New York University
Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service
NGO Accountability: Focus on Human Rights Organizations
P11.2217
4:55 – 6:35, Wednesdays, Spring Semester 2010
Room 705 Silver Center
Diana Hortsch
Diana.hortsch@nyu.edu
About the Course:
The 1990s saw a historic growth of NGOs in general, with a notable expansion in the number and scope of
international organizations working in the fields of economic development, humanitarian relief, and human
rights. In the past decade, these NGOs have come under criticism, with claims that they often lack the
legitimacy and transparency they are known to loudly demand from governments, international
organizations and the private sector.
In response, in June 2006, eleven major NGOs signed the first ever international NGO Accountability
Charter, a voluntary statement of principles and policies. Signatories include Amnesty International,
Greenpeace, Transparency International, and Oxfam. Although currently unenforceable, this declaration
could be seen to represent a historic step forward in the evolution and maturation of global civil society.
This course will look at the question of NGO accountability, with a strong focus on the particular
challenges facing human rights NGOs, whether they are domestic or international in scope. The course will
address key theoretical questions of accountability, including the sources from which an NGO’s legitimacy
is drawn and determined, and the ways in which different sources of legitimacy may change the nature of
accountability for the NGO in question.
The course will utilize a series of case studies and hypotheticals to encourage class discussion about what
NGO accountability should look like in practice, seeking to help students understand that the most difficult
questions of accountability often center on the balancing of interests of different stakeholders.
The course will also briefly review the range of legal and regulatory frameworks and mechanisms currently
in place domestically, regionally, and internationally; while acknowledging that true accountability may
depend most on voluntary mechanisms that individual NGOs put in place.
The class will require two short reaction papers and a final paper with an accompanying in-class
presentation.
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Framework:
4.0 points; 14 sessions; Each session 1 hr 40 min. (45 min., 10 min. break, 45 min.)
Important Dates:
2/15 (reaction paper #1 due by noon), 2/24 (final paper topic must be approved), 3/17 (no class, spring
break), 3/15 (reaction paper #2 due by noon), 4/28 (last day regular classes), 5/11 (final paper due by noon;
this due date will possibly be moved forward by one week; determination will be made by 2/24).
Evaluation:
35% Reaction papers
25% Class participation (including reaction to in-class presentations of classmates)
40% Final paper and associated in-class presentation
Required Texts:
1) Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl (eds.), NGO Accountability: Politics, Principles and Innovations
(Earthscan, 2006). [Available at NYU Professional Bookstore.]
2) L. David Brown, Creating Credibility: Legitimacy and Accountability for Transnational Civil Society.
(Kumarian Press, 2008). [Available at NYU Professional Bookstore.]
3) International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP), Deserving Trust: Issues of Accountability for
Human Right NGOs, Draft Report for Consultation, April 2003. [Available via Blackboard]
4) International Center for Nonprofit Law. (2008). Defending Civil Society: A Report of the World
Movement for Democracy. [Available via Blackboard]
5) Reader. [Available via Blackboard]
January 20, 2010
Week One: Course Introduction
Assignment: Students will be asked via email to write two paragraphs about their previous exposure to
and/or interest in NGOs and human rights. This assignment will be due by noon on January 18th.
1) Introduction to the Course
2) Student NGO Experience & Course Expectations
3) Reaction to Course Expectations
4) Introduction to NGO Accountability
Reading:
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Hypothetical to be distributed in class.
January 27, 2010
Week Two: Is there a Crisis in NGO Accountability?
Readings:
Sam Vaknin, The Self-Appointed Altruists, United Press International, October 9, 2002.
Sam Dealy, “An Atrocity that Needs no Exaggeration,” New York Times, August 12, 2007.
Stephanie Strom, “I.R.S. Finds Tax Errors in Reports of Nonprofits,” New York Times, March 1, 2007.
T. Binu, T, “Whither child sponsorship,” Deccan Herald, September 8, 2000,
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0902/59.html.
Hans Antlov, Rustam Ibrahim and Peter van Tuijl, NGO Governance and Accountability in Indonesia:
Challenges in a Newly Democratizing Country in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 9, pp. 147-163.
Please review the “NGO Watch” website, http://www.globalgovernancewatch.org/ngo_watch.
February 3, 2010
Week Three: Intro to NGO Accountability and Human Rights (1)
Readings:
Brown, Chapters One and Two, pp. 1-31.
Materials on introduction to human rights available on Blackboard.
Suggested Readings:
Kennedy, David. “The International Human Rights Movement: Part of the Problem?” Harvard Human
Rights Journal 15, Spring 2002.
Odinkulu, Chidi Anselm. “Why More Africans Don’t Use Human Rights Language”, Human Rights
Dialogue 2, Winter 2000.
February 10, 2010
Week Four: Intro to NGO Accountability and Human Rights (2)
Readings:
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Hugo Slim, By What Authority? The Legitimacy and Accountability of Non-governmental Organizations,
The International Council on Human Rights Policy International Meeting on
Global Trends and Human Rights — Before and after September 11(Geneva, January 10-12, 2002).
Jordan and van Tuijl, Rights and Responsibilities in the Political Landscape of NGO Accountability:
Introduction and Overview, pp. 3-20.
ICHRP, pp. 7-56
Reaction paper #1 due February 15th by noon.
February 17, 2010
Week Five: Global Governance and International Advocacy (1)
Readings:
Stephen Charnovitz, Accountability of Nongovernmental Organizations in Global Governance, in Lisa
Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 2, pp. 21-42.
Brown, Chapters Three and Four, pp. 33-71.
ICHRP, pp. 56-70
February 24, 2010
Week Six: Global Governance and International Advocacy (2)
Readings:
Kenneth Anderson and David Rieff, ‘Global Civil Society’: A Sceptical View, in Global Civil Society,
Helmut Anheier, Marlies Glasius, Mary Kaldor (eds.), (Sage Publications 2005).
John Bolton, Should we take Global Governance Seriously?, Chicago Journal of International Law, Fall
2000, pp. 205-221.
Enrique Peruzotti, Civil Society, Representation and Accountability: Restating Current Debates on the
Representativeness and Accountability of Civic Associations, in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 3,
pp. 43-60.
Suggested Readings:
James Petras, NGOs: In the Service of Imperialism, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 29, Iss. 4, pp. 429441.
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March 3, 2010
Week Seven: Global Governance and International Advocacy (3)
Brown Chapter Seven, Negotiating Campaign Credibility, pp. 119-138.
Juliet Majot, On Trying to Do Good Well: Practicing Participatory Democracy through International
Advocacy Campaigns, in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 13.
Suggested Reading:
Bujagali dam case, Harvard Business School.
March 10, 2010
Week Eight: The International NGO Accountability Charter
Readings:
The International NGO Accountability Charter. [On Blackboard – Please read at least twice]
Everything on the International NGO Accountability Charter website at
http://www.ingoaccountabilitycharter.org/
Baker, M. (2006, June, 18). At last - An Accountability Charter for NGOs. Business Respect, Retrieved
August 20, 2009, from http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/nl/97.html.
ICHRP, pp. 77-122.
Reaction paper #2 due March 15th by noon. Topic: Responsible advocacy.
March 17, 2010
Spring Break
March 24, 2010
Week Nine: Law, Regulation, and Enforcement (1)
Readings:
TBA, ICNL website, on model NGO laws.
Patricia Armstrong, The Limits and Risks of Regulation: The Case of the World Bank-supported Draft
Handbook on Good Practices for Laws Relating to NGOs, in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 4,
pp. 61-80.
ICHRP, pp. 71-76.
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Suggested Readings:
Jassy B. Kwesiga and Harriet Namisi, Issues in Legislation for NGOs in Uganda, in Lisa Jordan and Peter
van Tuijl, Chapter 5, pp. 81-92.
Rajesh Tandon, ‘Board Games’: Governance and Accountability in NGOs, in Michael Edwards and Alan
Fowler (eds.), The Earthscan Reader on NGO Management (Earthscan 2002).
March 31, 2010
Week Ten: Law, Regulation, and Enforcement: Possibilities and Pitfalls
Readings:
Peter van Tuijl, “Promoting Rights While Offsetting Risks: An Overview of NGOs in a Disabled
Environment.”
International Center for Nonprofit Law. (2008). Defending Civil Society A Report of the World Movement
for Democracy.
Kang Xiaoguang and Feng Li, NGO Governance in China: Achievements and Dilemmas, in Jordan and van
Tuijl, Chapter 8, pp. 129-163.
Howard French, “For citizens' groups, the struggle for attention is not so lonely in China,” The
International Herald Tribune, February 13, 2007.
Suggested Readings:
Sophia Woodman, Driving without a Map: Implementing Legal Aid Projects in China Aimed at Improving
Human Rights in Ethics in Action: The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights
Nongovernmental Organizations, Daniel A. Bell & Jean-Marc Coicaud (eds.), pp. 132-150.
April 7, 2010
Week Eleven: Increasing Accountability of Human Rights NGOs:
Voluntary Mechanisms and Approaches (1)
Readings:
The International NGO Accountability Charter. [On Blackboard – Please re-read]
Global Reporting Initiative, NGO Sector Supplement Working Group. (2009). Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines & NGO Sector Supplement.
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Hortsch, D. (2009). Case Study: Defining Responsible Advocacy: The International NGO Accountability
Charter. Research Center for Leadership in Action, Working Paper Series, Robert F. Wagner School of
Public Service, New York University.
ICHRP, pp. 135-139.
April 14, 2010
Week Twelve: Increasing Accountability of Human Rights NGOs:
Voluntary Mechanisms and Approaches (2)
Student Presentations
Reading:
Stephen Golub, NGO Accountability and the Philippine Council for NGO Certification: Evolving Roles
and Issues, in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 6, pp. 93-108.
Suggested Reading:
Hortsch, D. (2009). Case Study: The Philippine Council for NGO Certification: 10 Years Later. Research
Center for Leadership in Action, Working Paper Series, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New
York University.
April 21, 2010
Week Thirteen: Increasing Accountability of Human Rights NGOs:
Voluntary Mechanisms and Approaches (3)
Student Presentations
Readings:
Sarah Okwaare and Jennifer Chapman, Chameleons and Accountability: Linking Learning with Increasing
Accountability in ActionAid International Uganda and the Uganda Land Alliance, in Lisa Jordan and Peter
van Tuijl, Chapter 10, pp. 167-182.
Hetty Kovach, Addressing Accountability at the Global Level: The Challenges Facing International NGOs,
in Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl, Chapter 12, pp. 195-210.
April 28, 2010
Week Fourteen: Increasing Accountability of Human Rights NGOs:
Voluntary Mechanisms and Approaches (4)
Student Presentations
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May 5-11, 2010
Exam Period
May 11, 2010
Final NGO Accountability Paper Due at noon on May 11, 2009
(This due date will possibly be moved forward by one week)
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