Commissioned by
Marie Faou
Objectives
The main objective of the Accountability Group is to allow aid organisations to share accountability-related practices. More specifically, it helps to share and make available resources, formalise thinking on accountability and develop accountability-related tools and resources. The Group sometimes adopts strategic and collective positions on certain subjects depending on their relevance and related opportunities.
Governance
The governance of the Accountability Group involves two levels:
- A committee made up of the ‘accountability’ focal points from ten international NGOs – the ‘day-to-day’ exchanges of the Accountability Group.
- A ‘forum’ to allow certain ideas to be shared with a greater number of actors and organisations.
The committee is guided by several key principles:
- Trust between the group members;
- Free expression in the exchanges and the information shared;
- Confidentiality of the information and resources that are shared, which are supposed to remain between the group members, unless there has been a prior agreement;
- Voluntary participation – the involvement of the committee members is voluntary – there are no contractual documents.
The committee meets regularly throughout the year, both face-to-face and remotely. The process for new members joining the committee is based on co-option by a current member.
The objective of the ‘forum’ is to open up certain discussions of the Accountability Group to organisations who are not members of the committee. These discussions can take the form of webinars that are open to any person or organisation interested in the subject. At least one webinar is organised per year – information about each webinar is published on the Groupe URD website.