News and updates from BCSDN and the region
In the Resilient Roots initiative, 14 organisations from all over the world are running pilot projects to test new primary constituent accountability mechanisms. In most cases, these mechanisms focus on collecting and using feedback from the key constituents of each organisation. Feedback is an important element of improving accountability, and for this process to be
Read more →The Global Standard for CSO Accountability launched the new guidance materials tool to help CSOs assess where they stand in relation to the Global Standard. Through the 3-step process organizations can find out how well they perform against the Global Standard’s 12 accountability commitments. The guidance materials not only let interested organizations understand what it
Read more →The aim of the Resilient Roots initiative is to test whether organisations who are more accountable and responsive to their roots – namely, their primary constituents – are more resilient to external threats from governmental and non-governmental sources. We believe that if civil society is accountable to and engaged with its constituency, it will be
Read more →The kind of long-term shifts in public opinion needed to end problems like toxic masculinity cannot just be achieved by raising awareness or “naming and shaming”. But civil society tends to be so busy exposing the world’s most terrible suffering that it rarely communicates hope, fatally undermining efforts to make change happen. We must do
Read more →“School as a community center” is an important instrument in strengthening local communities. This model aims to transform the school into the place where partnerships between local government-school-family-community are built, as an environment that is in service and in interaction with the community; which contributes to youth development and civic engagement; supports families and community development with respect to local safety and their commitment to decision-making and the strengthening of local democracy. In this context, IDM has been piloting the project “Advancing school boundaries towards resilient communities” in the municipalities of Cërrik and Peqin, Albania. Read more here Source: IDM Albania
Read more →It is a time of transformation for the civil society sector – and it should be perceived as such by those CSOs who, amidst major geopolitical shifts, rising environmental challenges and ongoing social changes, are coming to understand – and experience – the impact of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution. Building directly on the third
Read more →The 2030 Agenda is a commitment to deliver basic goods, services and protections as outlined in 17 SDGs, but also to secure and preserve all people’s fundamental human rights and dignity – captured in the foundational commitment to leave no one behind. TAP Network launched a guide to bringing this principle to life in every
Read more →Within the development and humanitarian section, issues of abuse, exploitation and sexual harassment have been identified as a major issue. Action is urgently needed to better safeguard community members and staff from abuse, exploitation and sexual harassment of any kind. For safeguarding to be successful it must take place on multiple levels and be built
Read more →Many practitioners have been implementing, advocating and exploring different ways of practicing Dynamic Accountability. However, they have not had the opportunity to share and exchange their practices and knowledge. A sharing and learning space, which could become a community of practice would allow practitioners, academics and donors to gather diverse perspectives and explore different solutions
Read more →Most NGOs define themselves through the specific issues upon which they work—climate change, human rights, international poverty—while remaining indifferent about the values to which they appeal for public support. If they were to more explicitly articulate the role of values in their communications and overall strategies, diverse interest groups would find a lot more in
Read more →After producing a five-month, multimedia series on the power of client and community feedback, Stanford Social Innovation Review conducted two audience surveys to understand the campaign’s influence. The results reveal that organizations increasingly plan to collect feedback and are devoting more resources to those efforts. Respondents also expressed ongoing challenges to making feedback a norm in program
Read more →In today’s fast changing environments, it is beneficial for organizations to conduct an exercise to self-evaluate their accountability practices on a regular basis, and to adapt in real-time. In light of a Dynamic Accountability approach, CSOs can only become more transparent and effective when they are ready to turn themselves inside out, including regular spaces
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