Date: 7 December 2007
Time: 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Venue: Global Distance Learning Center, Asian Institute of Management
The 2007 Global Accountability Report Launch
The Asian Institute of Management Policy Center and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation joined One World Trust in the international launch of the 2007 Global Accountability Report, which measures and ranks the accountability of 30 of the world’s most powerful intergovernmental, corporate and non-governmental organizations. This is the second event of the group together as last January 31, 2007, the 2006 report was launched at the same venue, the AIM-WB Global Distance Learning Center.
The videoconference began with the London site, wherein Mr. Michael Hammer, executive director of One World Trust introduced the organization and the 2007 Global Accountability Report. One World Trust, as Mr. Hammer explains, works to make global governance more accountable. With its Global Accountability Project (GAP), One World Trust aims in particular to generate wider commitment amongst global organizations to establish and adhere to common principles and values of accountability in the relationship with the people they affect and to strengthen the capacity of civil society to engage in global policy and decision making processes. The 2007 Global Accountability Report is the fourth major report published by the Trust as part of this project. Like its predecessors, the 2003 Report Power without Accountability?, the 2005 Pathways to Accountability: the Global Accountability Framework, and the 2006 Global Accountability Report: Holding Power to Account, this year’s Report seeks to deepen the understanding of accountability issues at the global level and encourage cross sector learning. As in 2006, the 2007 Report assesses 30 global organizations from the intergovernmental (IGO), non-governmental (INGO), and corporate (TNC) sectors. The report is authored by himself, Mr. Jeffrey Oatham and the next speaker, Mr. Robert Lloyd.
Mr. Lloyd, project manager of the Trust described the findings of the The 2007 Global Accountability Report that shows intergovernmental organizations claiming five out of the top 10 organizations. This year’s highest performing intergovernmental, corporate, and non-governmental organizations are:
|
Organisation | Overall accountability Score (out of 100) |
| IGOs | ||
1 |
United Nations Development Programme |
88 |
2 |
Asian Development Bank |
81 |
3 |
United Nations Environment Programme |
74 |
4 |
United Nations World Food Programme |
70 |
5 |
Inter-American Development Bank |
68 |
| INGOs | ||
1 |
Christian Aid |
81 |
2 |
The International Accounting Standards Board |
69 |
| Corporates | ||
1 |
The General Electric Company |
65 |
2 |
GlaxoSmithKline |
59 |
3 |
The Coca Cola Company |
56 |
The report uses the Global Accountability Framework to assess the policies and systems of organizations according to four widely-accepted dimensions of accountability: transparency, participation, evaluation, and complaint and response mechanisms. Of these four dimensions, the report shows that IGOs score highest on evaluation and transparency, international non-governmental organizations on participation and transnational companies on complaints and response.
“This reinforces our message that with each sector leading in at least one dimension, there is scope for cross sector learning,” according to the Report
Data is collected from publicly available information, documents provided by the organizations themselves, and interviews with their key officials. In addition, stakeholders and experts on each of the organizations are engaged in the data collection and verification stages of the research.
The 30 institutions assessed in the 2007 Report are:
IGOs |
INGOs |
TNCs |
United Nations Development Programme |
Christian Aid |
The General Electric Company |
Asian Development Bank |
International Accounting Standards Board |
GlaxoSmithKline |
United Nations Environment Programme |
International Save the Children Alliance |
TATA Group |
World Food Programme |
Aga Khan Foundation |
The Coca-Cola Company |
Inter-American Development Bank |
Human Rights Watch |
Petrobras |
Council of Europe |
International Organization for Standardization |
Suez |
Islamic Development Bank |
Medicins Sans Frontieres International |
HSBC Holding |
African Union |
MERCY Malaysia |
Dyncorp International |
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe |
Greanpeace International |
PriceWaterhouseCoopers |
Interpol |
Federation Internationale de Football Association |
Following Mr. Lloyd was a response from a top-ranker institution, Christian Aid. Mr. Aidan Timlin, performance and accountability manager, explained that in Christian Aid, they enforce a culture of accountability, starting as an individual commitment, then through decentralization and new policies. However, Mr. Timlin said that they will not be not complacent though the organization is on the top ten. He said that there are areas for improvement, such as evaluation and participation.
The videoconference turned out to be an interactive exchange of comments and questions between the One World Trust office in London and participating sites from Singapore, Spain, Lebanon, India and the Philippines. Dr. Lan Luh Luh, director of the Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre (CGFRC) spoke from the Singapore side, Mr. Carlos Oliver Cruz, researcher of the Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA) spoke from Spain, Mr. Ziad Abdel Samad, executive director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) spoke from Beirut, Lebanon, Mr. RK Narang, fellow of The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) spoke from Delhi, India and Ms. Leticia Labre, project manager of One World Trust and Dr. Fernando Roxas, faculty at the Asian Institute of Management spoke from the Philippines. Representatives from the Christian Aid Manila Office and the Asian Development Bank came and joined the discussion.
