The Sphere Project - Phase Three Extension
November 2003 – December 2004 (14 months)
Revised Proposal
February 2004
A programme of the
Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) and InterAction
in consultation with
VOICE and ICVA
Project Management Committee:
Steering
Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR)
An alliance for voluntary action
of: CARE International, Caritas Internationalis,
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies, International Save the Children Alliance, the
Lutheran World Federation (ACT), Medecins sans Frontieres International, Oxfam International, and World
Council of Churches (ACT).
InterAction
a coalition of over 150
US-based non-profit organizations working to promote human dignity and development
in 165 countries around the world.
In consultation with:
VOICE
(Voluntary Organisations in
Co-operation in Emergencies)
ICVA
(International Council of
Voluntary Agencies)
Background to Extension
Proposal
The Sphere Project is rooted in
the shared concerns of humanitarian assistance NGOs over the performance and
accountability of the humanitarian system. The Sphere Project’s goals are to
improve the quality of humanitarian assistance and the accountability of
humanitarian agencies to their beneficiaries, their members and their sponsors.
The project has, over the years, become a leading example of inter-agency
cooperation, as well as a demonstrated improver of the quality of disaster
response.
In order to effectively close
the project in its current structure and governance, the Management Committee
agreed to extend the project 14 months (November 2003 – December 2004) so as to
1) consider the recommendations of the independent evaluation due in September
2003, 2) consult widely among various humanitarian stakeholders about the
possible future of Sphere, 3) promote the second edition of the handbook, the
new training pack and the orientation video, and 4) complete two core
activities of the project: training and institutionalization.
Phase I (1997 – 1998) of the Sphere Project developed a preliminary
edition of a Sphere handbook, which included, in addition to the Humanitarian
Charter, Minimum Standards for the sectors of water supply and sanitation,
nutrition, food aid, shelter and site management, and health services. The
consensus-building process included many agencies participating directly in
five sector groups, inclusion of networks of experts from a variety of NGO and UN
agencies, a thorough review of materials from diverse agencies, and wide
sharing of information as the handbook developed.
Phase II (1998 – 2000) activities were focused on dissemination, debate
and implementation. Work included launching an independent website,
distributing a quarterly e-mail newsletter, producing a nine-minute video, and
presenting the Project at over 200 humanitarian meetings, conferences, academic
institutions, training programs and NGO headquarter offices. A significant training programme
was begun and a group of 20 agencies agreed to pilot the institutionalization
of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards into their agency policy and
practice.
Phase III (2000 – 2003) continued the dissemination efforts and focused on
learning from the piloting programme and sharing
these lessons across the humanitarian system. The training program grew from
general interagency 3-day workshops into sophisticated 8-day training of
trainers. A broadly consultative revision process led to the publication of the
second edition of the handbook and a useful 50-minute orientation video for new
humanitarian workers was produced. An exernal evaluation was begun, conducted by
Phase III
extension (2003 – 2004)
The
rationale for the Phase III extension is that:
The overall response and
participation in the Sphere Project has greatly exceeded the Management
Committee’s original expectations. This has been true of the involvement in the
production of the revised handbook, the demand for training in all regions, the
interest of individual agencies to incorporate the Humanitarian Charter and
Standards into all aspects of their work, the intention of many to make
practical use of the standards in disaster response implementation and
coordination as well as preparedness, the interest of donors and governments in
having a common vocabulary and framework for emergency response, and the use of
the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards as a tool for clarifying
and deepening understanding of many issues around effective disaster response.
The
14-month extension provides an excellent opportunity to deepen the progress and
gains in the key training and institutionalization components, while also
considering the evaluation findings and determining a responsible way to close
the project while ensuring sustainable mechanisms for key program activities.
The timing
of the production of the revised handbook and orientation video, as well as the
need to collect, document and share lessons learned from the country-level
institutionalization programme, also requires the extra time.
Consequently,
the 14-month extension period 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.
To this
end, the following activities will be undertaken:
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.
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.).
1.3.
Present and promote the project at various
humanitarian conferences and workshops, as well as in training courses and
academic institutions.
1.4.
Translate the report of the independent Sphere
Project Evaluation into Spanish and French, to be posted on the website.
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.
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.
2.3 The above
two actions will result in a case study brochure.
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.
4. Training
4.1 Conduct three seven-day Training of Trainers
workshops of 24 participants each. Two of the ToTs
will be in English (
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.
4.3 Produce the Sphere Training Materials in Spanish and
French, as a critical aspect of giving access to Sphere trainings to a wider
audience.
4.4 Support the production in English, 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.
5. Project
Management
5.1 Management Committee
The Project continues to be
managed under the guidance of InterAction, a US-based
consortium of private voluntary organisations in collaboration with the
Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) and in consultations with
the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), and Voluntary
Organisations in Co-operation in Emergencies (VOICE). The Project Management
Committee will comprise representatives from each of the sponsoring agencies
(SCHR members plus three InterAction representatives)
and a representative from each of the observer agencies. The representatives
will be competent in both the operational and policy areas of the agencies' work.
The purpose of the Management Committee is to provide overall guidance to the
Project Manager and the Sphere team, to periodically review the work of the
Project, and make the final determination of the future of Sphere. The Project Management Committee will meet
three times during the Phase III extension period.
5.2 Staff
After five years in the post, the
current Project Manager has chosen not to renew her contract, which expires at
the end of October 2003. A new Project Manger will be recruited and will be
responsible to the Project Management Committee;. The Project
Manager will be required to manage the ongoing activities of the project and to
lead the global consultation process. The Project Manager has a key
responsibility for liaising with other operational agencies, donor institutions
and research bodies to build up knowledge of the work and the sense of commitment
to the Project. She/he will also continue to work closely with relevant UN
operational agencies and academic institutions to ensure that the Sphere
Standards are incorporated into disaster management and humanitarian response
training and teaching.
In addition to the Project
Manager, the project will continue to have two full-time staff, a Project
Officer and a Project Assistant, both responsible to the Project Manager.
5.3 Budget
The 14-month budget totals CHF 1,362,111
5.4
Funding
Appropriate to its
system-wide nature, the Sphere Project will continue to seek a broad base of
financial support from both participating NGOs and humanitarian donor agencies.