Discussion
The term NGO is an acronym of the word non-governmental organization. It includes a plethora of organizations such as private voluntary organization, civil society organization and nonprofit organization. Non-governmental organizations pursue issues of public interest rather than commercial interests (Contu & Girei, 2014). The first non-governmental organization was the Anti-Slavery Society which was formed in 1893 by Red Cross and Caritas. The world’s biggest non-governmental organization is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with an endowment of 28.8 billion dollars.
Accountability is extremely essential for a non-governmental organization. Along with transparency, a non-governmental organization should be accountable to its stakeholders, which includes the public, children, and communities among others (Golini, Kalchschmidt & Landoni, 2015). The five key principles of accountability include leading by examples and values, leading by communication and information, leading by discipline and guidance, leading by motivation i.e. acknowledging staff achievements and leading by participation, i.e. a dialogue should encourage mutual accounting (Ismail et al., 2014).
One of the main challenges of development NGOs is to show their quality and impact of their work by high ethical standards. NGOs can address this challenge by conforming to the following rules and regulations. The methods of assessing the legitimacy of an NGO include the following principles (Haikin & Flatters, 2017). They are Self-Certification, Certification, Accreditation Program, Ratings Organization Evaluation, Award Programs, Information Agencies, Codes of Conduct as Guidelines. Under Self-Certification, individual NGOs may evaluate their agreement to a list of principles and standards and certify that they are adhering to the requisite standards (Jones, 2017). There should be a scope for regular reviews in order to monitor NGOs. Certification implies an independent and external review of an organization’s conformity with the requisite set of standards. Certification can be a peer review, wherein other NGOs evaluate an organization’s conformity, or an accredited review wherein independent raters evaluate the compliance of an organization (Desai, 2014). Accreditation Programs implies the formal recognition of an organization, by an organization who specializes in these matters. Ratings Organization Evaluation implies the fact that in several countries, a plethora of agencies addresses the problem of finding responsible NGOs by rating the NGOs or stamps them with a seal of approval. These rating agencies form a list of standards and rules that NGOs must follow, and measure the performance of the NGOs against these rules. Award programs include presentation of awards to NGOs which offers them high visibility to the organization. Examples include the WANGO Award and the Balcolm Baldrige Award (Anheier, 2014). Information agencies are organizations that provide information on NGOs without any ratings, an example being Guidestar which gives information on number of staff, IRS forms among others. Codes of Conduct as Guidelines implies that an organization might establish a set of standards for the conduct of an organization. For example the WANGO Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs serves as a guiding principle for member organizations (Zimmer & Priller, 2013).
Tools for Enhancing NGO Accountability
All NGOs even the most ethical and sensitive can benefit from a code of ethics and principles. Following a code of conduct will benefit an NGO and defend an NGO from probable accusatory remarks that an NGO lacks transparency in management of funds, honesty among several other factors (Kidd, 2013). The adoption of a stringent code of conduct by an NGO benefits an NGO as it serves as a statement to the beneficiaries, the public people and the donors that the NGO takes the duty of maintaining high standards of ethics very seriously. An example include International Red Cross which has developed and implemented a code of conduct for organizations working in disaster relief in Ethiopia and other countries (Butler & Wilson, 2015). The WANGO’s Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs implies that the World Association of Non Governmental Organization is an organization providing global membership to NGOs with over fifty thousand members in over hundred countries of the world. The membership of an association encompasses a wide range of NGOs from the local NGOs to the international NGOs. In 2002, The World Association of Non Governmental Organization spearheaded the development of a Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs, a guideline of six fundamental principles, nine operational principles and one hundred and thirty two standards to guide the management and action of NGOs (Yudice, 2018). The code was made by an international committee with input from the leaders of various non-governmental organizations from all over the world. After this code was revised, the code was implemented in Match 2005. The Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs is meant to be applied and followed by the non-governmental organizations. The Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs are focused on international non-governmental organization striving to make a change in the global arena, as well as local non-governmental organizations striving to bring about a change in the local community and empower the local communities and people (Banks, Hulme & Edwards, 2015). Non-governmental organizations thus need to maintain transparency, fairness, accountability, social justice among other factors. Non-governmental organizations should also commit ethical fundraising. Non-governmental organizations should be accountable for the financial resources received from donors, members of the government among others (Isaak, 2016). The various non-governmental organization include Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Oxfam among others who conform to the above rules and regulations thus ensuring that they are ethical and accountable in nature.
Examples of NGO Accountability Measures
Non – governmental organizations can also ensure accountability by including various documents like policies, values, mandates, rules and regulations and legislative provisions. Accountability can also be achieved through business processes by overseeing the way work is done, expenditure and deployment of resources and accounting. Groups are also established to supervise and investigate a non-governmental organization’s accountability. Policies are implemented to ensure the smooth functioning of a non–governmental organization. Accountability also entails the justice system, for example, an appeal for redress etc. Outcome tracking software can be used to measure the number of clients that a caseworker has served. Various proposals are being made to improve accounting as a measure of accountability (Teubner, 2017). Certification systems and commercial ratings can also used as a measure of accountability, like they do in India. Non-governmental organizations can respond to issues of accountability with tools created by stakeholders. These tools include financial accounts, annual reports, quarterly reports, assessment of performance, audits, independent evaluations, metrics, framework analysis among others. These reports can then be made public thereby reflecting that non-governmental organizations are accountable in nature (Reeves, 2014). Non-governmental organizations should have a clearly defined governmental structure membership rules, a description of the rules and duties and power of the government body.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies follow a set of guidelines that reflects their accountability. A plethora of documents reflects the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society’s commitment to accountability which includes, The Code of Conduct of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and NGOs in disaster relief, particularly the ninth principle, “We hold ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those from whom we accept resources.” This implies that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society holds themselves accountable to both donors and the people who they assist (James & Rose-Ackerman, 2013). Accountability can also be achieved by setting expectations. One can clarify what stakeholders can expect from an organization and by which standards they can be assessed like International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society does. One should also be open to disclosing information like the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, wherein stakeholders are allowed to access information that is necessary to make an assessment of the work that the non-governmental organization is doing. Stakeholders should also be assisted to support the organization like the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society does wherein they consider assessments are important and crucial (Mazwell & Walker, 2014).
Save the Children follows the principle of accountability by sharing information in a relevant and a timely manner, which is a pertinent aspect of accountability quality programming. They also indulge in participation wherein they discuss together, work together and decide together with children, parties and communities. Save the Children also take feedback from children and communities and handles their complaints. They respond to serious concerns and various complaints regarding their activities. Save the Children also systematically offers a voice to children and communities in their monitoring and evaluation exercises to implement changes in learning and implementation (Marshall, 2014). The organization also builds staff competencies for accountable programming which ensure that the staff of the organization have the behavioral and technical competencies to deliver their commitments to communities. These principles are there with the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership standard for quality management and accountability, which applies to the advocacy work, development and humanitarian work done by non-profit governmental organizations.
Transparency and accountability are two fundamental and important principles of UNICEF. UNICEF has been adopted transparency in all the work that they do for children. It is expected that these efforts will not only provide people with information on the work that UNICEF does but will also help the non-governmental organization become more efficient, responsive, productive and collaborative. UNICEF has an information disclosure policy that explicitly reveals information about operations and programs available to the general public. Continuing with the policy of being open and transparent, UNICEF became signatory to the International Aid Transparency Initiative in 2012, which made it essential for UNICEF to reveal the information on aid spending thereby making it easier for all stakeholders to find, compare and use all the data (WHO & Mathers, 2017). In 2013, UNICEF achieved a landmark by publishing the details of a financial and information on various programmes in a proper format on the registry. Thereafter, the commitment of UNICEF to be open and transparent to the public has been reflected through continuous efforts. This has led to UNICEF occupying the third spot out of forty-six organizations in Aid Transparency Index. In 2015, UNICEF started a transparency microsite, in order to show the world what it does with the resources for children, where it uses the resources that are meant for children. The site possesses geo data that is interactive in nature. With the aim of keeping the public up to date with the activities taking place at the multitude of offices of UNICEF that are present all over the world, the portal lets users to search, group, filter and generate information by qualities such as geographic locations, funding source and programming areas. The portal also gives access to a large number of documents such as evaluations, documents of country program, details on logistics ad supply, audit reports, financial regulations and financial rules and result reports of annual programs. Thus being transparent is important for UNICEF because open communication helps them to work better and smarter to deliver results for children. UNICEF’s commitment to transparency shapes its practices and policies and underpins the continuing effort to be more effective and efficient in the implementation of welfare practices for children, especially for the underprivileged children who live in abject poverty.
It is essential to be accountable as it helps to bring about important advantages, which includes a greater understanding of the needs of the people one seeks to help, an improved relationship with communities wherein communities accept non–government organizations as being agents for social change and the relationship is therefore based on mutual respect and trust. It also reduces the risk of fraudulent behaviour or mishandling of resources. It also reduces the risk of possible harm to the people the non-governmental organizations seeks to assist and the ability to show the donors of the non-governmental organization that they are capable to deliver quality processes such as accountability in implementation and design.
Sharing of information with children, stakeholders and the community is extremely important to a non-government organization in order to build trust, improve an understanding of the work a non-governmental organization does, improve an understanding of the goals and objectives of a non-governmental organization and also to seek their support and work cohesively as one.
Transparency is essential together with accountability. It refers to an organization’s willingness to share information the various activities that non-governmental organization is doing. Transparency also enables stakeholders to identify the nongovernmental organization is working according to law. This enables stakeholders to make informed decisions.
Non-governmental organizations are often plagued with concerns about accountability and effectiveness, which has led to them facing a protest both at home and abroad. But the future of non-governmental organizations is bright because the underlying principle for all non-governmental organizations is to help the poor, downtrodden and the needy. This underlying principle is the basis of humanity (Moore, 2014). Non-government organization are doing its very best to help eradicate poverty, ensure gender equality, help to preserve and conserve the environment among others. In the event of a flood, drought or any other natural disasters, non-government organizations are already ready to help the people in need, people who are in the affected region. Due to their humanistic effort, a lot of lives are saved for they provide food, medicines, drinking water and other essential things to the poor and the needy of the affected region. Non-governmental organizations also provides education to the underprivileged section of society and also imparts vocational training that enables people to seek employment, thereby eliminating employment to a large extent. Non-governmental organizations also provide employment to many people thereby bringing down the level of unemployment in developing and developed countries. Non-governmental organizations in the future will focus on the major issues of poverty and will highlight them. The four critical issues are inequality, migration, natural disasters and the environment. Financial resources will come in through donor governments who will allot money for developmental projects. Environmental issues will also be brought to the fore as global warming is and will be a pertinent issue. With donors and clients demanding better evidence, non-governmental organizations need to be more transparent in nature. But overall, there is a bright prospect for non-governmental organizations in the future.
Conclusion
Non-governmental organizations have been the harbingers of change since time immemorial and their effort and work towards the underprivileged sections of the society is truly commendable. Since time immemorial, non-governmental organizations have been bringing in social changes and helping people around the world. Non-governmental organizations like the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, UNICEF, World Healthcare Organizations, Child Relief And You among other organizations have been doing commendable work and providing help to the poor and needy. Non-government organizations offer their help and services to eliminate world poverty, gender inequality, domestic violence, helping people who have been affected by war and natural disasters like floods, drought, famine, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural calamities, global warming, unemployment, global hunger and malnutrition. All non-government organizations work selflessly to help people in need with the limited funds that they receive from the government, businesses and donors. Non-governmental organizations around the world are working selflessly and trying to bring about a positive change. Each one of us can join the effort and help to bring about a change. One should be good human beings and try to help people who are less fortunate and in dire need of help.
References
Anheier, H. K. (2014). Nonprofit organizations: Theory, management, policy. Routledge.
Banks, N., Hulme, D., & Edwards, M. (2015). NGOs, states, and donors revisited: Still too close for comfort?. World Development, 66, 707-718.
Butler, R., & Wilson, D. C. (2015). Managing voluntary and non-profit organizations: Strategy and structure. Routledge.
Contu, A., & Girei, E. (2014). NGOs management and the value of ‘partnerships’ for equality in international development: What’s in a name?. Human Relations, 67(2), 205-232.
Desai, V. (2014). 8 The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In The companion to development studies (pp. 590-594). Routledge.
Golini, R., Kalchschmidt, M., & Landoni, P. (2015). Adoption of project management practices: The impact on international development projects of non-governmental organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 33(3), 650-663.
Haikin, M. A. T. T., & Flatters, G. E. O. R. G. E. (2017). Digital Development: What Is the Role for International NGOs?
Isaak, R. (2016). The making of the ecopreneur. In Making Ecopreneurs (pp. 63-78). Routledge.
Ismail, D., Majid, T. A., Roosli, R., & Ab Samah, N. (2014). Project management success for post-disaster reconstruction projects: international NGOs perspectives. Procedia Economics and Finance, 18, 120-127.
James, E., & Rose-Ackerman, S. (2013). The non-profit enterprise in market economics. Taylor & Francis.
Jones, B. (2017). Looking good: Mediatisation and international NGOs. The European Journal of Business Development Research, 29(1), 176-191.
Kidd, B. (2013). A new social movement: Sport for development and peace. In Sport and Foreign Policy in a Globalizing World (pp. 36-46). Routledge.
Maxwell, D. G., & Walker, P. (2014). Shaping the humanitarian world. Routledge.
Moore, C. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and creating shared value. Heiffer International, 1-6.
Reeves, C. (2014). The red cross society of China: Past, present, and future. J. Ryan, LC Chen, & T. Saich (Eds.), 214-233.
Teubner, G. (2017). Global private regimes: Neo-spontaneous law and dual constitution of autonomous sectors?. In Public Governance in the age of globalization (pp. 71-87). Routledge.
WHO, U., & Mathers, C. (2017). Global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (2016-2030). Organization, 2016(9).
Yúdice, G. (2018). The globalization of culture and the new civil society. In Cultures of Politics Politics of Cultures: Re-Visioning Latin American Social Movements (pp. 353-379). Taylor and Francis.
Zimmer, A., & Priller, E. (Eds.). (2013). Future of civil society: Making central European nonprofit-organizations work. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
