ACCOUNTABILITY
Photo: Elish Majumder / HEED
Accountability is becoming a commonly used word in development work. Accountability is about good relationships. It is about taking our responsibility seriously and explaining our decisions and actions to others, such as donors, peers and the people we serve. We also have a role in holding others accountable to us and to poor people.
This issue looks at accountability in different situations at community level. The first article looks at how church pastors acted to hold politicians accountable to a community in Zambia. An example of a church being accountable to the community is given on page 10. The idea of accountability to communities in NGO work is introduced on page 4 and there are two articles from Zimbabwe and Pakistan that look at how it can be carried out in practice. The centre pages focus on financial accountability and provide practical ideas for keeping treasurers accountable. There are also articles about accountability in water councils and savings groups.
We hope this issue provides ideas that we can all put into practice in our service of others.
Please find below articles from Footsteps issue 76 in html.
To download a pdf version of Footsteps issue 76, please click here (371KB).