Global Accountability Report

Basic information

  • Type: Certification scheme
  • Year established: 2006
  • Status: Active
  • Thematic area: General
  • Summary: The Global Accountability Report is an independent assessment undertaken annually by the One World Trust of the accountability capabilities of global organisations from acorss the intergovernmental, non-governmental and corporate sectors. The assessment framework was developed over five years of multistakeholder dialogue and offers INGOs the opportunity to see how they compare with organisations in other sectors. It helps INGOs identify where their accountability is strong, where their are gaps, and where there is scope for cross sector learning.

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Contact details

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Areas addressed

  • Principles or standards: Principles-based
  • Communications / advocacy / fundraising:
    • General commitment to transparency
  • Governance and Management:
    • General commitment to good governance
    • Anti-Corruption
    • Board structure
  • Human resources:
    • Staff development and training
  • Beneficiary / client / supporter participation:
    • General commitment to beneficiary participation
    • In all project cycle stages
    • In evaluation (ex post)
    • In strategic planning
  • Monitoring and Evaluation:
    • General commitment to evaluation
    • Commitment to integrate learning in future
    • Dissemination of evaluations

Further info: The Global Accountability Report assess NGOs, as well as transnational corporations and intergovernmental organisations, across four dimensions of accountability: transparency, participation, evaluation, and complaints and response handling.

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Participation

  • Reasons for participation
    • Enhancing credibility, quality or reputation
  • Further information: Organisations are selected for assessment by the One World Trust. The large majority of selected organisations choose to engage with the research process. If an organisation does not agree to engage however, they are still included in the assessment.

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Compliance

  • Evidence base: Desk
  • Description of monitoring mechanism: Organisations receive a percentage score based on the inclusion of good practice principles across four dimensions of accountability. The One World Trust plans to begin re-assessing organisations in 2010 and thereafter to assess organisations every 2 years.
  • Has sanctioning mechanism: No

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Assessment

The Global Accountability Report is an initiative that offers INGOs an opportunity to benchmark their accountability against peers and organisations from across the intergovernmental and corporate sectors. As such it provides an important tool for facilitating dialogue between actors on accountability and how it can be strengthened. The focus of the assessment is on accountability capabilities - the policies and managment systems an organisation has in place to foster accountability; it does not capture the extent to which these policies are being translated into practice. In this way, while the Global Accountability Report provides an important indication of an organisation's commitment to accountbaility, it should not be seen as a definitive assessment of how accountable they are.

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