Accountability of international non-governmental organizations.

Abstract

In spite of the abundance of research on INGO accountability, research specifically targeting how INGOs’ senior managements perceive their organizations’ accountability to their multiple stakeholders is lacking. The current project attempts to mitigate this dearth in research by studying the perceptions of the senior management of INGOs working in Lebanon. In-depth interviews were conducted with three leading INGOs in Lebanon. The study revealed several significant findings, most prominent of which is that there is an accountability deficit in the INGO sector in Lebanon. It is observed that accountability in practice has emphasized upward and external accountability to donors while downward and internal accountability mechanisms remain less developed. This project illustrates that the perception of INGOs’ senior managements regarding their high level of accountability is not completely in conformance with their accountability practices.