One World Trust releases 2007 Global Accountability Report

The Global Public Policy Institute has partnered with the One World Trust to promote the 2007 Global Accountability Report, released on 4 December 2007. The Global Accountability Report is an annual assessment of the capability of 30 of the world’s most powerful global organizations from the intergovernmental, non-governmental, and corporate sectors to be accountable to civil society, affected communities, and the wider public. 

The Report uses the four dimensions of the Global Accountability Framework— transparency, participation, evaluation, and complaint and response mechanisms — as the basis of the assessment. Over time, the Report will reassess organizations to track changes in accountability and highlight progress. The aim of the Report is to broaden understanding of and commitment to common principles of accountability among transnational actors from all sectors. It seeks to highlight accountability gaps, encourage the sharing of good practice within and across sectors, and advance accountability reform.

Average sector scores across the dimensions indicate that each sector (NGOs, iNGOs, TNCs) leads on one dimension. IGOs score highest for transparency and evaluation, INGOs are highest in participation (both equitable member control and external stakeholder engagement), and TNCs come top in complaint and response. This is the same scoring pattern across sectors and dimensions as the 2006 Global Accountability Report, and reinforces One World Trust’s message that with each sector leading at least one dimension of accountability, there is scope for cross-sectoral learning. Top scorers among all dimensions include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Christian Aid, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP,) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Overall, as this report shows, there are many areas where organizations from different sectors can learn from each other with respect to accountability. The Global Accountability Report from One World Trust represents a good step in realizing some of these differences, as well as common ground, and offering a cross-sector perspective on issues of accountability. The 2007 report provides a unique opportunity for both understanding the current accountability practices of the world’s top organizations while also providing a basis for comparison with last year’s highly successful report.