This research seeks to overcome the accountability gap in processes intending to operationalise state accountability for disaster risk reduction (DRR), by understanding accountability in development as a social and political process with a focus on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in empowering citizens to hold policymakers to account.
This paper focuses on understanding accountability as a means of empowerment and voice for citizens, CSOs and marginalised groups, often those most at risk from disasters. In this working paper the DRR work of three CSOs and one national civil society network in the Philippines are examined in order to identify how accountability in the DRR context is operationalised, and what conditions underpin successful engagement and therefore progress on DRR.
Section 2 presents the conceptual framework linking evolving interpretations of accountability in development to the limited progress on DRR globally. Section 3 presents the cases from the Philippines, exploring the range of DRR interventions that explicitly seek to build capacity, partnerships, participatory spaces and legislative change to build accountable governance arrangements for DRR.
The concluding section seeks to draw out the key lessons from the Philippines cases for strengthening DRR through attention to public accountability.
