Enhancing the role of accountability in promoting the rights of beneficiaries of development NGOs

This paper identifies and assesses the extent to which downward accountability
mechanisms in non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) have had
the potential in practice to contribute to the effectiveness of rights-based
approaches to development. Prior research has recognised the potentially
beneficial impact of downward accountability on rights-based approaches to
development. However, there has been little academic study of the outcomes of
attempts by development aid funders to encourage NGDOs to develop and
implement downward accountability mechanisms as part of rights-based
approaches. The paper draws on evidence gathered from a detailed documentary
analysis and a series of in-depth interviews undertaken with senior individuals working in the Irish NGDO sector. The analysis indicates a substantial degree of resistance among Irish donor NGDOs in practice to the substantive implementation of key downward accountability mechanisms, particularly NGDO-local beneficiary partnerships. The accountability-in-practice revealed shows that problems with implementation have arisen due to: an apparent lack of Irish NGDO attention to oversight of downward accountability within locally-based partner NGDOs; a reluctance to transfer influence to locally-based partner NGDOs by allowing them some influence on Irish NGDO governance and strategy; the perceived control of locally-based partner NGDOs by local elites who are often distant from, and unrepresentative of, local communities; and a perception that locally-based partner NGDOs do not require downward accountability. Drawing on these findings, the paper makes a number of public policy recommendations aimed at helping transform the largely rhetorical NGDO commitment to downward accountability into practices that can contribute substantively to the realisation of the key elements of the rights-based approach to development.