The 2014 Members’ workshop, which took place in London, was attended by 27 participants. It largely focused on the importance of ensuring consistent accountability practice across all regions and functions of Member organisations in order to safeguard against reputational risks and to make full use of the Charter’s potential to unify federated organisations behind a common commitment which they want to be held accountable for. The workshop targeted four main discussion areas revolving around the idea of accountability as a dynamic leadership concept, the benefits of a consistent approach across functions and regions, challenges to implementation, and the solutions Charter Members found.
Participants examined accountability as a dynamic leadership tool that goes beyond compliance, aiming instead to drive stakeholder value creation. The workshop focused on fostering shared ownership, aligning regional and functional efforts, and transforming accountability into a strategic driver for improved impact, trust, and performance.
Key themes included:
Accountability as a Leadership Concept: Framing accountability through critical questions of intent, execution, and improvement.
Organizational Benefits: Building collective ownership, enhancing decision-making, managing risks, and reinforcing organizational integrity through consistent practices.
Implementation Challenges: Addressing leadership gaps, resource constraints, cultural differences, and disconnects between headquarters and field offices.
Practical Solutions: Showcasing successful approaches from members like BRAC, Oxfam, World Vision, and Islamic Relief to embed accountability through inclusive leadership, contextual flexibility, strategic integration, and better data use.
The workshop emphasized reframing accountability from a bureaucratic requirement to a vital, stakeholder-focused tool for continuous learning, improvement, and legitimacy.
Read the outcome document for highlights and takeaways from this year’s workshop.
We would like to continue conversations on the themes that were discussed during the workshop. If you have a comment or suggestion on the workshop, or if you would like to share an idea of how we can support initiatives to advance dynamic accountability in the CSO sector, please contact us at [email protected].
Accountable Now is a global membership platform. We support our members – and civil society at large – to be more transparent, responsive, impact-focused, and locally led. Interested in becoming a member?
Accountable Now is a member of Accountability Lab’s global translocal network.
