The Partners’ Survey Co-creation: Building a Collective and Collaborative Accountability Mechanism
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Introduction
The Pledge for Change is a Southern-led initiative that aims to address power imbalances in the international development sector. It encourages greater transparency, equity and collaboration between International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the global South. Supporting this initiative is the Pledge Accountability and Learning Mechanism (PALM), which ensures that INGOs uphold their commitments to equitable partnerships, improved communication, and collective advocacy to influence the donor landscape and adapt their practices to reflect the needs and realities of their Southern partners.
To achieve this, WACSI is leading a survey to gather honest feedback from CSOs working with some INGOs who are signatories to the Pledge for Change initiative. The purpose of the survey is to understand how INGO signatories are progressing towards ensuring equitable partnerships, authentic storytelling, influencing the donor landscape with their partner organisations and identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
The Co-creation Phase
Recognising the importance of aligning the survey with Southern perspectives, WACSI organised a co-creation session on 18 September 2024. Five partner organisations from the global South participated in the session to help refine the survey. The co-creation process was to ensure that the language and questions reflected the experiences of Southern partners, fostering inclusivity and strengthening accountability within the Pledge for Change initiative.
WACSI shared the draft questionnaire a week before the session which allowed partners to review and provide comments and feedback via Google Docs. This transparent approach allowed the partners to suggest changes ahead of the meeting. The co-creation session lasted for an hour and a half and had discussions on how to improve the clarity, relevance and structure of the survey. The participants appreciated their involvement in shaping the process and felt that the questions accurately reflected their realities. One participant even began answering the questionnaire before the session, demonstrating its user-friendliness.
Key feedback from the session included a recommendation to add a question on sustainability. Partners highlighted the need to evaluate INGOs’ efforts to ensure long-term relationships. They also suggested allowing respondents to explain their ratings in questions that require respondents to rate on a scale from zero to ten and proposed a question to measure the proportion of funding that CSOs receive from their INGO partners. These recommendations highlighted important gaps in the initial survey design, ensuring that the final version is more comprehensive.
Following the session, WACSI incorporated the feedback and shared the updated questionnaire with the participating organisations for further review. One partner noted that,
“I am glad about this questionnaire and I feel it can now be used. When we were suggesting some additional information, I did not realise that we were making the questionnaire long as it is now.”
Lessons For INGOs and Development Practitioners
This process provides key lessons for INGOs and development practitioners. Firstly, inclusive collaboration leads to meaningful outcomes. Engaging stakeholders, particularly those directly impacted by an initiative demonstrates the value of creating spaces for inclusive collaboration. This not only strengthens accountability but also fosters trust and ownership among partners. INGOs can ensure their tools and strategies are relevant and impactful when they prioritise input from those the initiative seeks to serve.
Secondly, the co-creation process highlighted the importance of transparency, time and flexibility in enhancing collaboration and engagement. The transparent approach adopted during the co-creation process allowed partners to review and suggest changes to the draft questionnaire via an accessible tool like Google Docs a week ahead of the session. This allowed partners enough time to go through the survey at their convenience and made it easy for participants to provide thoughtful feedback. For INGOs, this highlights the importance of clear and open communication channels during any collaborative effort. Also, it shows the importance of allowing enough time for partners to contribute to a mutually beneficial initiative. Development practitioners should note that transparent processes encourage active participation, uncover critical insights, and improve the quality of outcomes. Flexibility in co-creation ensures that even busy stakeholders can contribute effectively, ultimately enriching the final product.
Finally, this process shows that valuing feedback strengthens accountability mechanisms. This co-creation phase underscored the importance of actively valuing and incorporating stakeholder feedback. For development practitioners, responsive mechanisms build credibility and trust while ensuring that accountability tools are practical, meaningful and aligned with shared goals. INGOs can also employ this co-creation approach to create systems that truly reflect the needs of their partners and drive lasting impact.
Conclusion
The co-creation phase played a crucial role in shaping a more robust and relevant survey. Engaging the Southern partners in the process ensured that the survey would provide meaningful data to guide INGOs in improving their partnership. This survey will serve as a vital tool for driving accountability and enhancing collaboration between INGOs and NGOs. INGOs and development practitioners can leverage this approach in their partnerships and strategies to build trust, improve collaboration and ensure meaningful and sustainable relationships with their partners.
About the author
Patrick K. Adu
Patrick K. Adu is an Emerging Public Leaders (EPL) alumnus and holds a Master of Philosophy in Political Science from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). With a strong passion for research and development, Patrick specialises in international relations, political economy, governance and humanitarian initiatives. Patrick has contributed to several research works aimed at promoting the civil society ecosystem and has contributed to discourse on global political, economic, security and humanitarian happenings. He currently serves as a Research Assistant with the Knowledge Management Unit at the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), where he supports civil society organisations across West Africa with impactful insights and innovative solutions.
