We believe that accountability should be a dynamic and continuous process, not a ‘tick box’ exercise.
Following that ethos, our reporting process is designed as a way for organisations to internally reflect, publicly commit, and jointly advance accountability practices.
Accountable Now members sign on to, and report against, our 12 Accountability Commitments – a bold set of commitments that support organisations in living out their values and driving their missions to improve the lives of people and the planet.
The commitments define key actions in how organisations operate internally, their approach to change, and their progress towards achieving the change they want to see in the world.
Designed to be actionable and adaptable, the 12 Commitments can be adopted by any organisation, big or small, to strengthen their accountability practices and get better, long lasting results – no matter their starting point.
As our knowledge about dynamic accountability has evolved, so too has our reporting process. We now place a greater emphasis on learning and improvement, moving away from compliance. We believe that this focus will enable organisations to be more open about their areas of improvement and gather feedback to learn from them. Additionally, a reduction in the reporting burden makes the process more inclusive for a wider range of organisations.
Our reporting process follows a triennial cycle: an annual core report grants a panoramic glimpse into the organisation’s overall accountability practice, while a three-year action plan supports organisations to address priority areas. Our Independent Review Panel, composed of experts in human rights, business, academia and development, offers thorough feedback – rooted in values with dynamic accountability as the guiding principle.
We also revamped our framework. While it remains anchored to the Global Standard for CSO Accountability’s 12 Commitments, new accountability areas have been added to support organisations in the operating context.
In 2014, Accountable Now and eight other accountability initiatives from around the world joined forces to align our vision of accountability. Through a series of bottom up co-creation with over 1500 ICSOs, CSOs, networks and grassroot organisations worldwide, the Global Standard for CSO Accountability and the 12 Accountability Commitments were borned.
In 2018, Accountable Now’s members formally adopted the 12 Commitments, and we shifted our framework to align fully with the Global Standard. The result was a comprehensive framework that allows organisations to thoroughly reflect on their practices on a biennial basis.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) produces the world’s largest sustainability reporting framework including principles and performance indicators which organisations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental and social performance. Between 2008 and 2010, GRI was commissioned by Accountable Now to compile reporting guidelines for member organisations to ensure CSOs are fulfilling the same requirements we demand from governments and business. The guidelines focused on transparency, an important step towards ensuring accountability in terms of organisational operation.
After three years of vetting experience, the IRP developed a set of guiding questions complementing the GRI reporting requirements. This moved the process forward, looking at the progress of actions as well as complementing data transparency.
Take a closer look at the documents that guide our members, Independent Review Panel, and Secretariat through the reporting process:
Our Reporting and Assessment Framework, written in plain, easy to understand language, aims to make our reporting process universal and timely. The framework was designed to produce comparable data that can illustrate an organisation’s improvements over time.
The Reporting Questions guide our members through the process of writing their report. Questions are set at the cluster level and the Independent Review Panel provides qualitative feedback, as well as ‘traffic lights’ (ie. red, amber, or green) for each set of questions at the cluster level.
To help our members through the reporting process, we have developed a checklist to ensure all the requirements of the reporting framework are addressed. The Accountable Now Secretariat welcomes feedback on this guidance document, and will review it on an annual basis.
We will address injustice, exclusion, inequality, poverty and violence to create healthy societies for all.
We will promote women's and girl's rights and enhance gender equality.
We will protect the natural environment and enhance its ability to support life for future generations.
We will deliver long-term positive results.
We will ensure that the people we work with have a key role in driving our work.
We will work in fair and respectful partnerships to achieve shared goals.
We will address root causes by advocating for fundamental change.
We will be transparent about who we are, what we do and our successes and failures.
We will invest in staff and volunteers to develop their full potential and achieve our goals.
We will handle our resources responsibly to reach our goals and serve the public good.
We will ensure our decisions are responsive to feedback from the people affected by our work, partners, volunteers and staff.
We will ensure our management and governing body are accountable.
