ right to operate or NGOs’ resources.
In response to the need to strengthen accountability, the sector has experienced a notable growth in the usage of multiple regulation tools such as self-assessments, fiscal and social audits, independent evaluations, voluntary codes of conduct and certification schemes. The first three mechanisms are largely internal organisational initiatives, while the last two self-regulating mechanisms are broader in scope and scale, possess an element of peer review, and serve the purpose of not only improving the legitimacy and accountability of individual organisations but of the sector as a whole. This latter phenomenon of self-regulation has emerged both nationally, such and internationally. Additionally, self-regulating mechanisms fall under two categories: either sector-wide initiatives such as the NGO Code of Conduct for Ethiopia or thematic ones such as the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International, which focuses on humanitarian and relief work. The processes that drive these initiatives include the desire to improve the sector’s legitimacy, promote common standards of accountability, sustain and when necessary restore public trust, counter criticism, lead by example and prevent the imposition of onerous and restrictive regulations by governments.
One such voluntary self-regulating initiative to create and implement common standards of accountability is the International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGO) Accountability Charter, which was officially launched on 6 June 2006. Targeting the particular needs of organisations working across diverse cultures, societies and issues; it was conceptualised and developed by a group of leading INGOs that includes Amnesty International, Greenpeace International, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Oxfam International and the International Save the Children Alliance with the close involvement of the Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organisations. The INGO Accountability Charter both reaffirms INGOs rights to assembly, association and expression grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; as well as their responsibility to work towards the achievement of their missions effectively and transparently in accordance to their values and to remain accountable to their multiple stakeholders. The INGO Accountability Charter initiative demonstrates the importance INGOs collectively attach to transparency and accountability as sources of their legitimacy and as means to improve their performance and impact. The Accountability Charter serves the purpose of defining common values, policies and practices; improving communication with stakeholders; ameliorating signatories’ performance and promoting accountability and transparency both internally and externally. Through its provisions (on the respect of human rights, political and financial independence, responsible advocacy, participatory and effective programmes, non-discrimination, transparency in reporting activities and financial performance, accuracy of information, good governance, professional management and ethical fundraising); the Accountability Charter lays the framework for high standards of moral and professional conduct. Upon signing the Charter, INGOs commit themselves to apply its provisions progressively to all their programmes, advocacy and operations. Signatories are required to submit annual reports outlining their compliance to the Charter and to conduct an annual independent fiscal audit.
The Accountability Charter is currently governed by its 11 Founding Signatories (ActionAid International, Amnesty International, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Consumers International, Greenpeace International, Oxfam International, Save the Children Alliance, Survival International, International Federation Terre des Hommes, Transparency International and World YWCA). They are responsible for making decisions regarding the implementation of the Charter and its future development. CIVICUS serves as the secretariat for the Charter, administering the day to day activities including the sign-on process. It is important to recognise that the launch of the Charter is merely a starting point for setting and implementing a system that would improve the accountability of INGOs. The Charter Management Committee, elected by the Founding Signatories to oversee the sign-on and reporting processes, is currently in the process of developing a structure to ensure signatory compliance. Discussions are ongoing regarding the development of compliance indicators through a multi-stakeholder process under the Global Reporting Initiative, the consolidation of the reporting process, and the creation of an independent complaints handling mechanism.
While the INGO Accountability Charter initiative is still in its nascent form, it has tremendous potential to become an effective self-regulatory accountability mechanism that allows stakeholders to hold signatories accountable, propels signatories to ameliorate their performance through the implementation of Charter provisions, and creates high accountability standards for the sector as a whole.
