Step Two: Map your accountability ecosystem
Step TWO: ACTVITY
Mapping your accountability ecosystem
Split into groups, or work together. For the next 40 mins, you will mapping your accountability
ecosystem. If you’re working in groups, once the time is up, each group will take 10 minutes to
present to other groups.
FIRST. Let’s brainstorm stakeholders
Identify all of the stakeholders that have a stake in the issue(s) you have chosen and are therefore part
of your accountability ecosystem.
Think big! The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are cross-cutting in nature, therefore it
is important to think broadly and beyond the usual suspects when mapping the accountability
ecosystem that the participants will be working within.
Think of as many stakeholders in your ecosystem as possible:
• Personal contacts & colleagues
• Civil society stakeholders e.g. Non Governmental Organisatons (NGOs), coalitions, charities
• Institutions, local to national
• Key decision-makers and elected officials
• Other possible stakeholders
SECOND. What stakeholders?
Take them one by one. Write down whether they are:
• Duty bearers: Those who make the decisions – we call these duty bearers. They have a
particular obligation or responsibility to respect, promote and realise human rights and to
abstain from human rights violations.
• Right holders: Those who are affected by the decisions – we call these rights holders,
individuals or social groups that have particular entitlements in relation to specific duty bearers.
In general terms, all human beings are rights’ holders under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
• Influencers: Those who seek to influence decisions – we call these influencers, which include
civil societyorganisations, movements, networks, academics and individual activists.
THIRD. Power mapping: who are the BIG guys?
Not all stakeholders are equal and some may be more powerful than others. Again, look at them one
by one. Write next to them which type(s) of Positive Power they hold:
• Power within: They have confidence, dignity and self-esteem. They are aware of the situation
and realise they can do something about it.
• Power to: They have the ability to act.
• Power with: They have power, together.
They may also have Negative Power – please signpost these too:
• Invisible power: They can control people’s beliefs to benefit self.
• Hidden power: They may set agendas to silence others.
• Visible power: They can use those types of powers that we ‘see’, such as formal rules,
structures.
Fourth. Asset mapping: what resources could they offer?
Identify the most “powerful” stakeholders and ask yourselves:
• What is their individual stake in the issue? Who is most adversely affected?
• How much power do they have over decision-making? And what’s the source of their power?
• What are they able to do?
• What assets do they have to draw on to make change happen? (This could be skills,
information, relationships, resources etc.)
Take notes:
FIFTH. Identify their roles and how to engage with them
Now, think why the stakeholders you’ve identified are important. Place them into a matrix, such as this
one.
Then, for each activity listed in the top row, use stars to rate the importance of having each of the
stakeholders involved.
Stakeholders
Issue
identification
and
prioritisation
Forming your
accountability
framework
Validating your
accountability
framework
Reviewing &
sharing your
data
Identifying
advocacy
asks and key
moments
Making
your case:
mobilisation
and advocacy
Monitoring and
evaluation
Young people
and their
organisations
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
Broader
civil society
(networks,
NGOs,
coalitions,
platforms)
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
Local service
providers
**
**
***
**
-
***
**
Communitybased
accountability
mechanisms
**
**
***
**
***
***
**
Local
government
leadership
*
*
***
*
-
***
**
Central
Government
decisionmakers
(ministers,
policymakers and
bureaucrats)
*
*
***
*
-
***
**
Private sector
-
*
-
*
-
***
*
Media
-
*
-
*
-
***
-
This project has been funded with support from the European
Commission. This training reflects the views of the author, and the
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be
made of the information contained therein.