One World Trust releases 2006 Global Accountability Report

GPPi has partnered with One World Trust (OWT) to promote the 2006 Global Accountability Index, the first initiative to measure and compare the accountability of transnational organisations across sectors. The 2006 Report presents the findings of OWT’s research into the accountability of 30 of the world’s most powerful organisations on the basis of four dimensions of accountability: transparency, participation, evaluation, and complaint and response. Ten organisations were chosen from each sector (Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs), International NGOs (INGOs) and Transnational Corporations (TNCs)) and were analysed to show differences between and within these three sectors. Each sector has clear leaders and organisations that lag behind. In all sectors, on average, evaluation and participation score better than transparency and complaint and response, where much work remains to be done. 

The report concludes that organisations need higher quality information disclosure policies and must provide confidential and independent channels through which external stakeholders can voice their complaints and receive an appropriate response. Although none of the assessed organisations score above 50 percent across all four dimensions, seven organisations manage this in three of the four dimensions. They have the most consistently developed accountability policies and management systems, though each still has considerable work to do. This highlights that that innovation and developments in accountability are not concentrated in one specific sector. Overall, there are many areas where organisations from different sectors can learn from each other. This report is a good step in realizing some of these differences, as well as common ground, and offering a cross-sector perspective on issues of accountability.