04 October 2007

GPPi publishes article on revamping accountability systems of international organizations

GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner published an article in the fall 2007 issue of Europe’s World arguing for re-thinking accountability systems for international bureaucracies.

In the article, entitled "Bringing the world's international organisations to heel", Benner argues that instead of bewailing the "democratic deficits" of the EU, UN, IMF and World Bank, we should invest in expanding our toolkit for holding them to greater account, as international institutions that respond only to their member governments is neither politically satisfactory nor practically workable. Some strategies, Benner suggests, include: zooming in closer and targeting programs and activities as well as the leadership; modernizing our understanding of accountability to include other internal and external stakeholders such as the staff of the organisations, outside interest groups and even the general public; protection from sanctions for staff who bring inappropriate conduct of peers and superiors to the attention of the organisation and the public; and encouraging fully independent evaluations of programs, among other suggestions.

Furthermore, Benner argues, the precise details of an accountability system need to be tailored to each international organisation and its activities. Additionally, we must be clear about the standards applied and be strategic in our choice of accountability systems as opposed to layering accountability demands with unclear meanings. Benner concludes that this expanded accountability toolkit could also be applied to the multitude of other actors that play increasingly important roles in global governance; including transnational advocacy groups, service-providing NGOs, multinational corporations, foundations operating with billion euro budgets as well as public-private partnerships

Click here to read the full article.

For more information, please contact Thorsten Benner. 

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