Accountability for Empowerment: Dilemmas Facing Non-Governmental Organizations

The accountability of NGOs, particularly their "downward" accountability to their beneficiaries, affects NGO effectiveness in the process of empowerment for the poor and marginalized in developing countries. While debate about the accountability of NGOs and various pressures they face is well traveled, much less consideration is given to the broad values of the NGO and how they may affect their approach to downward accountability. This paper looks at evidence from a number of case studies of NGO programs with poor women in India, on the role of accountability in empowerment outcomes, and the role NGO values play in these outcomes.