Sphere Annual Report 2015

By Christine Knudsen (*)

The Sphere Annual Report 2015, structured in line with the recently adopted Sphere 2020 strategic plan, highlights a busy and successful year and points to an exciting 2016 and beyond.

The community of Sphere practitioners took significant steps in 2015 towards establishing a vigorous and diverse network of humanitarian actors with expanding deep field reach.

In response to their priorities, a number of tools and resources were developed and made . They support practitioners and field operations, enabling capacity-building as well as the adapted use of Sphere standards throughout the humanitarian project cycle.

Advocacy continued to be a key focus of the Sphere Project work, including promotion of a holistic approach to quality and accountability across different sectors of humanitarian response.

The Sphere Handbook continues to be a primary resource for humanitarian work around the world, confirmed by three new field-driven language versions (Myanmar, Turkish and Swahili).

Although the current Handbook dates from 2011, the rate of PDF downloads from the Sphere website remains remarkably steady while its online version (SphereHandbook.org) attracts an ever-growing number of users. By the end of 2015, there were 25 language versions of the Handbook available on the Sphere website.

Building on Sphere’s strong involvement and investment in developing the harmonized Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) indicators and guidance notes, tools to support its full integration into the Sphere Handbook were introduced throughout the year. These are the first steps towards the upcoming 2016-2018 Handbook revision.

Welcoming the Cash Learning Partnership to the growing family of Sphere Companion Standards, the Global Humanitarian Standards Partnership began working with stakeholders and partners to clarify priorities, mobilise resources, and set clear deliverables for the coming year.

The growing reach of Sphere communication work as well as the continued and generous support of funding partners confirmed the consistent value added by Sphere to the humanitarian sector, while a responsive Board set a clear course towards Sphere’s strategic priorities by investing time and energy into a review of scope, governance, and structure.

Please find more details in the PDF version of the report (available in English only). As always, we welcome your feedback.

(*) Sphere Project Director.