Sphere Project: Phase III
NARRATIVE REPORT # 1
November 2000 – April 2001
Background of Phase III
While the goals of Phase II - as originally designed - have been largely met, there is the opportunity and need to ensure that the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards become truly inculcated into the policy and practice of agencies involved in emergency response.
It is deemed essential to follow up the work initiated in Phase II with activities that specifically support inculcation and promote a more profound understanding of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards that will encourage their adoption within the humanitarian system and support their long-term use, and to measure the overall level of influence of the Project.
Objectives for Phase III
The Sphere Project will continue efforts for the improvement of humanitarian action by:
1. Training programme
1.1 Based on experience and feedback, continue to update and refine the current training modules. The existing training modules are being edited and minor modifications made to reflect the learning that has occurred over the past six months. Much consultation occurred about the Humanitarian Charter module (Module 2), including a two-day meeting with lawyers from Oxfam UK, Amnesty International and the Reach Out training initiative. The module clarifies the rationale and value of the Humanitarian Charter and explores laws and principles, roles and responsibilities in the humanitarian system, and illuminates the frequent dilemmas aid workers face in the field.
1.2 Conduct a Training of Trainers
A Training of Trainers took place at the end of April. Over 120 applications were received for the 30 participant slots. As a result of the great demand, a second English language TOT will take place in November, in addition to French (Africa-based) and Spanish (Latin America-based) TOTs in late 2001/early 2002.
The April Training of Trainers was a challenging week for participants and the four facilitators. The participants included representatives from three national NGOs, 12 international NGOs, three UN agencies, three donors, two Red Cross societies, four academic institutions and three independent consultants. There was spirited discussion of pedagogy as well as module content and significant time was dedicated to the Humanitarian Charter module and an examination of the role of law and principles in humanitarian action. A report and evaluation will be available on the website shortly.
1.3 Facilitate 15 inter-agency workshops worldwide.
In the first six months of Phase III, the project conducted workshops in Senegal, Bangladesh, Sudan, Angola, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Ireland. The demand for field-based workshops is high. In the light of this demand the project is looking to increase it’s ‘mentoring’ of other trainers who can run workshops without project staff, in order to increase training capacity.
The three-day format for workshops has proved successful, and a template for future field workshops has been established, focussing on methods of training, and also issues of the local humanitarian system. (Annex 1: example template).
Workshop reports and evaluations are posted on the Sphere website within three weeks of each workshop and workshop participants are sent the e-mail newsletter. The last few workshops have generated post-workshop focus groups that are interested in taking Sphere forward in their country. The project staff plans to support and follow these initiatives.
2. Outreach
2.1 Pro-actively engage with the humanitarian community with a particular emphasis on southern/eastern situations and voices.
Due to limited resources, outreach thus far has focused on countries in which national pilot agencies operate such as Angola, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia. The handbook is being translated into Arabic and Kiswahili, which will support a more generalised outreach.
2.2 Facilitate incorporation and ratification by UN operational agencies with a focus on co-ordination with implementing partners.
Sphere’s relationship with the UN continues to develop. A meeting was held with UNOCHA to discuss the incorporation of Sphere into CAP training and the possibility of giving presentations to Humanitarian Coordinators and a Sphere presentation was included in a CAP Training of Trainers workshop. UNHCR continues to show interest in the Sphere handbook (and continues to order copies), and Sphere participated in an UNHCR conference on gender.
2.3 Develop generic work plans and support packages adaptable to country-based consortia wishing to create Sphere focal points.
A positive indicator for the sustainability of the Sphere Project after the end of Phase III is the increasing number of independently organised workshops. In Uganda, InterAction and Caritas Internationalis member CRS have formed an independent interagency group to raise funds and manage their own Sphere workshop, while the Canadian Red Cross held a Training of Trainers in Ottawa. The project team have supported these activities, and aims to continue to provide services to help agencies run their own training and dissemination efforts.
2.4 Review, update and maintain website.
The redesigned website is now complete and incorporates user friendly navigation tools, zipped files, drop down menus and a section of links to other relevant websites. The site is now also available in French, Spanish and Portuguese and includes examples of Sphere in Action (practical use of Sphere). The site reflects the significant amount of work that the project has completed and hits are increasing each month. In February 2001, ReliefWeb featured a prominent link to the Sphere project, generating an additional 30,000 hits over the usual 100,000 per month.
2.5 Produce a 60-minute video based in real-time disaster situations that will graphically illustrate the practical application of the Sphere handbook in field use.
The 60-minute video is intended to be an ongoing tool for communication and education about Sphere. A primary script / structure has been established for the video and consultations are underway. Potential field locations include India and either Sierra Leone or Ethiopia, and the principle participants have been identified. The Management Committee’s video advisory group will confirm the final text of the video script.
2.6 Prepare, in consultation with the academic community, suggested scenarios for use of handbook in academic curricula, with particular emphasis on universities based in the Southern Hemisphere.
Various universities continue to incorporate the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards (in the United States Harvard, Tufts, University of Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins, Boston University and in the United Kingdom Cranfield, Oxford-Brooks, London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and plans are underway to incorporate Sphere into the general curricula of the NOHA consortium). Southern universities that are using Sphere include the African University in Zimbabwe and contact has been established with universities in India and in the Philippines.
2.7 Continue distribution of the newsletter and other informational material.
News about Sphere continues to be circulated regularly in the form of the Sphere newsletter, which is sent by email to about 2300 interested individuals.
3. Agency incorporation (the Pilot programme)
3.1. Achievable systems of monitoring and evaluation:
Monitoring against indicators in an emergency has not been a priority for most organisations, due to the immediate pressures of disaster response. Sphere pilot agencies plan to identify achievable monitoring systems in disaster response i.e. how to collect and collate data against Sphere indicators. Following a meeting of pilot agencies in Cairo (February 2001), it is evident that this will be achieved most effectively by introducing Sphere indicators into existing systems and procedures, rather than creating new systems. A small group of agencies will participate in the process of introducing Sphere indicators into existing systems and analysing which aspects are successful.
Although monitoring remains difficult, there is evidence of increased use of Sphere in evaluations. The Sphere Implementation Team is helping to shape the types of questions and issues that can be incorporated into single and multi-agency evaluations to analyse the extent to which Sphere was used in disaster response.
3.2 Document experience of Sphere implementation in disaster response.
There are two forms of documenting Sphere implementation in disaster response:
i) by placing a resource person into an emergency to act as a catalyst to Sphere implementation and document the process and ii) through case studies written by those who are present in disaster response.
In relation to a Sphere resource person, the pilot agencies are debating internally whether they want to promote this as a way of ensuring that Sphere implementation is catalysed at an early stage in large-scale disaster response. The issue will be raised within the Management Committee and if there is sufficient support, it should take place after September 2001.
Project staff are systematically collecting case studies that consider the application of Sphere in:
i) Different types of disasters:
· Slow onset calamities, such as drought (India)
· Fast onset calamities: earthquake, flood (India, Central America).
· Conflicts: sudden population movement, as well as long-term conflicts (Angola, Sri Lanka).
ii) The project cycle: assessments, project planning, monitoring and evaluation.
iii) Each of the Sphere sectors.
Summaries of the case studies are underway and will be available on the website by September 2001.
3.3 Document experience of Sphere implementation in disaster preparedness.
Pilot agencies are using the Sphere handbook to inform disaster preparedness in two ways:
i) national or regional disaster preparedness plans (CARE, Mercy Corps, Save the Children-UK, World Vision)
ii) local level plans together with communities (Comision Cristiana del Desarrollo, Honduras; Disaster Mitigation Institute, India; Okutiuka, Angola).
Some of the national/regional plans are already complete and we will begin to learn lessons about Sphere incorporation into plans in the near future. Community level plans are less advanced, but the three agencies listed above expect to begin work in this area in the coming months. CCD in Honduras plans to establish emergency committees at local level and train community leaders in Sphere. Lessons learned from these experiences will be available by early 2002.
3.4 Participation of Southern agencies:
i) Relationships with northern partners and how effective these could be in extending the knowledge and understanding of Sphere
A number of pilot agencies (Cordaid, Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Federation) work closely with partner organisations in the field. They are working to inform partners of Sphere and are beginning to debate which methods are most effective (posters, presentations, briefer version of handbook in local languages, simple visual aids depicting local situations, etc.).
In addition to dissemination, some agencies will use the Sphere handbook as a framework to identify the particular strengths of partner agencies in disaster response and how these strengths could be reinforced through further training/capacity building.
ii) Analyze experience of working with the Sphere India Committee and other
umbrella and networking bodies in helping to broaden awareness of Sphere
The Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI) in India has taken the place of the Sphere in India Committee as a pilot agency. DMI is not an umbrella body and is not in a strong position to contribute to an understanding of the role of umbrella agencies in disseminating Sphere. However, the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (Sri Lanka) is a pilot agency and umbrella body and will help to analyse the extent to which such agencies can spread awareness of Sphere to local organisations. Equally, the Australian Council for Overseas Aid is a de facto pilot agency (chose to attend the Cairo pilot meeting on a self-funding basis) and will also contribute to an understanding of this question.
4. Sphere Handbook Management
4.1 Identify, second, and support sector team-leaders for review and revision of handbook in the third year of the project. N/A at this time.
4.2 Support and facilitate efforts world-wide to produce local-language publications of the handbook following the successful initiatives of Phase II.
Bengali and Bahasa Indonesian underway.
4.3 Undertake specific language productions if not produced during Phase II of Arabic, Chinese and/or KiSwahili.
Arabic and KiSwahili translations are complete and production and printing will commence shortly. A search for local (regionally appropriate) distributors is underway.
4.4 Liaise with, and encourage other humanitarian consortia who are consolidating and producing Minimum Standards on other sectors and promote the Sphere process of broad-based collaboration and sector expertise and consensus.
A short description of the “Sphere process” will be available by September 2001.
4.5 Minimum Standards and key indicators regarding food security in disasters and calamity could be incorporated into future editions of the handbook if they have been developed through a broad, collaborative, evidence-based process.
An exploratory meeting on this subject will take place at Oxfam-UK in July 2001.
4.6 Handbook general sales
Handbook sales in all languages continue strongly. In response to demand, a second run of the French version of the handbook has been printed, newly incorporating an Index.
5. Evaluation
Sphere Management Committee member, InterAction, approached the Mellon Foundation concerning the evaluation of the Sphere Project. The Mellon Foundation responded with interest to the possibility of funding this work and the project office submitted a proposal. Considerable discussion has taken place concerning the complex nature of the evaluation, and the terms of reference have been developed. Once funding is secure, the TOR will be circulated widely throughout the humanitarian system, as well as the professional evaluation arena.6. Project management, staffing and funding
The Sphere Management Committee met in January and in March and will hold their final meeting for Year I of Phase III in September 2001.
The project staff has remained in place except that the project office has benefited from the recent support of a part-time intern and part-time administrative assistant.
Appropriate to its system-wide nature, the Sphere Project has received financial support from most members of its Management Committee as well as two governmental donors with commitments from five more.
Budget
The Year 1 budget in is approximately at $800,000 of which $700,000 has been raised/committed to.
The second narrative and financial report covering May 2001 – October 2001 will be available by December 2001.