This year, Accountable Now’s Annual Workshop was focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically, how to use accountability to create impact that advances the SDGs.
Workshop dates: 10th – 12th October 2018
Workshop venue: International Civil Society Centre, Berlin, Germany
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are aiming to positively transform the world we live in by the year 2030. So that these goals are achieved, we are seeing many cases of governments, businesses and civil society coming together to mobilise efforts. However, so that the progress, impact and success of this development agenda can be traced, we need robust accountability mechanisms where everyday people can hold all actors involved to account. While the SDGs are universal in character, they have to be implemented at the national level, taking into consideration the contextual and cultural specificities of each country. We therefore need to promote accountability mechanisms that are inclusive, transparent and that are built from the bottom-up.
Over the course of 2 and a half days, we welcomed participants to join us in the conversation on dynamic accountability. Many interesting conversations were had and many experiences shared.
“Dynamic Accountability” or people-powered accountability, a concept developed by Restless Development, entails a new approach to accountability where the exchange of information goes two ways. Organisations are not only transparent about their actions but they also actively seek feedback from their stakeholders. This feedback informs organisation’s decisions so that they can both continuously strengthen their performance and build trusted relationships. It transforms accountability processes into an ongoing dialogue which drives learning and change, develops trust and enhances the legitimacy and credibility of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). All of this is critically important to adjust everyday work on projects and programmes so they truly consider and contribute to the SDGs.
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.
