From the EC's External Cooperation Programmes' Capacity4Development website Political Economy Assessment Tools: A New Approach? Dr Marquette, who is a Senior Lecturer in Governance at the International Development Department of the UK’s...

I have created a slide show with faces from the Global Gathering of Women Pastoralists. More to come. [slideshare id=6260343&doc=facesfromtheglobalgatheringofwomenpastoralists-101220092203-phpapp02]...

Many people wrote me over the last month, upset that I did not  write more about what was happening at the Global Gathering for Women Pastoralists. I apologise for that but with limited internet access, limited time, sketchy power outlets, so much work and, quite frankly, so many cooler things to do, the writing took a back seat. I will be starting on the final report once the holidays are over and will be sure to post some reflections, especially as they relate to the election of the focal points to the Civil Society Mechanism. In the mean time, back in Barcelona, and working to finish a report on food sovereignty and global governance, I came across this descriptive paragraph from the FAO Discussion Paper Towards Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and Other Natural Resources.
Governance is the process of governing. It is the way in which society is managed and how the competing priorities and interests of different groups are reconciled. It includes the formal institutions of government but also informal arrangements. Governance is concerned with the processes by which citizens participate in decision-making, how government is accountable to its citizens and how society obliges its members to observe its rules and laws. Governance comprises the mechanisms and processes for citizens and groups to articulate their interests, mediate their differences, and exercise their legal rights and obligations. It is the rules, institutions, and practices that sets limits and provides incentives for individuals, organizations and firms.
To this definition we can also add the rules and practices that set limits and incentive for governments.
NB: This is a few days late as I had no internet access until now En route to India and working through the first of two eight hour layovers. This trip has come about so quickly that I feel remarkably unprepared and somewhat unsure of how I feel or how I should feel. I wonder what Baudrillard would say about that? The simulation of a trip: Reality negated by so many other “visits to” and “vistas of” India: Predetermined, socially acceptable emotional cues have been successfully implanted and are ready to be performed before, after and during my stay.