A door-to-door ‘salesman’ went from place to place with a box that he offered at each door. The box was Sphere. Every time, the person who opened the door asked "what can I use it for?" Each time the door was slammed in his face because the salesman forgot to say that it has three elements.

In Central America, the ‘salesman’ got to a local centre where the people forced him to open it and he realised that to sell it, people had to be able to look at its various parts. They are:

1) Process of Sphere: national groups need to reach consensus on how they are going to work together. Sphere as a name should be subordinate to country priorities – whether risk management, education, peace or whatever. 2) Using the Handbook 3) Commitment to the humanitarian values of the Humanitarian Charter.

 The ‘salesman’ realised that to be relevant, each ‘customer’ has to be able to distinguish between the three parts, in order to see which applies to them in their own context.

Oxfam has found that applying the minimum standards around NFI can be difficult. What is  meant by a ‘family unit’ is often not explained clearly by providers. This proved a challenge in Congo Brazzaville and DRC where families are polygamous. Since each wife had her own cooking utensils and does not share these with the others, CRS made the decision that a second or third wife each constitutes a different household, and the assistance was expanded accordingly.

In a resettlment programme for Angolan refugees in southern DRC, Oxfam provided materials for the refugees to build their own houses. It was also felt to be important to integrate this with the local villages. The houses the refugees actually built were tiny, because this was what they were used to. Since the houses were smaller than Sphere minimum standards, the donor complained – the standards hadn’t been achieved. Oxfam explained that they had provided sufficient materials but people hadn’t wanted to build in that way. In other words, they had fulfilled another Sphere requirement – that the context and wishes of the community should be taken into account.

Save the Children is adapting Sphere for children in several countries in South America. By introducing it into songs, games etc, children have a new way to understand what Sphere is about. Save the Children have taken a similar approach to make the Humanitarian Charter more accessible to adults. Working with five other agencies, they have also contributed to establishing indicators for education. SC also believes there is a need to go into more depth [with Sphere] in primary and secondary education. As such, the organisation provides a model for coordination, which is important since governments and others need to be further integrated into efforts to promote Sphere in South America.