Misplaced Pages

Sphere (organization)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

Sphere (formerly known as the Sphere Project) is a global movement started in 1997 aiming to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance . The Sphere standards are the most commonly used and most widely known set of core humanitarian standards . Sphere's flagship publication is The Sphere Handbook .

#91908

123-400: The 1990s saw a rapid increase in the international activities of humanitarian agencies. This was particularly the case during Great Lakes refugee crisis in 1994. A growing number of donor and NGO evaluations were critical of the responses and actions of many NGOs. There was growing discussion among humanitarian agencies about the lack of standards for providing humanitarian assistance. Some of

246-540: A genocide to rid the country of the Tutsis. The assassinations of Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on 6 April 1994 became the pretext for the start of the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the deaths of several hundred thousand people, mostly Tutsi, over the next three months. Most murders were carried out by, with the cooperation of, or in the absence of protest by Hutus who lived in the same communities as their victims. At

369-476: A 15th-century Latin manuscript by John Fortescue , also known as The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy ). This usage of "governance" to refer to the arrangements of governing became orthodox including in Sidney Low 's seminal text of the same title in 1904 and among some later British constitutional historians. However, the use of the term governance in its current broader sense, encompassing

492-494: A binding effect on the "quality of life and opportunities of the larger public." Simply put, private—not public—entities are making public policy . For example, insurance companies exert a great societal impact, largely invisible and freely accepted, that is a private form of governance in society; in turn, reinsurers, as private companies, may exert similar private governance over their underlying carriers. The term "public policy" should not be exclusively associated with policy that

615-519: A cholera epidemic that swept through the camps. The refugees near Goma were located at Mugunga on a plain of volcanic rock, which was so hard that the French troops and aid workers were unable to dig graves for the bodies that began to line roads. The situation led the UN Representative to Rwanda Shahryar Khan to call the camps a "revision of hell". The international media coverage of the plight of

738-542: A context of financial uncertainty) have influenced health system priorities and subsequently the setting of the health governance function. These trends have resulted in the emergence of joint actions of all stakeholders to achieve seminal changes in 21st-century societies. It is also important to consider that people have witnessed a global shift from traditional and reactive healthcare to proactive care, mainly enabled by investment in advanced technologies. Recent artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine learning have made possible

861-402: A dual focus: achieving the organization's social mission and ensuring the organization is viable. Both responsibilities relate to fiduciary responsibility that a board of trustees (sometimes called directors, or Board, or Management Committee—the terms are interchangeable) has with respect to the exercise of authority over the explicit actions the organization takes. Public trust and accountability

984-470: A failed RPF invasion of Rwanda in 1990, as both a reward to an ally and in the hopes that the large Rwandan refugee population in Uganda would return home. The invasion, and the subsequent occupation of parts of the northern prefectures of Byumba , Umutara and Ruhengeri , internally displaced many Hutus and heightened ethnic tensions. The 1993 Arusha Accords attempted to offer a diplomatic solution to both

1107-676: A first draft was published and launched both in Washington, DC, and London. The first draft notes that it was drawn up with the work of some 641 named individuals (plus countless unnamed persons), drawn from 228 organizations, including NGOs , the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement , academic institutions, the United Nations and governmental agencies. It was posted on the Sphere Project site to allow for wide feedback. Phase 2 saw

1230-435: A front for the real leaders and were able to secure control of the humanitarian aid. The leadership could punish their enemies by withholding aid, reward their supporters by giving it and even make money either by reporting more refugees than actually existed and selling the surplus or by forcing the refugees to pay a food tax. The political elite and ex-FAR soldiers were given preferential treatment. This led, for example, to

1353-432: A further 300,000 remained in internally displaced person camps. On 18 July 1994, RPF forces captured the northwestern town of Gisenyi and declared a new government with Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Kagame in the newly created position of vice-president. Gisenyi was the center of the provisional government and its fall caused over 800,000 Rwandans to cross into Goma , Zaire, over four days in late July. This outflow

SECTION 10

#1732852800092

1476-456: A global community, bringing together those humanitarian practitioners sharing a commitment to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance. In June 2018, Sphere launched a membership campaign, inviting humanitarian organisations to formally participate in its governance . Sphere is currently governed by a General Assembly, composed of all Sphere members, and overseen by an Executive Committee, whose officers are elected among

1599-402: A greater likelihood of program adoption beneficial to the needs reflected by the citizens. The mechanism of participatory governance links the social sphere to the political to produce policies directly molded by or influenced by citizens. Therefore, participatory governance potentially improves public service delivery and the allocation of resources. Emerging thinking about contract governance

1722-859: A group of people (perhaps with divergent opinions or interests) reach collective decisions generally regarded as binding on the group, and enforced as common policy . Governance, on the other hand, conveys the administrative and process-oriented elements of governing rather than its antagonistic ones. This distinction assumes the possibility of the traditional separation between "politics" and "administration" . Contemporary governance practice and theory sometimes questions this distinction, premising that both "governance" and "politics" involve aspects of power and accountability . In general terms, public governance occurs in various ways: Private governance occurs when non-governmental entities, including private organizations, dispute resolution organizations, or other third party groups, make rules and/or standards which have

1845-408: A health policy framework called Health 2020 was developed as a result of the collaboration between State members in the region. It gives policy-makers a vision, a strategic path and a set of priorities to improve health, guaranteeing that it is more equitable and sustainable. In the 21st century, global trends (e.g., changing population demographics and epidemiology, widening social inequalities, and

1968-433: A larger group typically relies on a well-functioning governing body , which is a specific group of people entrusted with the authority and responsibilities to make decisions about the rules, enforcing them and overseeing the smooth operation of the group within the broader framework of governance. The most formal type of a governing body is a government, which has the responsibility and authority to make binding decisions for

2091-404: A normative idea based on the principles of place-based multi-stakeholder dialogue, negotiation and spatial decision-making, and aims to achieve environmental, economic and social objectives simultaneously. The current discourse about landscape governance calls for participatory and inclusive processes, that take into account the local realities (i.e. biophysical, cultural, social parameters), and

2214-520: A number of French humanitarian agencies feared that donors would disburse funding based on fulfillment of Sphere standards, restricting the ability of agencies to demonstrate success in ways that are not open to formal measurement. They felt that the Sphere approach would ignore non-quantifiable aspects of humanitarian action such as solidarity and witnessing and could devalue efforts of the affected population to solve their own problems Some critics feared that

2337-652: A particular 'field' of governance associated with a type of activity or outcome (including environmental governance, internet governance, and information technology governance), or a particular 'model' of governance, often derived as an empirical or normative theory (including regulatory governance, participatory governance, multilevel governance, metagovernance, and collaborative governance). Governance can also define normative or practical agendas. Normative concepts of fair governance or good governance are common among political , public sector , voluntary , and private sector organizations. In its most abstract sense, governance

2460-562: A senior UNHCR staff member in the refugee camps, wrote, "Discussions with refugee leaders...showed that exile was the continuation of war by other means." The result was dramatic. An estimated 500,000 Rwandans fled east into Tanzania in the month of April. On 28—29 April, 250,000 people crossed the bridge at Rusumo Falls into Ngara , Tanzania in 24 hours in what the UNHCR agency called "the largest and fastest refugee exodus in modern times". The apparent organization of this Rusumo evacuation

2583-591: A specific geopolitical system (like a country) through established rules and guidelines. A government may operate as a democracy where citizens vote on who should govern towards the goal of public good . Beyond governments, other entities can also have governing bodies. These can be legal entities or organizations, such as corporations , companies or non-profit organizations governed by small boards of directors pursuing more specific aims. They can also be socio-political groups including hierarchical political structures, tribes, religious subgroups, or even families. In

SECTION 20

#1732852800092

2706-664: A tribe or a family), a formal or informal organization, a corporation, a non-governmental organization, a non-profit organization, a project team, a market, a network or even the global stage. "Governance" can also pertain to a specific sector of activities such as land, environment, health, internet, security, etc. The degree of formality in governance depends on the internal rules of a given entity and its external interactions with similar entities. As such, governance may take many forms, driven by many different motivations and with many different results. Whereas smaller groups may rely on informal leadership structures, effective governance of

2829-568: A variant of governing can be dated back to the early 1990s when academics began to stress the need for citizen participation in the government process. This decentralization of state power "strength[ens] vertical accountability" improving the relationship between citizens and municipal governments. The idea is that citizens should play a more direct roles in public decision-making or at least engage more deeply with political issues. Government officials should also be responsive to this kind of engagement. In practice, participatory governance can supplement

2952-410: A variety of types of actors – not just states – exercise power. In contrast to the traditional meaning of governance, the term global governance is used to denote the regulation of interdependent relations in the absence of an overarching political authority. The best example of this is the international system or relationships between independent states. The concept of global governance began in

3075-451: A way that they become accepted 'norms'. The fact that 'norms' can be established at any level and can then be used to shape the governance process as whole, means metagovernance is part of both the input and the output of the governing system. A collaborative governance framework uses a relationship management structure, joint performance and transformation management processes and an exit management plan as controlling mechanisms to encourage

3198-429: A wide range of steering and rule-making related functions carried out by governments/decisions makers as they seek to achieve national health policy objectives that are conducive to universal health coverage." A national health policy is a complex and dynamic process, which changes from State to State according to the political, historical and socio-economic situation prevailing in the country. Mainly it seeks to strengthen

3321-439: A ‘right of assistance’ and describes the legal responsibility of states to guarantee that right. However, while the ‘right to dignity’ and ‘right to assist’ are clearly established in international law, the legal basis of a ‘right to assistance’ is not entirely clear. Furthermore, the right to life with dignity described in the charter is intimately linked to social, economic and political rights that are not sufficiently addressed in

3444-744: Is a theoretical concept referring to the actions and processes by which stable practices and organizations arise and persist. These actions and processes may operate in formal and informal organizations of any size; and they may function for any purpose, good or evil, for profit or not. Conceiving of governance in this way, one can apply the concept to states , to corporations , to non-profits , to NGOs , to partnerships and other associations, to business relationships (especially complex outsourcing relationships), to project teams , and to any number of humans engaged in some purposeful activity. Most theories of governance as process arose out of neoclassical economics . These theories build deductive models, based on

3567-636: Is also shaped by external factors such as globalization , social movements or technological progress. From a normative perspective, good, effective and fair governance involves a well-organized system that fairly represents stakeholders ' interests and needs. Such governance guides the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of the group's objectives, policies, and programs, ensuring smooth operation in various contexts. It fosters trust by promoting transparency, responsibility, and accountability, and employs mechanisms to resolve disputes and conflicts for greater harmony. It adapts to changing circumstances, keeping

3690-472: Is an essential aspect of organizational viability so it achieves the social mission in a way that is respected by those whom the organization serves and the society in which it is located. Corporate organizations often use the word governance to describe both: Corporate governance consists of the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way people direct, administer or control an organization. Corporate governance also includes

3813-403: Is by Richard Eells (1960, p. 108) to denote "the structure and functioning of the corporate polity". The "corporate government" concept itself is older and was already used in finance textbooks at the beginning of the 20th century (Becht, Bolton, Röell 2004). Project governance is the management framework within which project decisions are made and outcomes of a project are realized. Its role

Sphere (organization) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3936-441: Is considered to contribute to poverty reduction and food security, since it can enable farmers to fully participate in the economy. Without recognized property rights, it is hard for small entrepreneurs, farmers included, to obtain credit or sell their business – hence the relevance of comprehensive land governance. There is constant feedback between land tenure problems and land governance. For instance, it has been argued that what

4059-483: Is focusing on creating a governance structure in which the parties have a vested interest in managing what are often highly complex contractual arrangements in a more collaborative, aligned, flexible, and credible way. In 1979, Nobel laureate Oliver Williamson wrote that the governance structure for a contract is the "framework within which the integrity of a transaction is decided", adding further that "because contracts are varied and complex, governance structures vary with

4182-464: Is frequently called ' land grabbing ', was partly made possible by the Washington Consensus -inspired liberalization of land markets in developing countries. Many land acquisition deals were perceived to have negative consequences, and this in turn led to initiatives to improve land governance in developing countries. The quality of land governance depends on its practical implementation, which

4305-554: Is known as land administration : ‘the way in which rules of land tenure are made operational’. And another factor is accountability: the degree to which citizens and stakeholder groups are consulted and can hold to account their authorities. The main international policy initiative to improve land governance is known as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in

4428-557: Is likely the most widely known and internationally recognized tool in the field of humanitarian standards. Considering all of its editions, the Sphere Handbook has been translated in more than 30 languages. The Sphere standards are periodically revised to make sure the Handbook reflects new evidence and evolving practice in the humanitarian sector. In 2015, Sphere and six other humanitarian standard initiatives formally joined to establish

4551-587: Is made by government . Public policy may be created by either the private sector or the public sector. If one wishes to refer only to public policy that is made by government, the best term to use is "governmental policy", which eliminates the ambiguity regarding the agent of the policy making. Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enforcing rules. Within global governance,

4674-509: Is seen as evidence that the collapsing government was behind the large refugee outflows. By May 1994, a further 200,000 people from the provinces of Butare , Kibungo and Kigali-Rural had fled south into Burundi. As the RPF captured the capital of Kigali , the military of France set up a safe zone in southwest Rwanda in June 1994 in what was dubbed " Opération Turquoise ". It was ostensibly done to stop

4797-574: Is to assure that investment in IT generates business value and mitigates the risks that are associated with IT projects. Blockchains offer a novel way to enforce agreements and achieve cooperation and coordination. The main technical features of blockchains support transparency and traceability of records, information immutability and reliability, and autonomous enforcement of agreements. As such, blockchains will affect traditional forms of governance—most notably, contractual and relational governance—and may change

4920-474: Is to provide a repeatable and robust system through which an organization can manage its capital investments—project governance handles tasks such as outlining the relationships between all groups involved and describing the flow of information to all stakeholders . Environmental governance (EG) consists of a system of laws, norms, rules, policies and practices that dictate how the board members of an environment related regulatory body should manage and oversee

5043-581: The Humanitarian Charter . Its final draft highlighted the importance of three principles in particular: By May 1998, a draft edition of the handbook was posted on the Internet for comments. Phase 1 was extended by four months to October 1998. Phase 2 of the project was initiated in November focusing on the publication and dissemination of the standards and the development of training materials. In December,

Sphere (organization) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5166-503: The London School of Economics , among others - offer governance as an area of study. Many social scientists prefer to use the term "governance" when discussing the process of governing, because it covers the whole range of institutions and relationships involved. Like government , the word governance derives, ultimately, from the Greek verb kubernaein [ kubernáo ] (meaning to steer ,

5289-523: The Second Congo War , the world's deadliest conflict since World War II . While peace was officially declared in 2003, ethnically inspired violence continues to afflict the Kivus . Rwanda continues to struggle with the aftermath of genocide and large-scale forced migration . The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and community gacaca courts exist to punish those who planned and carried out

5412-620: The cycle of poverty that had led Rwanda into crisis originally. The AFDL continued its offensive until it reached Kinshasa and overthrew Mobutu in 1997. Mobutu fled Zaire and soon died in exile four months later. Afterwards, Kabila named himself the new president and changed the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo . However, the relationship between Kabila and his Rwandan and Ugandan backers turned sour. An attempt by Rwanda and Uganda to overthrow Kabila in 1998 grew into

5535-456: The health system , making sure that they are capable of meeting the health needs of targeted populations. More broadly, health governance requires a synergistic set of policies, many of which reside in sectors other than health as well as governors beyond the national governments, which must be supported by structures and mechanisms that enable collaboration. For instance, in the European context,

5658-434: The relationships , interactions , power dynamics and communication within an organized group of individuals which not only sets the boundaries of acceptable conduct and practices of different actors of the group and controls their decision-making processes through the creation and enforcement of rules and guidelines, but also manages , allocates and mobilizes relevant resources and capacities of different members and sets

5781-464: The 1980s, the Rwandan government of Juvénal Habyarimana claimed that the country could not accommodate the return of all refugees without the help of international community because Rwanda was said to be among most densely populated countries on the African continent . Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Rwandan exiles formed political and military alliances, particularly in Uganda. The leader of one of these

5904-512: The Children and CARE , completing the departure of the largest and most professional humanitarian aid organizations upon which UNHCR relied heavily. A secondary reason given by some of these organizations is that they hoped that this dramatic action would prompt the international community to disarm the camps. Despite repeated calls by the UN for international intervention to separate the armed elements from

6027-656: The Context of National Food Security (VGGT), endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Landscape governance roughly refers to the rules, processes and institutions according to which decisions regarding the protection, management and planning of the landscape are made. Landscape governance differs from country to country according to the national context (e.g., political system, organization of public administration, economy, culture etc.). Generally, landscape governance could be described as both an empirical observation and

6150-709: The European Commission , has stated that "the multilevel system of governance on which our European regional policy is based provides a key boost to the Union's competitive edge" and that, in times of economic crisis, "multilevel governance must be a priority." "Metagovernance" is the "governing of governing". It represents the established ethical principles, or 'norms', that shape and steer the entire governing process. There are no clearly defined settings within which metagoverning takes place, or particular persons who are responsible for it. While some believe metagovernance to be

6273-506: The French-Israeli medical quarters. CARE Deutschland supplied ambulances, and Merlin of Ireland supplied trucks and heavy equipment to distribute food and supplies to the refugee camps. The country of Germany was the sixth largest donor to the intervention, Ireland was 16th. The first goal of the political leadership was to gain control of the food supply. This was accomplished by a system of "elected popular leaders", who acted as

SECTION 50

#1732852800092

6396-568: The HSP are: From the beginning, a decision was made that an important part of the funding would come from the sponsoring agencies themselves, with the remainder made up of funds from governmental agencies. A little over a quarter of the funds for phase 1 came from the SCHR and InterAction with the rest coming from 10 governments. As the budget expanded in Phases 2 and 3, so did the number of government donors, shifting

6519-599: The Humanitarian Standards Partnership (HSP). The aim of the Partnership is to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian action across all sectors and a harmonized approach to support the user in the application of standards. The HSP organizes joint training opportunities, research initiatives, and outreach activities. It also runs advocacy activities calling for an increased application of humanitarian standards. The other initiatives which compose

6642-674: The Hutu victory was sporadic attacks against Tutsis that led to over 300,000 Tutsis fleeing the country over the next several years. Anti-Hutu attacks in neighboring Burundi by the Tutsi-led government there led a renewal in attacks against Tutsis in Rwanda in 1973, resulting in even more refugees, many seeking asylum in Uganda . The land formerly owned by these thousands of refugees was subsequently claimed by others, creating another politically charged situation. By

6765-559: The RPA threat and the internal tensions, but it was not implemented. Ethnic tensions became even greater following the murder of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye , a Hutu, in October 1993, an event that sparked the Burundian Civil War in which large numbers of both Hutus and Tutsis were killed. Hutu militants, known as Interahamwe , and elements in the government in Rwanda began to plan

6888-476: The RPF. To aid the ground forces, Israel conducted the largest medical mission in its history, and, although their supplies were not as abundant as those of the other forces, their all-volunteer force of military surgeons was composed both of specialists and sub-specialists, including well-known surgeons. The two units established a unique and constructive method of operation which relied on France's abundant medical supplies and Israel's medical expertise. Japan

7011-470: The Red Cross and Inter-governmental agencies such as the UNHCR, WHO, and WFP. The sector committees formulated minimum standards of assistance for each of the sectors. The intention of the project was that the setting up of minimum standards would help to improve accountability and the overall quality of humanitarian response to those affected by disasters. In early 1998, a working group was established to draft

7134-475: The Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response ( SCHR ) about a project for setting standards. The members of both organizations decided that it would be a good idea to pool their resources and set up a joint project. Thus, in 1997, the Sphere Project was set up with a management committee made up of representatives from each of the SCHR members and representatives from InterAction. More than 25 percent of

7257-414: The access to, use of and control over land are made, implemented and enforced; it is also about managing and reconciling competing claims on land. In developing countries, it is relevant as a tool to contribute to equitable and sustainable development, addressing the phenomenon that is known as ‘ land grabbing ’. The operational dimension of land governance is land administration . Security of land tenure

7380-683: The activities of a wide range of public and private institutions, acquired general currency only as recently as the 1990s, when it was re-minted by economists and political scientists and disseminated by institutions such as the UN , the IMF and the World Bank . Since then, the term has gained increasing usage. Governance often refers to a particular level of governance associated with a type of organization (including public governance, global governance, non-profit governance, corporate governance , and project governance),

7503-533: The affairs of any environment related regulatory body which is responsible for ensuring sustainability ( sustainable development ) and manage all human activities— political , social and economic . Environmental governance includes government, business and civil society, and emphasizes whole system management . To capture this diverse range of elements, environmental governance often employs alternative systems of governance, for example watershed-based management. In some cases, it views natural resources and

SECTION 60

#1732852800092

7626-513: The arrival of the Belgians in 1920, the categories began to "rigidify" and become thought of as ethnic. The modern history of Rwanda has in many ways been one of tension between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi " ethnic " groups. While there has been much scholarship about the emergence of these separate ethnic identities, particularly through the colonial governance structures, before and after independence in 1961, people within Rwanda acted within

7749-409: The assumptions of modern economics, to show how rational actors may come to establish and sustain formal organizations, including firms and states, and informal organizations, such as networks and practices for governing the commons. Many of these theories draw on transaction cost economics. There is a distinction between the concepts of governance and politics . Politics involves processes by which

7872-634: The automation as well as the standardisation of many processes in healthcare , which have also brought to light challenges to the existing governance structures. One of these challenges concerns the ownership of health data . Internet governance was defined by the World Summit on the Information Society as "the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape

7995-438: The balance, with governments contributing about 85% of the funds for the latter two phases. Although generally well accepted, a number of criticisms have been levelled against Sphere both in terms of its humanitarian charter and minimum standards. The first critique concerns the Sphere charter. As the charter was developed by NGOs, its legal validity has been called into question. The charter recognizes that affected persons have

8118-520: The beginning of the genocide in April 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front began an offensive from territory in northern Rwanda that it had captured in previous fighting and made rapid progress. Hutus fled the advancing RPF forces, with French historian Gérard Prunier asserting, "Most of the Hutu who had stayed in the country were there because they had not managed to run away in time." In the midst of

8241-409: The case of a state, governance expresses a growing awareness of the ways in which diffuse forms of power and authority can secure order even in the absence of state activity. A variety of external actors without decision-making power can influence this system of state governance. These include lobbies , think-tanks , political parties , non-government organizations , community and media . Governance

8364-431: The chaos of post-genocide Rwanda, over 700,000 Tutsi refugees, some of whom had been in Uganda since 1959, began their return. Contrary to refugee flows in other wars, the Rwandan exodus was not large numbers of individuals seeking safety, but a large-scale, centrally directed initiative. The refugees settled in massive camps almost directly on the Rwandan border, organized by their former leaders in Rwanda. Joël Boutroue,

8487-438: The charter. A second criticism has been that Sphere’s “one size fits all” approach prevents humanitarians from adapting to the diverse cultural, political and security contexts in which they operate. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), one of the prominent critics of Sphere, argues that Sphere “tend[s] towards being prescriptive, leaving little room for contextual adaption”, and thus is only useful in an ideal situation. Importantly,

8610-411: The civilians in need of assistance, there was little response. Of over 40 countries that UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali approached to provide peacekeepers, only one replied affirmatively. The UN eventually resorted to hiring Zairean soldiers to provide a minimum level of security, a situation that everyone realized was far from ideal. In light of their abandonment by its trusted partners and

8733-532: The country at the end of the genocide. However, the humanitarian relief effort was vastly compromised by the presence among the refugees of many of the Interahamwe and government officials who carried out the genocide, who used the refugee camps as bases to launch attacks against the new government led by Paul Kagame . The camps in Zaire became particularly politicized and militarized. The knowledge that humanitarian aid

8856-426: The crowded refugee camps, ultimately killing tens of thousands. Soon, the problem was exacerbated as rain began to fall and many people contracted septic meningitis . By then, France had established a field hospital at the area of Lake Kivu in an attempt to help the large numbers of refugees. Some of these refugees were Interahamwe leaders and members of the government who fled the country fearing retaliation from

8979-435: The development of extensive training material for using the handbook. The training program focuses "mainly on the day-to-day work of the individual humanitarian practitioner." The main method is to use workshops for humanitarian field staff to facilitate the practical application of the minimum standards. The handbook was completely revised and a second edition was launched in 2004. In addition an extensive external evaluation

9102-454: The domestic and global level, the term governance marginalizes regulation as a constitutive instrument of governance. The term regulatory governance therefore allows us to understand governance beyond the state and governance via regulation. Participatory governance focuses on deepening democratic engagement through the participation of citizens in the processes of governance with the state. The theoretical framework of participatory governance as

9225-411: The endangered mountain gorilla , were badly damaged by the demands for firewood and charcoal made by the refugees. Two years after the arrival of the refugees 105 km of the park's forest had been affected, of which 63 km had been razed. The outside world, at the time focused on the wars of the former Yugoslavia , turned its attention away from the happenings of central Africa. The exception

9348-456: The environment as global public goods, belonging to the category of goods that are not diminished when they are shared. This means that everyone benefits from, for example, a breathable atmosphere , stable climate and stable biodiversity. Governance in an environmental context may refer to: Land governance is concerned with issues of land ownership and tenure. It consists of the policies, processes and institutions by which decisions about

9471-494: The evolution and use of the Internet ." Internet governance deals with how much influence each sector of society should have on the development of the Internet, such as to what extent the state should be able to censor it, and how issues on the Internet, such as cyber-bullying and criminal behavior should be approached. IT governance primarily deals with connections between business focus and IT management. The goal of clear governance

9594-474: The first three months after the original exodus. The UNHCR was forced to halt its efforts to repatriate refugees after both their staff and the refugees were threatened by Interahamwe under the orders of the exiled leadership. However, by September 1994 rumors of violence by the RPF within Rwanda, combined with tightened control by the Hutu leadership of the camps, has drastically reduced the rate of return and eventually stopped it altogether by early 1995. In

9717-411: The first week of July, deaths among the refugee community were occurring at a rate of 600 per week, and two weeks later had reached 2000 per week as the refugee population increased and the health situation worsened. Mortality rates reached a height during a 24-hour period in late July when the death toll near Goma from cholera , diarrhea and other diseases was 7000. Over 50,000 people died, mainly from

9840-558: The former Armed Forces of Rwanda ( French : Forces Armées Rwandaises, ex-FAR ), fully armed with an intact officer corps and transport unit, as well as almost all of the politicians. The only other camp complex to host significant numbers of leaders of the former government was the large Benaco camp in Tanzania, which held a small number of the exiled military and political leadership. The exiles chose to base themselves mainly in Zaire because of

9963-510: The funds for the first phase of the project came from the member agencies of the management committee and the rest from a few government donors. From the beginning, three observers were invited to fully participate in the work of the management committee. Sponsors: Observers: The original objective of the Sphere Project was to develop a humanitarian charter and associated set of minimum standards in collaboration with leading NGOs, interested donor governments and UN agencies, to both disseminate

10086-667: The genocide, but the French/European forces prohibited the entry of RPF forces that were already stopping the genocide and the Hutus who fled there included militants and members of the ousted government, as well as Hutu civilians. The French soon ended their intervention, leading to the flight of 300,000 people from the Zone Turquoise west towards the Zairean town of Bukavu in July and August, while

10209-400: The genocide, but the scale of violence forced the Rwandan people into an occasionally uneasy coexistence. The Rwandan government has been generally credited with encouraging economic development and national reconciliation, though it has also been criticized for oppression of its critics. The crisis had a massive impact on the ecology of the region. The forests of Virunga National Park , home to

10332-554: The group responsive and resilient. By delivering on its promises and creating positive outcomes, it fosters legitimacy and acceptance of the governing body, leading to rule-compliance, shared responsibility, active cooperation, and ultimately, greater stability and long-term sustainability. Many institutions of higher education - such as the Balsillie School of International Affairs , Munk School of Global Affairs , Sciences Po Paris , Graduate Institute Geneva , Hertie School , and

10455-534: The infrastructure to handle the initial influx of Rwandan refugees. However, facilities there were also eventually overwhelmed by the sheer number of people fleeing across the border, requiring emergency humanitarian intervention. The UN, in the absence of any serious military aid from the US, was forced to open its communication pathways wider than before and urge other countries to join the efforts. The US agreed to support these efforts with finance and some equipment. Early in

10578-405: The insecurity, High Commissioner Sadako Ogata was asked why UNHCR did not simply leave as well. She replied: There were also innocent refugees in the camps; more than half were women and children. Should we have said: you are related to murderers, so you are guilty, too? My mandate — unlike those of private aid agencies — obliges me to help. Both for those organizations that left and that stayed,

10701-459: The local needs and concerns of the multiple landscape agents; and effectively deal with cases of conflicting interests, ensuring the democratic and just treatment of the landscape. The introduction of holistic approaches to landscape governance is the focus of the evolving interdisciplinary landscape research. Such an approach is the conceptualization of landscape as a commons . The discussion about commons-based landscape governance puts forward

10824-705: The members by the General Assembly. To reflect the new status, Sphere adopted a new logo. The Sphere Handbook is Sphere’s flagship publication. It comprises the Humanitarian Charter, the Protection Principles, the Core Humanitarian Standard , and minimum humanitarian standards in four areas of response: Water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH); Food security and nutrition ; Shelter and settlement; and Health . The Handbook

10947-678: The metaphorical sense first being attested in Plato ). Its occasional use in English to refer to the specific activity of ruling a country can be traced to early-modern England, when the phrase "governance of the realm" appears in works by William Tyndale and in royal correspondence from James V of Scotland to Henry VIII of England . The first usage in connection with institutional structures (as distinct from individual rule) appears in Charles Plummer's The Governance of England (an 1885 translation from

11070-445: The mid-19th century. It became particularly prominent in the aftermath of World War I, and more so after the end of World War II. Since World War II, the number of international organizations has increased substantially. The number of actors (whether they be states, non-governmental organizations, firms, and epistemic communities) who are involved in governance relationships has also increased substantially. Nonprofit governance has

11193-435: The militia to control the refugees on their behalf. Those refugees who tried to protest were either beaten into submission or killed. The relief operation began to be accused of "feeding the killers", causing a crisis of conscience among the agencies, who began to leave what some have called "the messiest humanitarian quagmire ever". The first to leave was Médecins Sans Frontières , who stated that "this humanitarian operation

11316-463: The nature of the transaction." Multi-level governance is the concept and study of the fact that many intertangled authority structures are present in a global political economy. The theory of multi-level governance, developed mainly by Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks , arose from increasing European integration , particularly through the European Union . José Manuel Barroso , former President of

11439-447: The need for open technologies (i.e. accessible, under creative commons licenses , open-source ) that can facilitate public access to landscape data (e.g., maps/satellite images for the study and monitoring of landscape change) and the distributed participation in the decision making, mapping and planning (e.g. open platforms ). According to the WHO , "governance in the health sector refers to

11562-460: The organizations to make ethical, proactive changes for the mutual benefit of all the parties. Security sector governance (SSG) is a subpart concept or framework of security governance that focuses specifically on decisions about security and their implementation within the security sector of a single state. SSG applies the principles of good governance to the security sector in question. When discussing governance in particular organizations,

11685-453: The otherwise curious finding of one humanitarian aid study that 40% of refugees in Kibumba camp ate less than 2,000 kcal per person, while 13% received over 10,000 kcal per person. Refugees who disagreed with the structure, who tried to return to Rwanda or were too frank with aid workers in discussing the situation were subject to intimidation and murder. As the initial acute humanitarian crisis

11808-401: The overall direction of the group in order to effectively address its specific collective needs, problems and challenges. The concept of governance can be applied to social, political or economic entities (groups of individuals engaged in some purposeful activity) such as a state and its government (public administration), a governed territory , a society, a community, a social group (like

11931-453: The parameters of the Tutsi-Hutu division. Regardless of the historical validity of the division, Rwandans in the late 20th century acted as if they were real. Belgium began to withdraw from Rwanda in 1959, and in 1961 a Hutu-dominated government was established. This replaced the colonial government of Belgium, which had ruled through a favored Tutsi royal family. One of the consequences of

12054-429: The post-Rwandan genocide refugee crisis became a watershed event that prompted an extensive reevaluation of their mandates and procedures, and the relative ethical cases for abandonment and continuing aid were hotly debated. At the same time, France and the World Bank withheld development aid from the new government of Rwanda until the refugees were repatriated, prompting accusations that the donors were simply repeating

12177-520: The preliminary conclusions of the multi-donor Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda were critical of the performance of humanitarian agencies in the Great Lakes crisis. A number of agencies felt that it was time to get their own houses in order and explored the idea of formulating standards for humanitarian response. Simultaneously, in 1996, discussions were taking place within InterAction and

12300-488: The quality of [their] democracy." Both examples contributed to the discussion of increasing citizen engagement as a mechanism to increase the effectiveness, legitimacy, and social justice of democratic governance. Action through participatory governance impacts policy at the municipal level. An example is the use of municipal housing councils in Brazil to impact policy adoption, which finds that housing councils are associated with

12423-419: The quality of governance within the organization is often compared to a standard of good governance . In the case of a business or of a non-profit organization , for example, good governance relates to consistent management, cohesive policies, guidance, processes and decision-rights for a given area of responsibility, and proper oversight and accountability. "Good governance" implies that mechanisms function in

12546-594: The refugees eventually led U.S. President Bill Clinton to call it the "world’s worst humanitarian crisis in a generation" and large amounts of relief was mobilized. Attention quickly focused on the refugees around Goma. Over 200 aid organizations rushed into Goma to start an emergency relief operation comparable to that seen in the Yugoslav wars . Until December, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) received over $ 1 million monthly. The resources dedicated to

12669-466: The refugees led to a rapid drop in the mortality rate in late 1994. The American military formed an emergency logistical operation, based out of Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, to ferry supplies and relief personnel to the crisis regions. While several humanitarian organizations expressed concern about mixing the military in humanitarian operations, it quickly became clear that only the military could create large centralized logistical support with

12792-401: The relationships between people within an organization, (the stakeholders ) and the corporate goals . The principal players include the shareholders , management , and the board of directors . Other stakeholders include employees, suppliers, customers, banks and other lenders, regulators, the environment and the community at large. The first documented use of the word "corporate governance"

12915-429: The relief process, US relief planes began to drop large food packages from the air in hopes of alleviating the suffering in the camps below. Instead, the opposite occurred, as people were slaughtered by mobs trying to reach the precious food. Due to the perils of such chaos in the refugee camps, the US refused to bring its aid closer to the ground, and, as time went by, dysentery and cholera began to spread rapidly through

13038-497: The resultant products widely within the international humanitarian system and to encourage their formal adoption and practice by relief agencies and their donors. In July 1997, the first phase of one year of the project began. Five sectors were chosen to cover the basic sectors in humanitarian response: Five sector committees were formed, each with a manager seconded by one of the sponsoring agencies. The sector committees were made up of experts drawn not only from NGOs, but also from

13161-442: The role of the state which is assumed to want to steer actors in a particular direction, it can "potentially be exercised by any resourceful actor" who wishes to influence the governing process. Examples of this include the publishing of codes of conduct at the highest level of international government, and media focus on specific issues at the sociocultural level. Despite their different sources, both seek to establish values in such

13284-409: The roles of citizens as voters or as watchdogs through more direct forms of involvement. The role of citizens in participatory governance is to be afforded a form of state power as an elected group of non-political citizens to contribute to the public policy process. Different manifestations of participatory governance include participatory budgeting, councils, and community organizations involved at

13407-400: The speed and scale needed to alleviate a massive humanitarian emergency. The humanitarian situation was not as acute in the other nations bordering Rwanda, though still very challenging. Tanzania had a number of refugee camps that had been created for the civilians fleeing the onset of the Burundian Civil War . Most of these Burundians had returned to their home country by 1994 so Tanzania had

13530-446: The standards could create unrealistic expectations while ignoring constraints. Failing to meet core Sphere standards could lead to adverse publicity, liability and reprisals. A final criticism often raised by non-Western parties is that the Sphere standards impose standardization based on “Western” benchmarks. While Sphere does promote close consultation with the affected populations, it imposes very detailed standards that may differ from

13653-513: The state level, taking on state studies or participating in social issues. Over the last two decades, the most rapidly growing form of participatory governance has been participatory budgeting . In 2004, the British Columbia Citizens Assembly was the first form of direct citizen engagement created to envision the provincial electoral system. Adopted by Brazil, participatory budgeting was used to "enhance citizens' empowerment and

13776-429: The support given by President Mobutu Sese Seko . The five camps around Goma, among others, would eventually take on a certain permanence, eventually containing 2,323 bars, 450 restaurants, 589 shops, 62 hairdressers, 51 pharmacies, 30 tailors, 25 butchers, five ironsmiths and mechanics, four photo studios, three movie theaters, two hotels and one slaughterhouse. About 140,000 refugees returned, mostly on their own, in

13899-411: The tendency of policy regimes to deal with complexity with delegated system of rules. It is likely to appear in arenas and nations which are more complex, more global, more contested and more liberally democratic. The term builds upon and extends the terms of the regulatory state on the one hand and governance on the other. While the term regulatory state marginalize non-state actors (NGOs and Business) in

14022-537: The way to organize collaborations between individuals and between organizations. Blockchain governance relies on a set of protocols and code-based rules. As an original governance mode, it departs from an enforcement through the law (as in contractual governance) or through the value of future relationships (as in relational governance). Regulatory governance reflects the emergence of decentered and mutually adaptive policy regimes which rests on regulation rather than service provision or taxing and spending. The term captures

14145-543: The wishes of beneficiaries. Great Lakes refugee crisis The Great Lakes refugee crisis is the common name for the situation beginning with the exodus in April 1994 of over two million Rwandans to neighboring countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide . Many of the refugees were Hutu fleeing the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which had gained control of

14268-625: Was Paul Kagame , whose family had fled to Uganda during the violence of 1959. In 1985, Kagame helped form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), an armed group aligned with the National Resistance Army (NRA), a Ugandan rebel group led by Yoweri Museveni . Kagame became the head of NRA military intelligence and a close ally of Museveni. In 1986, the NRA rebellion succeeded and Museveni became President of Uganda . Museveni then supported

14391-413: Was a total ethical disaster" as it rewarded those responsible for the genocide rather than punishing them. The International Rescue Committee , a long-standing implementing partner of the UNHCR, then left stating that "humanitarianism has become a resource and people are manipulating it as never before. Sometimes we just shouldn’t show up for a disaster." These two organizations were joined by Oxfam , Save

14514-699: Was also highly organized, with administrative structures simply transferred across the border. By the end of August, UNHCR estimated that there were 2.1 million Rwandan refugees in neighboring countries located in 35 camps. Around Goma , the capital of North Kivu in Zaire , five huge camps— Katale , Kahindo , Mugunga , Lac Vert and Sake —held at least 850,000 people. To the south, around Bukavu and Uvira , thirty camps held about 650,000 people. A further 270,000 refugees were located in nine camps in Burundi, and another 570,000 in eight camps in Tanzania. The new population around Goma included 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers of

14637-540: Was being diverted to further the aims of the genocidaires led many humanitarian organizations to withdraw their assistance. The conflict escalated until the start of the First Congo War in 1996, when RPF-supported rebels invaded Zaire and sought to repatriate the refugees. The categories Hutu and Tutsi have an origin in pre-colonial Rwanda . However, with the arrival of the Germans in about 1900, and particularly after

14760-517: Was carried out. After 2004, Sphere took on anew form, with an expanded board replacing the project's management committee. Its focus shifted towards facilitating the work of people already using and promoting Sphere at national and regional levels. In 2016, Sphere ceased its activities as a time-limited project (“the Sphere Project”) to become an independent, non-profit organisation (“Sphere”). The organisation also intensified its efforts on building

14883-498: Was stabilized, aid workers and others began to raise concerns about the presence of armed elements in the camps. Soldiers of the former and the Interahamwe militia created armed outposts on the outskirts of the refugee camps, while the camps themselves came under the control of officials of the former government. Humanitarian workers reported that former government officials, especially near Goma, were passing out large amount of money to

15006-470: Was the international humanitarian aid community and the United Nations, for whom the Great Lakes crisis was an agonizing dilemma that has been the topic of extensive analysis and ethical arguments. As a result, UNHCR reworked its procedures to try to ensure greater international commitment in its interventions. Governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of processes , functions, structures, rules , laws and norms born out of

15129-686: Was the third largest donor to the intervention: Japan also deployed the Japan Self-Defense Forces assets, including the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force units for medical and water supply activities, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft to transport personnel and supplies, including NGOs'. The Netherlands had sent a small contingent of mostly medics and nurses , which was beneficial for rehabilitation efforts and ambulatory care after patients left

#91908