Beyond reach? Realising accountability in climate change governance

Strengthening the independence and accountability of the ICC in a political world

In the context of the African Union’s reaction to the indictment of the Sudanese President, and ahead of the first review conference of the Rome Statute that will take place early 2010 in Uganda where amendments to the Statute will be discussed, the One World Trust has published a new research briefing: Any good reasons to cry wolf? Understanding and strengthening independence and accountability of the International Criminal Court in a political world . The paper explores whether the ICC can strengthen its ability to demonstrate accountability and independence. It also identifies the limits to what it can do on its own to ensure its independence in a political world. The paper concludes that the ICC is subject to power and is part of a web of political accountabilities which affect the exercise of international criminal justice. Yet the ICC itself faces limitations on the choices it can make to safeguard its independence as is not solely in control of the accountability relationships to which it is tied. The paper closes with four propositions for how the ICC can strengthen its accountability and independence.

Responding to NGO development effectiveness initiatives

Next week, the One World Trust, in partnership with World Vision, will publish a briefing paper entitled “Responding to NGO Development Effectiveness Initiatives”. The paper aims to give some insight into the use and usefulness of various NGO self-regulation initiatives, in the development and humanitarian sectors, for developing effectiveness and accountability. It provides a picture of existing self-regulation efforts at international and national level in the global North; their principles, content, and compliance mechanisms; and reflects on the way in which NGOs may wish to engage with initiatives or to improve effectiveness by using the best and most relevant parts for their organisation’s purpose. This briefing paper is part of a series produced by the One World Trust’s project on civil society self-regulation. The objective is to generate discussion on current debates aimed at strengthening the legitimacy and performance of civil society organisations. The briefing paper will be available on our website next week on: http://www.oneworldtrust.org/csoproject/cso/resources.

Accountability Principles for Research Organisations (APRO)

The One World Trust team has started the first of a series of seven workshops developing accountability tools for research organisations. These workshops form the core element of a research project and are intended to 'crash-test' the framework and principles already developed in the project's first phase. Workshops are being conducted in partnerships with organisations based in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and will continue until December. They will explore how accountability can make research more effective in their research and policy-work, as well as being more ethical, through investigating how research organisations can balance stakeholders better. To see more about the project and the partners, please visit the project webpage.

Global Accountability Report (GAR)

All of the Global Accountability Report methodology review workshops have now been completed. Events were held in Geneva, London and Washington with representation from across the nongovernmental, intergovernmental and corporate sectors, from the likes of Anglo American, IMF, ActionAid International, OECD, HSBC and Catholic Relief Services among many others. Thank you to all the participants for their valuable feedback and to the World Bank, EBRD and World Vision International for their generous support in providing meeting space and covering catering costs. The next steps in the methodology review will be an online survey sent out to all assessed organisations and a number of key stakeholders to gather further feedback on the Report and an online forum for a wider group of stakeholders to provide comments and reflections on our efforts in assessing accountability. Both will take place in November and December.

Rob Lloyd, the Projects Manager,  was in Berlin on 14 -17 October presenting at the Transparency International National Members Meeting on trends in NGO accountability and patterns in CSO self-regulation. Rob was also in Pisa on 29 -30 October presenting on the drivers of NGO accountability at a conference organised by Agenzia Italiana Responsa Emergencenze on partnership between the profit and non-profit sectors in the delivery of development aid.

Self-regulatory Initiatives (SRI)

The One World Trust’s Civil Society Self-regulation portal has forged new links with CIVICUS’ Civil Society Index programme with the aim of pooling our resources and collaborating on future publications. Our shared goal is to increase the strength and effectiveness of civil society organisations by making information available to a wider range of stakeholders.
 

The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) is a participatory needs assessment and action planning tool for civil society around the world, with the aim of creating a knowledge base and momentum for civil society strengthening initiatives. The CSI is initiated and implemented by, and for, civil society organizations at the country level, and actively involves, and disseminates its findings, to a broad range of stakeholders including: government, donors, academics and the public at large.
 

There is also a CSI blog featuring updates and articles on the progress of the programme.
 

One World Trust welcomed a new intern

Miriam Vincken has recently completed an MSc programme in European Public Policy at University College London. She did her Abitur in Germany and spent an Erasmus year at Helsinki University as part as her BA degree course in Politics. She subsequently worked as an intern for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in their office in Jakarta, for the GTZ on Lombok on their project on the political and economic empowerment of women in Asia and for the German Embassy in London. At the One World Trust, Miriam will be contributing to our work on the accountability of climate change governance.

Following a 35-year dictatorship, Paraguay has seen a resurgence of civil society organisations since the early nineties. This was facilitated by a new civil code that allowed for non-profit organisations to have legal recognition without presidential authorization for the first time. However, in recent years, there have been concerns for the accountability and transparency of the sector. Thus, many organisations have felt the need to distance themselves from opportunistic NGOs who use their non profit status to gain financial advantage and from scandals concerning the mismanagement of public funds.

One initiative designed to address these concerns is the Evaluation System of Organisational Development (SEDO) developed by the School of Organisations for Social Development , an umbrella group that represents 25 Paraguayan development NGOs. SEDO is a certification and assessment tool for development organisations which focuses on the analysis of four organisational areas: transparency, management, impact and legality. The assessment is made using in-depth interviews, observation and document revision. Assessed organisations get a final score which determines their level of compliance with these standards using the following categories: institutionalised, established, emerging, rising and without qualification. The system also aims to become a guide for institutional capacity building.

So far ten organisations have been assessed and certified and the school is planning to develop a shorter version of the tool, so it can be applied by smaller organisations with less resources. The college also intends for self-regulation to help them with their relations with the Paraguayan government who have recently imposed new tax legislation declaring that NGOs now have to pay income tax if they profit from any activity. This has seen by many as a restriction to their self-sufficiency as it forces NGOs to depend on external funding.

To find out about other civil society self-regulation initiatives please visit: www.oneworldtrust.org/csoproject/
 

Debate for nuclear armament shows increasing dynamics

The opening of a conference at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on peaceful use of nuclear energy technology in the 21st century on 28 October confirms the renewed dynamics in the debate about risks and options for the use of nuclear technology. In a key resolution (S/RES/1887 (2009) ) the UN Security Council reaffirmed in September its commitment to nuclear disarmament and the importance of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a prime tool to contain the spread of nuclear arms technology and combat the risk of nuclear terrorism while emphasizing the need to enable access to the civil use of nuclear technology for countries wishing to do so. The resolution follows a significant effort by the US President Obama to bring back dynamics into the debate about nuclear disarmament including with his key speech on the subject of global security and nuclear disarmament in Prague on 5 April 2009.

Beginning of US senate cimate change Bill hearings

The US Senate on 27th October launched three days of hearings on the US Climate Change Bill. Day One and Day Two of the hearings have shown concerns about the bill and make its successful implementation before Copenhagen doubtful. Day Three , the final day of the hearings, showed the possibility of a group of Republicans boycotting upcoming committee work sessions, which would delay approval of the US Climate Change Bill. Republicans are mainly concerned the Bill could result in higher unemployment rates and higher consumer prices as a result of industry being forced to use more expensive alternative energy sources.

However, progress made by the US on legislation and commitments to cut its own carbon emissions are widely seen as an important element in the search for a global agreement on binding targets.

New accreditation for Islamic organisations in the US

A new accreditation scheme tailored for Muslim groups has been initiated by the charity wing of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB has partnered with Muslim Advocates, a legal organization based in San Francisco, to create the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program, which evaluates nonprofits and trains leaders on compliance with the government’s legal and financial rules. MCAP requires participants of the program to comply with 20 Standards for Charity Accountability that require a verifiable demonstration that they meet basic standards in: governance, financial stewardship, truthfulness and transparency.
Those involved in the accreditation program hope it will help allow many Muslim groups to move past the mistrust that has come to define their post-9/11 relationship with the federal government.
In its first month three American charities completed the program and received accreditation. Seventeen other charities have enrolled in the program and nearly 150 groups have attended free legal and financial seminars hosted by Muslim Advocates and its partners around the country.