Dynamic & Continuous Process
What We Do
We believe that accountability should be a dynamic and continuous process, not a ‘tick box’ exercise.
Following that ethos, we provide our members – and any other civil society organisations interested in becoming more accountable – with the tools and support they need to continuously reflect, learn, and adapt their work to achieve better impact.
Our work focuses on supporting civil society organisations to strengthen or embed new ways of working grounded in processes of inclusive, participatory and meaningful engagement with all stakeholders. It goes beyond monitoring & evaluation, due-diligence and compliance, driving accountability as a process that centres communities’ voices, feedback, and preferences.
Our Services
How We Work
We help organisations bridge the gap between commitments or values and action, when it comes to accountability. Our work falls under three key pillars – our 3 E’s:
Examine
We ask tough questions and support our members and partners to reflect, take account, and improve.
Equip
We provide tools and advice for our members and partners to embrace and apply dynamic accountability.
Enable
We support efforts to fortify and protect enabling environments for civil society ecosystems globally.
The Three Step Approach
Our Cross-Cutting Approaches
Fundamental to AN’s philosophy of dynamic accountability is continuous learning and that our practices, advice, and support adapt to the changing world. We support learning and adaptation throughout our work with members, partners, and clients while prioritizing practitioner-focused resources, tools, and advice.
We are major advocates of the #ShiftThePower movement and moving towards a locally-led agenda. Those closest to the problem should have the agency and decision-making power to address these challenges. We use this lens to shift, share, and move power and resources to be closest to affected stakeholders. Our focus on practical and values-informed processes, tools, and contracts means moving beyond the talk and focusing on realizing this agenda.
Civil society can be a powerful force to fight for social justice if we work together to achieve systemic and long term change. Too often, our competition over scarce resources has led to division, difficult partnerships, and inequitable division of resources and power. Equipping collaboration efforts with critical infrastructure, agreements, and accountable actions, we aim to counter divisive issues and enable better collaboration for transformative change.
Our Framework
The 12 Accountability Commitments
Accountable Now helps its members and partners enhance accountability by applying the 12 Accountability Commitments as a central framework. These commitments—created through a global co-creation process with over 1,500 civil society organizations, networks, and grassroots groups—provide practical guidance for evaluating values, engaging stakeholders, and fulfilling organizational missions.
In 2014, Accountable Now collaborated with eight other accountability initiatives to align their approaches, resulting in the Global Standard for CSO Accountability, from which the 12 Commitments were derived. Designed to be actionable, adaptable, and suitable for organizations of any size, the commitments underpin Accountable Now’s reporting process, tools, and continuous support, all with the goal of fostering stronger accountability and advancing a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
Adopt the 12 Commitments
Interested in learning more about how adopting the 12 Commitments can help your organisation advance its mission of helping people and the planet?