NGO Benefciaries' Views on Downward Accountability. Case Study from Mongolia.
Mustikkamaa, Anniina (2017)
2017
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The number of NGOs has risen dramatically in the last few decades. NGOs work in very different types of fields and their significance as providers of service and advocacy can be remarkable in their area of operation. NGOs can even step in to provide services that governments fail to organize. Traditionally, NGOs have been accountable mainly to their funders. As NGOs have experienced growing influence and increased monetary support, there has also been increasing attention to downward accountability, i.e. how NGOs are accountable especially to the people they claim to serve and represent. This thesis examines the state of downward accountability in a case NGO and suggests ways to improve it.
Downward accountability as a concept balances the more traditional accountability to NGOs’ funders, the so-called upward accountability. Downward accountability represents a more modern way of looking at how NGOs should be functioning, emphasizing the participation of beneficiaries even in the core func-tions of NGOS such as planning and decision-making. Earlier downward accountability research has focused on interviewing NGO managers, but this thesis focused on the views of beneficiaries to get a better perspective on how beneficiaries describe downward accountability and their inclusion in creating it in their NGO as well as what their opinions and attitudes on the matter are. The qualitative case re-search included 6 group interviews of altogether 30 beneficiaries of a local chapter of World Vision Mongolia. The group interviews were complemented with interviews of the programme manager and officer as well as the head of a local NGO cooperating with World Vision.
The results revealed that the case NGO has created downward accountability with varying success. Staff did well in the areas of building good relations with beneficiaries, communicating with them and inform-ing them on the content of the programme. These can be seen to create a base for further improvement of downward accountability. The biggest challenges were in including beneficiaries in decision-making and planning, in ensuring beneficiaries know what the programme goals are, and in informing what they per-sonally can expect to gain form participation. The challenges are not just in NGO structures and practices, but beneficiaries themselves often described a lack of interest in deepening their involvement in the work of the NGO, preferring to keep their position as a simple receiver of services and support. Suggestions for improvement of practice were provided in all the areas. There was no significant difference in results compared to earlier research focusing on managers’ views, but through beneficiary interviews it became even more obvious that activating and educating beneficiaries is as important as creating structures for their inclusion. Strategies for citizen’s activation would also have use in the public sector, so there is an opportunity for mutual learning between NGOs and the public sector in activating citizens and including them more in organisations’ strategic activities.
Downward accountability as a concept balances the more traditional accountability to NGOs’ funders, the so-called upward accountability. Downward accountability represents a more modern way of looking at how NGOs should be functioning, emphasizing the participation of beneficiaries even in the core func-tions of NGOS such as planning and decision-making. Earlier downward accountability research has focused on interviewing NGO managers, but this thesis focused on the views of beneficiaries to get a better perspective on how beneficiaries describe downward accountability and their inclusion in creating it in their NGO as well as what their opinions and attitudes on the matter are. The qualitative case re-search included 6 group interviews of altogether 30 beneficiaries of a local chapter of World Vision Mongolia. The group interviews were complemented with interviews of the programme manager and officer as well as the head of a local NGO cooperating with World Vision.
The results revealed that the case NGO has created downward accountability with varying success. Staff did well in the areas of building good relations with beneficiaries, communicating with them and inform-ing them on the content of the programme. These can be seen to create a base for further improvement of downward accountability. The biggest challenges were in including beneficiaries in decision-making and planning, in ensuring beneficiaries know what the programme goals are, and in informing what they per-sonally can expect to gain form participation. The challenges are not just in NGO structures and practices, but beneficiaries themselves often described a lack of interest in deepening their involvement in the work of the NGO, preferring to keep their position as a simple receiver of services and support. Suggestions for improvement of practice were provided in all the areas. There was no significant difference in results compared to earlier research focusing on managers’ views, but through beneficiary interviews it became even more obvious that activating and educating beneficiaries is as important as creating structures for their inclusion. Strategies for citizen’s activation would also have use in the public sector, so there is an opportunity for mutual learning between NGOs and the public sector in activating citizens and including them more in organisations’ strategic activities.