1. CHECK OUT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE : www.sphereproject.org
(English/French/Spanish)
 
2. Sphere Piloting – who, where, what
 
3. The Training Program – status and issues
 
4. Update
 
2.PILOT PROGRAMME

The Sphere pilot program is moving on apace!
Since the pilot process gathered momentum in November, the Implementation Team has been in contact with all the nominated agencies and implementation visits have begun. Five organisations have already been through the process of analysing policy, practice and training needs in relation to Sphere.
Implementation reports have been prepared for four of the organisations. These reports are confidential to the organisations concerned, but they will serve as a principal source of lessons learned about implementation at the end of Phase II.

The pilot agencies are:

Name of agency                                                        HQ Address
1.       ADRA                                                                      USA
2.       Africa Humanitarian Action                                        Ethiopia
3.       CARE-US                                                                 USA
4.       CARITAS India                                                         Vatican and India
5.       Christian Council, Burundi                                            Burundi
6.       Comission Cristiana del Desarrollo                                Honduras
7.       Cordaid                                                                       Holland
8.       International Rescue Committee                                   USA
9.       Islamic International Relief Organization                       Saudi Arabia
10.     Mercy Corps                                                               USA
11.     Oxfam                                                                         UK
12.     SCF-UK                                                                      UK
13.     Sarvodaya                                                                    Sri Lanka
14.     World Vision International                                             USA
15.     International Federation of the Red Cross and Red          Geneva
         Crescent
16.        Lutheran World Federation                                         Geneva
 
Four additional organisations, headquartered in Sri Lanka, Angola, India and Kenya are in the process of confirming their participation in the pilot programme.
 
PROCESS OF PILOTING
The pilot process involves thinking through how to implement the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in policy and practice. We relate that to the following areas:
·        Hearts and Minds - How to develop organisation-wide commitment to Sphere.
·        Policies - Do existing policies relating to disaster response and preparedness support Sphere? Are there any aspects that need to be adapted or developed?
·        Training - Who needs training and in which aspects?  How can we best make use of the Sphere training materials.
·        Tools, systems and procedures - How do we work at all stages of the project cycle - assessment, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and which tools, systems and procedures need to be developed or adapted to be Sphere (reflective).
 
During visits, we look at each of these areas in a structured way and organisations subsequently draw up plans with timelines to identify what steps are needed to implement Sphere. The Sphere Implementation Team maintains contact to help with the follow-up process.
 
SOME PILOTING EXPERIENCES
Oxfam-UK is promoting Sphere at all levels within the organisation and the handbook has already been used as a tool for assessment and project design in Orissa and East Timor. In policy terms, the Council has ratified a new statement including adherence to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards. An Emergency Response Manual, using Sphere as a reference point throughout the project cycle, has been designed and distributed to all regional and country offices. Sphere training needs are being identified and Oxfam expects to roll out a training programme over the next two years, that will focus in the early stages on their nine Regional Humanitarian Coordinators, subsequently including country offices.
Save the Children-UK have also ratified a policy requiring SCF programmes to be designed and implemented using the Humanitarian Charter as the reference point. SCF has recently established an emergencies unit with a principle objective  of developing disaster preparedness plans and procedures in all country offices. Sphere will be an essential framework for this process, along with work already undertaken in food security. This is a particularly opportune moment to institutionalise Sphere within SCF as a knowledge management project is currently underway, that is looking at how to make the best use of information within the organisation. The Emergencies Department is piloting the knowledge management project and Sphere will "piggy-back" on this process to ensure that the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards are fully understood and integrated into systems and procedures.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has appointed a full time staff member to mainstream Sphere into the institution. A strategy and operational plan for implementation have been drawn up, including a review of standard operating procedures to reflect Sphere, updating of the procedures manual and the roll out of training for new and existing staff. In addition, the Red Cross is focusing on developing case studies on how Sphere has been used in practice, beginning in Africa and Asia. To ensure that Sphere training is as practical as possible, the IFRC will experiment with including training in a 'field school' in Zambia where volunteers and staff members are trained through practical work in a refugee camp.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED SO FAR

·        Inter-agency sharing

Pilot agencies are very interested in sharing methodologies and tools for the implementation of Sphere and learning from each other.
Oxfam, for example, has developed a Sphere-compliant assessment tool and will be happy in the near future to share it with other agencies..
If you are interested in sharing other examples of tools or methodologies developed for the implementation of Sphere, please feel free to contact us (Joao_JMJ@Compuserve.com).
 

·        Institutionalisation takes time

Institutionalisation of Sphere within agencies will be a lengthy and slow process in most organisations, particularly those with many country offices and sub-offices. In this second phase of Sphere, we aim to create firm foundations for gradual adoption over time.

LESSONS LEARNED WORKSHOP

At the close of Phase II of Sphere, we plan to bring representatives of pilot agencies together to analyse, discuss and debate the major issues that have arisen throughout the year. This will provide an opportunity to identify what works and what is difficult in implementation. We hope this documentation effort will make it easier for other organisations to adopt Sphere after November.
The workshop is likely to be held in Geneva in November. More information will be published in this newsletter.
 
3. And the Training Programme...

While the piloting work addresses learning within organisations, the training work addresses learning across organisations.  Focusing on the individual aid practitioner and sharing how the Sphere handbook can be used in day to day practical work does this.  Moreover, we explore how the use of Sphere can provide value common to all humanitarian agencies.
 
Sphere interagency workshops:
Workshops are hosted by one or several agencies that work in the country where the workshop is being held.  Space is usually limited to 40 people and the cost is free, however participants' agencies are responsible for travel and accommodation if necessary.  The Sphere Project gratefully acknowledges the support and contributions of the hosting agencies.
 
What we have done:
Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 24 & 25 1999. Hosted by Oxfam and SCF-UK with participants from NGOs, Government, the Red Cross, and the UN.
 
New Delhi, India, December 1 & 2 1999. Hosted by Oxfam India Trust and the Disaster Management Institute with participants from NGOs, government, academic institutions, the Red Cross, and the UN.
 
Ottawa, Canada, January 7, 2000. Hosted by CARE Canada with participants from NGOs and Canadian government officials.
 
Washington, USA, January 14 2000. Hosted by InterAction with participants from NGOs and US government officials.
 
Pristina, Kosovo, February 24 &25, 2000.  Hosted by IRC, Mercy Corps and CARE with 40 participants.
 
Nairobi, Kenya, March 16 & 17, 2000. Hosted by CARE Kenya with participants from NGOs, government, academic institutions, donors, the Red Cross, and the UN.
 
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23 & 24 March. Hosted by SCF-UK and CARE Ethiopia with participants from  NGOs, government, donors, the Red Cross, and the UN.
 
Feedback on the workshops to date:
In each workshop participant evaluation forms indicate that every participant felt their time was well spent.  Most indicate a desire to try and use the Sphere handbook in their work following the workshop, and many have indicated a desire to continue a process of dissemination and ownership at the local level.
 
Lessons learned to date:
There is a strong commonality across all organisations in each field location to find tools that will help them manage the problem set unique to their particular context.  Differences between organisational cultures are not always as severe as one might expect.
 
There is some feeling in the field that Sphere is top-down.  This is allayed once participants realise that the Project is actually a process, and that they can become involved at the local level in various ways.  Various recommendations emerge from each workshop, which are particular to the country and focus largely on dissemination issues as well as practical applications in specific context.
 
Of the many lessons learned, the most striking is that participants feel it important to have the opportunity to discuss institutional effectiveness in an interagency setting.  Obviously, the use of Sphere will not solve the problems in the humanitarian community. However, it is clear that through the use and widespread adoption of standards and indicators by individuals and agencies we will we be able to more effectively measure the impact of our work.
 
Training modules
A review is just being completed to ensure that the modules follow good training practice.  There remains some work to be done on content, and we will be doing further testing in upcoming workshops.  The five modules will be completed by the end of May 2000, and available primarily as PowerPoint presentations on our website in English  (French and Spanish materials to follow) (www.sphereproject.org)
 
The modules are:
1.         An introduction to Sphere (includes video), (2 hours - ½ day)
2.         The Humanitarian Charter in Detail, (with actual case studies) (½ - 1 day)
3.         Sphere and Assessments, Analysis and Planning (using a fictional
            case study method) (1- 1½ day)
4.         Sphere and monitoring (1 day)
5.         Sphere and disaster preparedness (using a case study based on
            elements of recent disasters) (½ - 1 day)
 
Training of trainers workshop 1-4 May
The demand for our Sphere workshops has surpassed the Project's resources. Consequently, a Training of Trainers workshop is planned which will create an additional group of people who can facilitate workshops on Sphere.   The majority of participants will come from training or operational positions within pilot agencies.
 
4. Update:

-          Revised website in French, Spanish and English – open 10 April
-          UNHCR sends out 300 handbook to branch offices with letter of support from Assistant High Commissioner
-          Consultant hired to research potential mechanisms for complaint-handling within NGO networks.
 

Contact information:

The Sphere Project
17 ch des Crêts Petit-Saconnex
P.O. Box 372
1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
E-mail: sphere@ifrc.org
Tel: (4122) 730 4501    Fax: (4122)730 4905
www.sphereproject.org