Sphere Project Newsletter No. 9 (December 2001)
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Versión en español

Table of contents

1. Handbook revision process
The second edition of the Sphere handbook will be published in September 2003. In preparation for this, the project office is collecting handbook feedback forms for review by focal points and expert groups. Focal points are humanitarian practitioners who will lead respective chapter revisions over the next 20 months including literature reviews, changing practice collection as well as technical innovations. The revision's purpose is not to change the qualitative standards, nor to overhaul the handbook, but instead to update the qualitative and quantitative indicators and guidance notes as needed, enhance linkages between sectors, iron out inconsistencies, faults and important omissions from the first edition, eliminate repetitive text, and lead a robust and widespread process of engagement among practitioners in each sector leading to consensus on the second edition.
Crosscutting issues, such as vulnerable groups, gender equity, environmental considerations, and protection etc. will be, as is possible, incorporated through responsive but limited engagement with respective experts.

The Sphere Management Committee agreed to fulfill a commitment from Phase I of the project and include Food Security to the extent the technical experts advise (for a 40-page report on the first Food Security meeting, see www.sphereproject.org/handbook/foodsec_rep1.rtf ). Other than Food Security, no other sectors will be added to the second edition as the Sphere Management Committee members are committed to the consolidation and use of the current sectors.

Inspired by the Sphere process, various groups of practitioners are working on developing guidelines in other humanitarian response areas. For those interested in Education, please contact the NGO/UN Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (n.drost@unesco.org or http://ineesite.org/). For those interested in Psychosocial, please contact The Psychosocial Working group (astrang@qmuc.ac.uk).

2. The twenty agencies piloting the implementation of Sphere into their organization's policy and practice are experiencing increasing understanding of how best to work with the Humanitarian Charter and the Minimum Standards. Recently, the Sphere Implementation team visited nine countries in three regions of the world to get a clearer understanding of how Sphere is being applied at field level. Countries were selected based on where there were southern NGO pilot agencies (CCD in Honduras, CNEB in Burundi, AHA in Ethiopia, Sarvodaya and CHA in Sri Lanka, and DMI and Caritas in India), and then neighbouring countries were also included to enlarge the sample. All international NGO pilot agencies present in each country were included in the visits. In total, 273 staff members of pilot agencies were met as follows:

· 127 in East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi)
· 81 in Central America (Honduras, El Salavador and Nicaragua)
· 65 in S.Asia (India - Delhi and Ahmedabad - and Sri Lanka)

102 individual meetings were held with pilot agencies. In addition, the implementation team convened joint meetings of all pilot agencies present in each country to consider next steps for Sphere at country level.
In preparation of a joint meeting of pilot agency representatives and some key independent Sphere trainers, a Lessons Learned paper is being developed and will be posted on the website by May.

3. Training update
The training activities have centered on conducting Training of Trainers workshops and supporting agencies wishing to hold Sphere workshops. Training of Trainers took place in English (Washington DC), in French (Morocco, co-hosted with Bioforce) and in Spanish (Peru, co-hosted with Oxfam). There is now a group of trainers who are native speakers in French and Spanish, who have participated in a ToT. These people will hopefully be a useful resource to their respective agencies, networks and regions. A third English ToT will take place in March 2002 in Australia with a focus on Pacific Rim disaster response organisations. In addition to directly conducting workshops, the project has supported Sphere-related but external training processes by participating in a one-week pilot workshop on Sphere quantitative indicators by the University of Wisconsin; reviewing the health and nutrition technical training modules being developed by SCF, Oxfam, Concern, and Merlin; and participating in a human rights training workshop hosted by UNHCHR and ICVA.
Critically, the training program has developed a Sphere trainer network and the bios and contact information of experienced Sphere trainers will be posted on the Sphere website by May 2002.
A fourth English-language Training of Trainers will take place in Europe in October or November 2002.
Details to follow on the website.

4. Video
The production of a 50-minute video is underway. The first field shooting took place in Sierra Leone and Guinea and the second will be in Central Asia. The video will be useful for any agency's orientation of humanitarian staff and will briefly cover the history of humanitarian action to contemporary dilemmas facing aid workers. It will detail the Humanitarian Charter (e.g. humanitarian principles, legal instruments such as International Humanitarian Law, human rights law and refugee law) as well as demonstrate the practical application of the Minimum Standards and key indicators in assessment, analysis, program planning, monitoring and evaluation. Key issues such as coordination and participation of affected populations will also be addressed. The video will be available in English, French and Spanish and released in August 2002.

5. New brochure
The project produced a 20-page brochure that includes the background of the project, pilot agency experiences, training material descriptions, website map, and practical examples of use of the handbook.
The brochure is free and available in English, French, Spanish or Russian. Send your order to sphere@ifrc.org.

6. Evaluation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is funding an external evaluation of the Sphere project that will commence in late Spring 2002. The RFP generated 19 submissions from seven countries and included four Universities. Columbia University (USA), in partnership with Makerere University (Uganda), was selected with Dr. Ronald Waldman as the focal point. The evaluation will consist of five basic activities: 1) the development of survey tools with which to interview, in person and by telephone, mail, and e-mail, donors, NGO personnel at different levels, and intended beneficiaries; 2) the collection, review, and analysis of appropriate documents from both the Sphere Project, its users, and its detractors; 3) the conduct of the survey and its analysis; 4) the design and conduct of the case studies; and 5) the preparation, presentation, and submission of the final report. Interim reports will be available on the Sphere website.

The Sphere Project
P.O. Box 372
1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland

E-mail: sphere@ifrc.org
Tel: (4122) 730 4501
Fax: (4122) 730 4905
www.sphereproject.org