Transparency and Accountability in Civil Society Organizations

In recent years, the great increase in the relative importance of Nonprofit Organizations, also referred to as Civil Society Organizations, in key areas such as health, education, human rights, culture and others, entails greater responsibility in leadership and management of these organizations. They have also diversified their scope of activities, moving from more traditional areas such as health and education, to more innovative areas such as the development of alternative energies in isolated populations or evaluation of police forces. Today, there is practically no human development area where these organizations do not actively intervene. All this favors a greater scrutiny, both from their own stakeholders as from the public in general. In fact, the scrutiny by the stakeholders is usually fairly fair, since they usually have more information about the organization. On the other hand, the general public is often plunged into prejudices, positive or negative, which alter the possibility of reaching a valid and substantiated conclusion about their work. This is where transparency and accountability become decisive strategic decisions for the credibility of the nonprofit sector.