April 2003
Following the One World Trust's Global Accountability Project (GAP) which assesses the accountability of three key actors on the global stage: Inter-governmental Organisations (IGOs), Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) and International NGOs (INGOs), Caroline Neligan, Research Officer at One World Trust, outlines why accountability matters for the INGO sector.
Up until recently concerns about accountability and transparency, or lack thereof, have mainly focussed on inter-governmental organisations (IGO) and the corporate sector; and usually on the handful of 'usual suspects'. The power of these global organisations to affect the livelihoods and environments of communities around the world is well documented. Yet over the last 10 to 15 years, the number and influence of international NGOs (INGOs) has also grown. Although they are significantly less powerful than either IGOs or transnational corporations (TNCs), lacking either legal or financial muscle, INGOs are undeniably able to exert considerable influence over communities worldwide. In many regions, development INGOs have been required to substitute the state's role in service delivery, whilst INGOs involved in advocacy have access to international negotiations and the ability to influence global policy. However, beyond accountability to donors, the mechanisms holding INGOs to account are extremely limited. INGOs are unelected and, given that services provided by this sector are aimed at the most vulnerable in society, 'consumer power' is not an option for communities who are unhappy with a particular organisation.
GAP recently published the first Global Accountability Report which assesses IGOs, TNCs and INGOs for their accountability to their members and on access to information online. Whilst the INGO sector's governance structures are much more representative of their membership (national offices, affiliates, sections) than the IGO or TNC groups, overall, the group was much less transparent. This is particularly striking considering that many organisations in this group persistently demand greater openness of IGO and TNC groups.
Access to information is considered to be fundamental to organisational accountability. Without relevant and timely information about what an organisation is doing, neither internal nor external stakeholders can hold it to account. GAP assessed the availability of the following information online: information on activities (including evaluation material); information on governance (ie. articles of association, names and voting rights of members, provision of agendas, draft papers minutes and/or summaries of both governing and executive body meetings); the presence of an information disclosure policy, annual reports with an independently audited financial statement and the provision of these documents in more than one language.
The results of the study show that INGOs often fail to provide information that is likely to be of significant use to stakeholders, eg. how they spend donors' money and how well they have been achieving their aims. All INGOs provide some information on their activities, however evaluation material is rarely provided on a systematic basis, if at all.
In terms of the publication of annual reports, the INGO group stands out for its lack of consistency in producing this document. Moreover, the quality of financial information provided by those that do produce an annual report varies substantially. Some INGOs fail to provide any financial information at all, a serious failing given the criticism levelled at this sector for some years now regarding how they spend supporters' and government money. In terms of governance, the group provides only limited disclosure of documentation from their governing bodies: only 2 out of the 7 INGOs assessed, disclose documents relating to their governing body meetings and none of the group provided information relating to their executive bodies. Although there are security issues about disclosure of information that are pertinent to some organisations, not to have any information about what decisions are being taken and by which members reveals an accountability gap which should be plugged.
Clearly the resources available to the INGO group are more limited than those of corporations or many inter-governmental agencies. However, all the organisations in this study have well-developed websites that are used effectively to communicate their message to many stakeholders and supporters and this makes the absence of some key documents listed above even more surprising. If the INGO sector is to continue lobbying corporations and international institutions for more transparent and accountable processes, it is vital that they lead the way on issues of accountability. Failure to do so will risk losing their hard earned trust and legitimacy.
More Information on NGOs and Credibility
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