Voice Out Loud Issue 16: What Is Accountability in Humanitarian Aid

In the search for quality humanitarian aid, the word "accountability" is often mentioned in the same breath as "effectiveness" and "efficiency". But what does it really mean? For politicians and government employees, it entails checking that their humanitarian money is well spent. While this so-called "upwards accountability" to donors is key, from the perspective of humanitarian NGOs this is by no means the only way that we seek to be accountable. VOICE members are also committed to be accountable to the populations they aim to assist. Moreover, as highlighted by one author in this edition, the beneficiaries' perspective should matter in the "value for money" debate. Other articles look at how to ensure accountability towards each other across the sector, which way NGOs are accountable to their staff, and how to be accountable to the wider public, who support NGOs both directly and as taxpayers. Humanitarian NGOs are also exploring how to further improve the professionalisation of the sector, as demonstrated in the articles on convergence of standards, certification and accountability of clusters. Lastly, we are happy to present Germany's view as a donor on humanitarian accountability.