NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, June 30, 2014

The social enterprise sector is hot—it may be worth well over $500 billion in the US alone. But if social business is to solve many of the world’s most pressing problems, we have to make sure it has both internal and external accountability systems in place to do so. What does that mean? It means, at its heart, getting the accountability relationships right between the people who make decisions — in governments, businesses, and all other relevant organizations — in order to ensure the outcomes are fair, inclusive, and sustainable.

Think of how we can best support governments in this, for example. At theAccountability Lab we are working with the government of Liberia to improve transparency through the simple tool of chalk billboards to convey critical information to its citizens (for example, how to register a business or get a passport). We’re also helping to build more effective justice systems throughcommunity mediation programs.

If people have information they can use to ask the right questions, and appropriate feedback mechanisms are in place, this process of external accountability of the government can unleash social, political and economic change to transform societies.