Movement roles project/Accountability basics
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This page is kept for historical interest. Any policies mentioned may be obsolete. Related to now concluded Wikimedia movement roles project. |
Accountabilities of each Wikimedia movement group or entity
[edit]
Wikimedia groups and entities are accountable TO:
- the part of the movement that they are trying to support (e.g. Wikimedians in Ruritania, even if they are not explicitly members)
- the rest of the Wikimedia movement (e.g. to the Wikimedia Foundation board)
- their broader community (e.g. the people and government of Ruritania)
- their members (e.g. the members of Wikimedia Ruritania)
Wikimedia groups and entities are accountable FOR:
- adhering to the shared principles of the movement outlined above
- helping the movement towards its goals
- fulfilling roles and responsibilities agreed with the worldwide movement
- managing the resources (e.g., trademarks, money, goodwill of the movement) that the movement grants them
- governing themselves in a manner that maximizes accountability to those the group or entity is accountable to
- accounting publicly for funds received and used
- stating publicly the planned actions in an annual plan and budget
- stating publicly what they did, documenting their activities
- ensuring activities are ethical and legal
Mechanisms for enabling accountability:
- Public reporting: local and global
- Annual plans and budgets
- Reports on activities
- Reports on changes in governance
- Timely annual reports of financial accounts (audited for organizations of a certain size)
- Pro-active reporting on problems/issues encountered
Review body(ies) that address problems with organizations??
- Role of WMF Board and staff (as counterparty for agreements between Wikimedia and affiliated organizations)??
- Need for a movement committee to address problems
Points from Berlin Discussion
[edit]NB: There are related ideas in the draft charter
Why
[edit]- Trust
- Stewardship of Resources
- Sense of Ownership by the communities
- Co-operation
- Legal Requirement(s)
What
[edit]- Behaving according to Movement principles
- Knowledge should be free
- Share with all human beings
- No undue influence
- Openness and Diversity
- Volunteer Driven
- Correlating work to roles that have been agreed upon with the movement (e.g.,WMF's role to protect the projects, acting in accordance with trademark agreements)
- Usage of Resources
- Sharing plans, activities and results publicly with the community (different standards depending on the group)
- Relevant legal requirements that apply to the group and the group's jurisdiction
Who
[edit]Foundation, Chapters, local groups. editing communities. (Project leads, individuals involved in the above?)
How
[edit]Principles for enabling internal accountability to the movement:
- proactive management of accountability: Group has responsibility to self-report and regulate on its own accountability requirements
- self-regulation: Group sets own standards for accountability subject to broader "to be considered" standards (that are group appropriate)
- public action and reporting as default: Groups should act and report in public as a default, private should be an exception with justification
- reasonable review of a group's status within the movement (where and when required - frequently, never, active, passive) :
- <keep in mind> Minimizing bureaucracy
Principles for enabling external accountability to the movement:
- public action and reporting as default: Groups should act and report in public as a default, private should be an exception with justification
- clear description of the group's purpose, activities and contact information
Process for review
- This can be tricky, but is important. How are the different movement roles reviewed, measured, summarized?
Meta
[edit]- How do we measure oragnizational effectiveness?
- How do we measure mission alignment?