The Sphere Project - Phase Three Extension
November 2003 – December 2004 (14 months)
Interim report: November 2003 – June 2004
A programme of the
Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) and InterAction
in consultation with
VOICE and ICVA
As indicated in the Phase III
Extension proposal, the 14-month
extension of Phase III of the Sphere Project has dual goals:
1. To deepen the impact
of the core Sphere activities, taking into account evaluation results.
2. To close the current
project responsibly, with a plan to ensure sustainability of key results.
Progress
against planned activities during the first eight months of the 14 month
Extension period is as follows:
1.
Promotion/dissemination
The Sphere handbook and other
materials provide a common vocabulary and framework tool for the various actors
engaged with humanitarian work to discuss operational effectiveness and common
problems and issues. Dissemination promotes a deepening of debate and discussion,
and strengthens the applicability and relevance of the handbook to the general
humanitarian community.
1.1.
Maintain
and update the project’s three-language website. This website carries the full
text of the Sphere handbook, all the training material, case studies on using
Sphere, and many of the project’s reports.
The website continues
to be increasingly visited, with a steady trend upwards in the number of hits
per month during the reporting period. The total number of hits during the period
was over 1.6 million.
In November 2003, when
the 2004 edition of the handbook went online, the highest number of hits to
that date was recorded, at 207,491. Since then the highest rate has increased
to 232,709, recorded in May 2004. This coincided with when the draft report on
the consultation process on the future of Sphere (see below 3) was online. The
next highest month was March 2004, at 222,902, which coincided with the start
of the consultation process on the future of Sphere.
During the consultations
on the future of Sphere, the website provided information about how to
contribute to the consultation process, and linked to the Aid Workers Network
interactive forum which hosted questions and debate on Sphere. The high number
of hits during this period seems to reflect the level of interest in
participation in the discussions on the future of Sphere. The section of the
website on the future of Sphere remains, updates on decisions taken by the
Sphere Management Committee about the future are being posted regularly.
A new aspect to the
website being developed during the Extension period is a page focusing on the
country level piloting work on Sphere (see below 2). This section will give
information on each of the countries where Sphere is being piloted, and will
post updates provided by those countries on a regular basis.
The Forced Migration
Online website (www.forcedmigration.org) has a link to the Sphere website on
its homepage, with information on the new handbook. Over 80% of the references
in the 2004 edition of the handbook were made available on the FMO website from
May 2004.
1.2.
Focus on the promotion and dissemination of
the revised handbook, the orientation video and the training pack with an eye
to sustainable placement (academic institutions, inclusion in humanitarian
organisations’ orientation packages and human resource departments, etc.).
The new materials have
been promoted in a variety of ways. An announcement was made via the Sphere
e-mailing list in English, Spanish and French – representing over 4,000 people
- at the time of the launch of the handbook. The handbook was featured on Reliefweb's homepage for a week immediately after the
launch and continues to feature in its library. It has also been announced on Alertnet.
Sphere flyers advertising the handbook, video
and training pack, along with a letter, were sent to over 3,000 addresses of
people who receive the World Disaster Report, which the IFRC generously
provided to the project. Flyers and Sphere brochures were distributed to all
National Society delegations and to the General Assembly of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Translations of the 2004 edition of the
Handbook in French and Spanish, funded by the Project under Phase III, were
published in April 2004.
The French version is distributed by Oxfam Publishing and the Spanish by Intermón, Oxfam
With the production of the Handbook in Spanish and French,
announcements via the emailing list were made, and flyers in French and Spanish
are currently being sent out to francophone and hispanophone
contacts.
Beyond this, an intern was recruited to research and carry
out a wider promotion strategy, focusing on:
-
government and other national partners in countries affected by
disasters
-
human resource and emergency departments of humanitarian agencies
-
universities and other bodies that may be
interested.
English, Spanish and French speaking institutions are
being approached. Government and other national partners are being sent a
complimentary copy of the handbook, Human Resource
departments of humanitarian agencies are receiving a copy of the video – with a
view to using it as an induction and training tool – while universities and
other bodies receive a copy of both the handbook and video.
The translation into Arabic of the Handbook is complete
and the book is now being produced. In addition to the funding provided through
the Sphere project extension budget, additional support has been received from
several Arab Red Crescent National Societies, the American Red Cross and the
Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies. This extra funding has allowed the
recruitment of an Arabic-speaking coordinator for the production (typesetting,
printing, CD Rom production) of the translated Handbook in
The translation into Russian of the Handbook has just been
launched, as confirmation of funds to cover this have only recently been
confirmed.
Translations of the 2004 edition of the Handbook into
other languages, without financial support from the Project, have already
started. So far the project is aware of translations into Farsi, Bangla, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean. People or groups
wishing to carry out a translation of the handbook are asked to follow
translation guidelines, available on the website.
The popularity of the Handbook in
English – the only version for which sales figures are available so far – is
reflected in the figures. 1,500 copies of the 2004 edition were sold in December,
making it Oxfam Publishing’s top seller for the month. The Sphere training
package was the highest value seller for December, with 70 copies sold. For the
first six months of publication (November to April 2004), the English Handbook 2004 Edition sold a total of 7,587
copies. The Training Package sold a total of 301 copies. The money from sales
is used to cover reprint costs, a new print run for
the handbook of 5,000 copies has already taken place.
1.3.
Present and promote the project at
various humanitarian conferences and workshops, as well as in training courses
and academic institutions.
The project continues to be represented in a variety of fora. The focus of presentations made during the reporting
period, has been on highlighting the changes in the 2004 edition of the
Handbook, and presenting the process and results of the consultation on the
future of Sphere.
Donors
Sphere had a stand at the ECHO Partners' conference in early
November, where the handbook and materials were on display and the video ran on
a loop.
The Project Manager has met representatives from NZ Aid,
Canadian International Development Agency and AusAID
to follow up possible funding for the future of Sphere. In addition a
presentation was made to over 20 AusAID staff in
There was also a meeting with a researcher working on an
assessment for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs of support to NGO
initiatives provided by major donors and international institutions.
Government representatives
A presentation was made to Indian and Sri Lankan national
and state government representatives visiting
UN Agencies
The Sphere Project Manager and two Focal Points for the
2004 Handbook revision participated in a workshop to review an assessment framework
and matrix proposed for the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) process. This
was followed by individual discussions with the OCHA representative to refine
the way in which Sphere standards and indicators are presented in the CAP
Assessment Matrix, currently being piloted in DRC and
Links have also been maintained with the Disaster
Management Training Programme, based at OCHA.
Presentations were made to the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation
in
International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies
The Project benefits from close cooperation with the
person designated to promote Sphere within IFRCRCS, who has particularly
supported, for example, the production of the Handbook in Arabic.
Sphere staff participated in a workshop run by the
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to look at assessment
approaches used in the Federation, and work towards a consolidated approach. As
in relation to the CAP, this provided an opportunity to contribute to the
appropriate use of Sphere in such an assessment process, as well as to explore
ways of closer cooperation between Sphere and the International Federation and
the National Societies.
NGOs
The Project is in regular contact with NGO
representatives, supporting with advice for training activities and Handbook
translations in particular.
A presentation was made in
Individual meetings were held with representatives from
the Disaster Mitigation Institute,
Academic
Sphere staff presented a 4 hour session to students on the
Network of Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) course in International Humanitarian
Assistance at
A similar presentation was made to students on the
International Diploma in Humanitarian Affairs course at
The
Sphere Project Officer attended a 5 day Pacific Health Summit in mid June,
hosted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in
http://www.hawaii.edu/publichealth/pacifichealthsummit/index.htm
Other ‘Quality and Accountability’
initiatives.
Good contacts have been maintained with other initiatives.
A meeting was held between HAP International, Reach Out and Sphere – the three
based in
Alongside the consultation process, a meeting of the four
principal Anglophone ‘quality and accountability’ initiatives – ALNAP, HAP
International, People in Aid and Sphere - was held to update on progress,
particularly in view of the new management at Sphere and HAP International.
This meeting identified overlapping issues that could provide the basis for
closer collaboration in future, and agreed that meetings should be held every
six months, as has been the case in the past.
The ALNAP biannual meeting in mid June was attended by the
Project Manager, where the Evaluation of the Sphere Project was presented by
Ron Waldman. Following questions and comments, there was a brief opportunity to
update participants on the future of Sphere. Conversations with NGO and donor
participants during the meeting indicated considerable interest in the future
of Sphere, and in possible funding.
The presentation of the Quality COMPAS in
Close links have been maintained with the Inter-Agency
Network for Education in Emergencies, to support the efforts for compatibility
between the Education minimum standards and Sphere. A presentation was made to
the INEE Working Group on Minimum Standards, on lessons learnt from Sphere. The
Project Manager participated as a peer reviewer for the formulation of
standards, indicators and guidance notes, which are being developed on the
basis of outcomes from four regional consultations organized by INEE.
Other
A presentation was made to a group of Danish Army
Civil-Military trainers, at a meeting hosted by ICVA.
1.4. Translate
the report of the independent Sphere Project Evaluation into Spanish and
French, to be posted on the website.
Confirmation of
the final tranche of funding that would allow this
activity to happen is anticipated, but has yet to be received. The translation
will begin as soon as funds are confirmed.
2.
Piloting in-country
The Sphere Country Pilot Programme is a
continuation of the institutionalization of the Humanitarian Charter and
Minimum Standards, focusing on the work of pilot agencies in specific
countries. This initiative responds to the recommendations expressed by the
Sphere Pilot agencies in their last meeting (May 2002). The overall objective
is to improve the performance of agencies involved in disaster response through
the continued learning and institutionalization of the Humanitarian Charter and
Minimum Standards in three regions around the world (
2.1
Document and disseminate lessons learned to encourage mutual learning
within and between country pilot agencies and to share concrete examples of
Sphere implementation that will enhance understanding of the use of the
Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards.
By the beginning of the extension period four of the five
countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sphere Project
Office, including a proposed budget and work plan, as the basis for receiving a
contribution from Sphere towards funding (from the Phase III budget). The
Each country was asked to contribute to a newsletter to
share experiences between country pilots, the first edition of which was sent
out in March. However, it has been found that given the nature of the
activities in the field a more dynamic and flexible approach to gathering and
sharing information would be more appropriate. It has therefore been decided
that in the future, updates and highlights will be compiled as they become
available and posted immediately on the website.
Activities in the different countries have included the
following:
A TOT was held in May, based on the last Sphere TOT. It
was led by two Sphere TOT facilitators, Christophe Lanord and Juan Saenz, with two previous TOT graduates from
Activities to raise awareness about Sphere at community
and government level are particularly developed in Orissa,
and also in
National and community level consultations on the future
of Sphere (see 3 below) were supported by Sphere
Sphere
Efforts to enhance the ‘institutionalisation’
of Sphere are being made by LWF India, Caritas
The Sphere India website (www.sphereindia.org) has been launched,
as part of an effort to promote communication about Sphere in
Funding for just over a quarter of the budget for 2 years
has been secured by Sphere
In
Alongside, the group is in the process of planning a very
complete training and implementation program to train key people to use and
duplicate this friendly version and use the handbook. This process will start
with an adapted training of trainers course to be held
in October 2004.
The Honduras Sphere group organized national and regional
level consultation meetings on the future of Sphere. The 2004 edition of the
handbook was launched at the regional meeting, attended by over 50 people
including donors, NGOs, and government officials.
The Sphere group in
Over 10 workshops and learning events have taken place
since October 2003. This is a follow up of the training for Sphere “institutionalisers”, the aim of which was to train
participants to be able to share and help institutionalise
Sphere inside their own organizations. 163 staff (80 women, 83 men) have thus
been trained, representing local NGOs, government agencies international NGOs
and the national Red Cross.
·Moreover, the
The
group held a consultation about the future of Sphere in mid-April.
The group in
The Nicaraguan network is currently putting together a
seminar for the Sphere technical groups and managers in disaster response to be
held in September 2004. They are also revising their operational framework in
relation to Sphere and will share it with the relevant governmental agency (Sistema Nacional de Prevención y Respuesta a Desastres) in order to strengthen the coordination with
the Nicaraguan government in the response to disasters.
Democratic
A TOT course was held in DRC in March, and a further one
is planned for later in the year. There are also plans for two evaluations of programme work according to Sphere standards, one in the
East and one in the West of the country. However, given the recent insecurity
in DRC, the Sphere Coordinator has not been able to focus much on Sphere
activities and it is likely that planned activities may have to be curtailed.
2.2
Organise and hold a 3-day meeting
of country-level focal points to share experiences of working in inter-agency
collaboration, on the uses of Sphere in each country, and on successful
implementation strategies and activities.
A proposal was submitted to the Rockefeller Foundation for
their support to host this meeting at the Bellagio
Study and Conference Centre. This would have complemented funds allocated in
the budget for this activity. Unfortunately, however, the application was not
successful; there were apparently four times as many applications as places.
The Project will therefore fund entirely the meeting which
will bring together representatives of all the countries involved in the piloting
process to share lessons and experiences. The specific purpose and objectives
are:
Purpose: To create space for humanitarian
practitioners to reflect and learn about the most effective ways of applying
Sphere, with a view to enhancing its contribution to improving quality and
accountability in humanitarian assistance.
Objectives:
As well as representatives from the five countries
carrying out country level piloting, one person each from Afghanistan, Kenya
and Burundi have been invited, as these are countries where particular work on
Sphere has been carried out without financial support from the project. The
possibility of inviting representatives from the Pacific and
2.3
The above two actions will result
in a case study brochure.
The document that will be the principal output of the meeting will be
produced primarily by the participants, with the coordination of the Sphere
office, and should be available early in 2005.
3.
Consultations
Sphere has involved NGOs from around the world in
formulation of the standards, field-based coordination efforts, trainings and
dialogue. There is a broad-based
interest in ensuring the key benefits of the project are sustained and the
dialogue able to continue. There is
strong commitment within the current project management to close out Sphere in
its current form and governance structure.
However, there are many stakeholders with various interest in if, how
and where core activities continue.
The final phase of Sphere will include a series of
consultations on interest and ideas about the future of key Sphere
activities. This dialogue will enable a broad
set of stakeholders to contribute to the vision of how to sustain key
benefits. This dialogue process will be
designed to tap into global networks and Sphere users with the goal of
identifying levels of interest and areas of opportunity.
3.1 To pursue this, a series of meetings will take
place worldwide and research into issues such as the level of interest in
maintaining Sphere, and to review existing quality and accountability
structures, and inquiry into possible governance and management structures and
activities, financing, and areas of opportunity.
As a background
to the consultation process, a Round Table meeting was hosted by UK based Management Committee
members in London in December, to discuss issues around the future of ‘quality
and accountability’ in the sector. Five initiatives were presented briefly at
the meeting as a prelude to discussions:
HAP International, ALNAP, People in Aid, Sphere
and the SCHR Peer Review. Perhaps the clearest outcome was the need to
reinforce the links and common ground that exist between the different
initiatives which exist in the sector. InterAction
held a similar meeting in
The consultation process on the future of Sphere took place between
February and April 2004. Over 400 people participated in group meetings,
interviews and/or an on-line consultation hosted by Aid Workers Network. Full details of the consultation process are
given in the consultation report available on the Sphere website; a brief
summary is given below.
Most
meetings were hosted and organised by people or organisations using Sphere. TOT graduates and people previously involved as pilot agencies
for Sphere institutionalization were particularly encouraged to participate. The
Sphere office offered to contribute up to USD500 for refreshments or other
expenses for each meeting, although only about half meeting organisers made
claims for expenses. Meetings were held on the basis of guidelines for facilitators and organizers of a consultation meeting,
with supporting background documents, prepared by the Sphere Project Office. 22
meetings were held in 20 different countries as follows:
Africa: Angola,
Lesotho, Kenya, Zimbabwe
Central and South America: Honduras (2), El Salvador, Peru
89 semi-structured interviews were
conducted, 82 by the Project Manager (in English and
French) and 7 by the Project Officer in
Spanish. Of these, 45 were conducted by the Project Manager in individual
face-to-face meetings. In addition, 7 people completed the interview questions
in written form, as towards the end of process finding mutually convenient
times to conduct interviews became more difficult. Thus there were a total of
96 respondents to the interview questions.
Aid Workers Network, in close collaboration with
the Sphere Project Office, hosted an online discussion about Sphere in English,
Spanish and French. An interactive discussion forum was online during March and
April, prompted by six questions and two articles sent out on both the AWN and
Sphere list serves. Nearly 200 people signed
up to receive the questions and articles, and 65 posted contributions on the
forum discussion. There were 109 contributions to the forum discussion by the
end of April, indicating that many people sustained an interest in the debate
and posted several times.
It was aimed to involve representatives of
disaster-affected populations where possible, through organisations
who already had a good knowledge of the community, and had worked with them before
on Sphere or related issues. However, in practice there were few places where
affected people had sufficient knowledge of Sphere to allow them to participate
effectively in a discussion on its future. Several organisations
expressed willingness to lead a community focused consultation, but none
actually took place. This was a
disappointing but perhaps predictable indication of the limited extent to which
Sphere has been used explicitly with affected communities. This point is
reflected strongly in the findings of the consultation process.
The Sphere Project staff produced a document on lessons learned about
managing the project. The document details, for example, the process of
preparation and translation of materials, the maintenance of the website and
the implications these have for the number and skills of staff required. This
document will be used to inform the options for the future, and decisions taken
by the Management Committee (it is available on request from the Sphere Project
office alison.joyner@ifrc.org).
A meeting was held with representatives of the other
Anglophone ‘quality and accountability initiatives alongside the consultation
process (as described above, 1.3). In
addition, a series of meetings were held in Lyon and Paris with French NGOs, to
update them on the 2004 edition of the Handbook, and to share experiences with
a view to possible collaboration in future. These meetings were positive in
identifying areas of common concern, as well as points of divergence which
could be the basis for future discussion. The valuable contact made during
these meetings will be maintained in future.
The Sphere Management Committee met in June to consider
the outcome of these consultations, as well as earlier internal consultations
that had taken place within members’ organizations. Full details of the
decisions made by the Management Committee have been shared in a Communication
Paper, sent out on the emailing list, which includes donors, and is available
on the website.
In summary, it was agreed that a light,
independent structure for Sphere should continue, to meet the need of Sphere
users for continued support to apply Sphere effectively. The structure will
take the form of a small office based in
Further decisions to finalise the details of the structure will be taken by the
Management Committee during their last meeting in September 2004. It is aimed
that the new Board will be operational by April 2005.
4.
Training
4.1 Conduct three eight-day Training of Trainers
workshops of 24 participants each. Two of the ToTs
will be in English (
A Training of Trainers course was run in English in
Three
The next TOT will be held in English in
Because
of the late confirmation of funding to translate the training materials into
Spanish (see below 4.3), there will not now be time to run a training course in
Spanish within the project period, once the Spanish materials are ready. The
funds will be used instead to facilitate the involvement of the Sphere Project
Officer – who will be a participant in the Kenya TOT course – as a
co-facilitator in the TOT course being run by the Honduras Sphere group in
October. The extra money will also contribute towards the production of a
document recording lessons learned from Sphere TOT courses (see below 4.4).
4.2 Over the years, the Sphere project has learned that ToT workshop participants frequently require support for
their follow-up Sphere training efforts. To this end, one or two of the ToT facilitators will be tasked with providing coaching,
follow-up strategizing, and encouragement via e-mail and phone calls.
To fulfil this
activity, a Terms of
Reference has been drawn up for a consultancy to establish contact with Training
of Trainers’ graduates since 2000, with a view to finding out what they have
done in relation to Sphere since their training. This is with a view to
contributing to an estimation of the impact of TOT courses, and to learn
lessons for the future of the training element in Sphere.
A team of two consultants has been selected, combining the necessary
survey and language skills to carry out this task. The consultancy, estimated
at 20 days over 3 months, will begin in September.
4.3 Translate the Sphere Training Materials into Spanish
and French, as a critical aspect of giving access to Sphere trainings to a
wider audience.
Confirmation of the
funds necessary to carry out this activity has only just been received. This
means that the translation will only just be completed within the project
period, unfortunately not allowing time for a TOT in Spanish to be run within
the period using the materials.
4.4 Support the preparation, publication and translation
into Spanish and French of a module for use by trainers running Sphere training
of trainers’ courses. The document will offer guidance on how to facilitate a
training of Trainers course based on the Sphere training materials. It will
record the lessons learnt from the nine Sphere Training of Trainers’ courses
that have so far been held and proved very successful.
At a meeting between Sphere project staff and Sphere TOT
facilitators for the last four TOTs, concluded that
rather than publishing the existing ‘TOT module’, a document recording lessons
learned from the development of the Sphere TOT would be more appropriate.
These three Sphere TOT facilitators have now been commissioned, along with an editor, to produce the document by the end of the year. It will be produced in English, Spanish and French. The document should provide an important contribution to allowing the continued successful running of Sphere TOT courses as a component o