Dissertation Proposal Defense Announcement by Elena McCollim

Location

Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, 147

Cost

0

OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES? AN EXPLORATION OF DOWNWARD ACCOUNTABILITY AT WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL

by Elena McCollim

Abstract

     International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) face increasing accountability challenges (Edwards and Hulme, 1996), stemming from scandals (Gibelman and Gelman, 2001) and their claims to advance the public good (Hielscher, Winkin, Crack, and Pies, 2017). Donors demand evidence of effectiveness, and INGOs have responded with reform attempts. The first occurred during the 1990s when humanitarian INGOs were criticized following the Rwandan genocide (Deloffre, 2016). Further attempts during the 2000s were motivated by the human rights-based approach to development, conceptualizing beneficiaries as rights-holders and governments and INGOs as duty-bearers (Schmitz, 2012).
      INGOs began to acknowledge that they owe accountability to the communities they serve. The creation of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership in 2003 and the INGO Accountability Charter in 2008 (Crack, 2014, 2017) reflect sector-wide efforts to enhance accountability to mission (Ebrahim, 2005), intended beneficiaries (Crack, 2013), and peer organizations (Murtaza, 2012).
      This dissertation focuses on how World Vision, the world’s largest development and humanitarian NGO, has adopted and implemented accountability reforms. The case will be used to better understand how a major INGO has moved to demonstrate greater accountability. Research has documented a persistent gap between INGO accountability aspirations and practices (Schmitz, Raggo, and Bruno-van Vijfeijken, 2012). Downward accountability remains elusive due to such factors as INGOs’ lack of transparency toward their intended beneficiaries (Schmitz, Raggo, and Bruno-van Vijfeijken, 2012); the power imbalance between them (Ebrahim, 2003); donor pressures (Bruno van-Vijfeijken and Schmitz, 2011); and competition with other INGOs (Cooley and Ron, 2002).
      Using process tracing in a within-case comparison (Collier, 2011), this exploratory qualitative study examines the mechanisms likely to have led to the adoption and implementation of downward accountability mechanisms within the INGO.
      In the first phase, a content analysis will be conducted of the INGO’s internal and external documents. In the second phase, via convenient snowball sampling, semi-structured interviews will be conducted of 20-40 staffers, using these sensitizing concepts (Patton 2014): downward accountability, social accountability, humanitarian relief, development.
      The study’s significance lies in its potential to contribute to understanding of the processes at work in implementation of downward accountability, considered important for program effectiveness (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000).

*Note: Dissertation proposal defense is open to current USD faculty, graduate students, and staff.