In Whose Interest?

Abstract

This book has sought to address the central question of NGO accountability, in particular through an exploration of the extent to which NGO rhetoric matches the reality on the ground. Introducing a recently published collection of essays,¹ Edwards and Hulme propose that NGOs should demonstrate multiple accountability, that accountability has been less than all encompassing in the past, and that it is distorted increasingly by the new fashion for NGOs demonstrated by official donors. For many official donor organisations, issues of NGO accountability are central as well. As might be expected, they reject arguments that by channelling resources through the NGO sector they have distorted lines of accountability; on the contrary, they insist that NGO accountability is deficient in a number of ways. In the course of interviews and reviews of reports, some of these shortcomings are attributed to skills shortcomings,² but increasingly NGOs’ assertions that they ‘represent the poorest’ are being questioned and deserve to be. The case studies of different NGO activities in four countries with authoritarian governments discussed here raise important questions of accountability too.