NGO Accountability and Aid Delivery

In 2008 governments of OECD countries spent approximately US$135 billion on development aid, and are committed to spending over twice this amount (as a proportion of national income) each year by 2015. This is in addition to amounts donated by private individuals, charitable foundations and corporations. Much of this aid is channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to front-line aid projects.
Given the amount of aid funding, a small increase or decrease in the effectiveness with which aid funding is deployed can have a substantial impact on the lives of many highly impoverished people. The accounting and accountability mechanisms employed by NGOs delivering development aid can either contribute towards or impede the effectiveness with which aid funding is deployed in individual aid projects.
The existing practitioner and academic literature on accountability within development NGOs argues strongly in favour of accountability mechanisms that provide accountability to, and capture the views of, beneficiaries and NGO fieldworkers. It is argued that this will enhance the effectiveness of aid delivery in individual projects by taking into account the views and experiences of those closest to the delivery of the aid. These arguments are, however, either derived largely conceptually – with little empirical support – or are based on the views of relatively senior officers in NGOs and not those of the workers or beneficiaries in the field.
Furthermore, there is a general lack of independent study into the impact on, and perceptions of, beneficiaries of attempts that have been made by some NGOs to expand their accountability. Those studies that have addressed this issue have tended to be narrowly focused on particular NGOs. They have therefore not been able to provide broader insights into issues at the local level associated with the development and implementation of new forms of accountability mechanisms.
Within this context, the aims of this research project are to investigate, through the experiences of those operating on NGO aid projects at the local level, the impact of different accounting and accountability mechanisms on the effectiveness of aid delivery. By investigating this issue, this study seeks to contribute towards the formulation of NGO accounting and accountability policies that will be effective in improving the efficiency and effectiveness with which aid funding is transformed into a reduction in human suffering in impoverished nations.