Embracing Change as A Matter of Accountability

Embracing Change as a Matter of Accountability

Insights | June 13, 2023

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Change is the one certainty these days. A global pandemic, a climate in crisis, rising autocracy, and shrinking civic space are but a few of the challenges that require greater collaboration, commitment, and collective action than has ever been seen. In order to reach a more just and equitable future, the civil society and communities’ organising principles and activating muscles must continue to evolve and adapt. As an organisation that seeks to centre dynamic accountability in humanity’s collective responses to global crises, Accountable Now’s staff, members, and board have recognised our need to change to better serve our mission to transform the social sector ecosystem by advancing civil society responsiveness, transparency, and accountability. In the wake of a massive funding crisis for civil society organisations–brought on by austerity measures in public budgets and the rapid shifting of donor priorities–we see our mission and role in the sector as more important than ever.

Here is a preview of some of what we see ahead for Accountable Now as we look ahead to a third decade of our work in the field:

Expanding our membership model and embracing our membership offer

For nearly 15 years, AN has been a trusted partner and platform for International NGOs (mostly in the ‘Global North’) to reflect, learn and improve their accountability practices. Our members have shown incredible dedication and commitment to dynamic accountability, with many long standing members staying in the network for more than 10 years.

Given the current landscape of shifting geopolitical realities, increasingly serious commitments to locally-led work, and vacillating donor interests, it is time to revisit our membership model and composition to be more inclusive: expanding to grassroots and national organisations, networks and funders.

We want to enhance our membership offerings to encourage and support dynamic, trust-based partnerships that shift power to local leaders and CSOs, and enable catalytic transformation of the sector.

Over the next 6 to 12 months, we will be piloting new opportunities to work more deeply with our members and their partners, and explore how our platform and practices could support and serve smaller, national, and/or local CSOs. We also hope to bring funders into more regular dialogue with civil society on dynamic accountability (a recent example being the Dynamic Dialogues series).

Relaunching our reporting approach to encourage action

Embracing and modelling dynamic accountability at an institutional level continues to be fundamental: being truly accountable requires accountability! For 12 years, AN members have participated in a voluntary reporting process to track their progress and practice to the 12 Accountability Commitments.

While other reporting frameworks have entered the sector (e.g. CHS, IATI), Accountable Now’s reporting framework remains the only one designed by and for CSOs and entirely a result of self-commitment rather than donor mandate.

However, our members told us the nature of reporting and accountability expectations have shifted significantly since AN launched. So, we are introducing a member-informed, revised reporting framework, still based on the 12 Accountability Commitments, that more strongly marries reporting with action. Reporting will now be undertaken through a triennial cycle against a smaller set of questions, accompanied by action plans submitted in the interim years. This new framework reduces reporting burden and better serves members to reflect on and target improvements specifically in the areas identified for improvement by our Independent Review Panel.

Funders play an extraordinarily important role in setting reporting standards and commitments for civil society writ large, and with our revised approach and platform, we hope to use our expertise to engage and support funders to evolve their grantee reporting too.

Transitioning leadership and exploring new approaches

Funders play an extraordinarily important role in setting reporting standards and commitments for civil society writ large, and with our revised approach and platform, we hope to use our expertise to engage and support funders to evolve their grantee reporting too.

Change happens at different levels, and at this inflection point, we say goodbye to our fearless leader, Rocio Moreno Lopez, who is moving on to a new role after five years. We are lucky to be able to appoint Megan Colnar as Accountable Now’s interim Executive Director. Megan, who has been a board member of AN since 2020, will transition off the board to step in to lead our upcoming organisational transitions and transformation.

Over the next few months, we’ll be examining the best operating model for Accountable Now to ensure its long term, sustained success.

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Accountable Now is committed to promoting a more just, equitable & accountable world. Do you have a story to share that demonstrates how organisations can strengthen their dynamic accountability practices?