Accountability, Strategy, and International Nongovernmental Organizations

Abstract

Increased prominence and greater influence expose international nongovernmental development and environment organizations (INGOs) to increased demands for accountability from a wide variety of stakeholders, including donors, beneficiaries, staffs, and partners. This article focuses on developing the concept of INGO accountability, first as an abstract concept and then as a strategic idea with very different implications for different INGO strategies. The authors examine implications for INGOs that emphasize service delivery, capacity building, and policy influence. They propose that INGOs committed to service delivery may owe more accountability to donors and service regulators, capacity-building INGOs may be particularly obligated to clients whose capacities are being enhanced, and policy influence INGOs may be especially accountable to political constituencies and influence targets. INGOs that are expanding their activities to include new initiatives may need to reorganize their accountability systems to implement their strategies effectively.