AROUND SPHERE IN 60
(sometimes 180!) DAYS: Sphere Project Newsletter No. 8
January
– July 2001
(la version française sera disponible en août sur ce
site) (la versión en español estará disponible en agosto en este sitio)
The year 2001 has been, and will continue to be, an important year for
the Sphere Project. Now in its fourth
year, the Project has been successful in engaging people in the idea that the
Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards can help improve the quality and
accountability of humanitarian work. Some
key milestones of the year to-date include:
January – OCHA Consolidated Appeals Process begins incorporation of Sphere
standards and indicators.
Interagency workshops held in Bangladesh and Sudan.
February – A conference for Sphere Piloting agencies was held in Cairo, Egypt. The most
important conclusion was a joint agenda for action. Pilot agencies will continue to experiment
with implementing Sphere and the Project Team will support the process. Contact Maggie Brown or Joao Neves
for more information at maggie_jmj@compuserve.com
Second printing of the English edition of the handbook.
Interagency workshop held in Sierra Leone.
March – Sphere Management Committee meeting was held at Caritas Internationalis
headquarters in Rome. Logframe and evaluation process discussed. Interagency
workshops held in Angola, Ireland and in Zimbabwe. The Humanitarian
Charter training module tested in letter two locations.
April – The Project’s second Training of Trainers workshop was held in
Geneva. 25 talented communicators from
diverse backgrounds including donor agencies, UN agencies, independent
consultants, academic institutions, international and local NGOs attended.
Interagency workshop held in Indonesia.
May – Completion of successful financial audit of Phase I and II by
PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Second printing of the French, Spanish and Portuguese editions.
Draft script of a 50-minute video complete and Sierra Leone and India
selected as shooting locations.
Interagency workshop held in Georgia (for the Caucasus region) and also
Colombia.
June – Mellon Foundation provides funds for evaluation of the Sphere
Project. Terms of Reference posted on website in August and tendering process
complete by end September 2001.
Third printing of English edition (over 20,000 handbooks sold to date).
Website is sustaining 100,000 hits per month.
Interagency workshop held in Amman, Jordan for the Middle East region
and included representatives from Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan and Syria.
For more information on the above including donor reports, workshop
reports and evaluations, Lessons Learned from Piloting, and Training modules,
as well as a list of upcoming interagency workshops and Training of Trainers,
visit the Sphere website at www.sphereproject.org
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