ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with the complexity of accountability in the global space; the application of the law of international responsibility to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It explores accountability in the context of the humanitarian accountability revolution, that is, the struggle to improve accountability across the humanitarian sector, and in relation to the specific practice of UNHCR. In UNHCR policy documents, the earliest references to accountability concerned the financial aspects of UNHCR activities, particularly the cost-effective use of public funds. Despite the institutional perception that UNHCR has placed accountability towards persons of concern at the heart of its accountability framework, critical gaps remain. The chapter concludes by observing that the complex roles played by results-based management (RBM) and reform rights-based approaches (RBA) in accountability production reveal these initiatives to be a form of humanitarian governance.
