Caritas Australia has be a strong advocate and supporter of Sphere since it’s inception and, like many international NGOs, has made efforts to institutionalise the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards into our policies, procedures and programs over the past 7 years.  While it is clear that Sphere has successfully influenced our policies and procedures in relation to disaster response, it is much harder to say that we have been able to effectively implement Sphere in our disaster response programs.  A key reason for this is that we work mostly through local partners and the ability for Sphere to be implemented in the field is very much dependent on our partner’s own understanding and capacity.

Ces vidéos ont été enregistrées lors d’une activité de partage d'expériences et de connaissance Sphère qui a eu lieu à Dakar, Sénégal le 20-21 novembre 2006 racontant des histoires du terrain. Ces histories racontent des exemples comment mettre en pratique certaines normes Sphère et pourquoi ces normes sont-elles importantes.

In Ethiopia, there was an emergency capacity building workshop during January 24 - 27, 2007 in Southern part of the country organized by NCA (Norwegian Church Aid in collaboration with ACT). There were about 43 participants represented from local government organizations and NGO's. Sphere was part of the capacity building component.

There are an estimated 18,000 volunteers in the Iraqi Red Crescent Society. Of these, Hassan Al Rawi, head of the relief and rehabilitation department in Iraq, estimates that only ten per cent will remain with the Red Crescent by 2006. The willingness is there but the difficult situation in Iraq makes many demands on people. Training can help to motivate volunteers to stay with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society. On the other hand, it can also be a ticket into a job with another organization – knowledge of SPHERE standards is an advantage where competition for jobs is very high. In tough times, these are the real challenges faced by a volunteer-based organization – how to motivate people and provide opportunities for them without financial incentives? As Hassan says, “every time we have a funding gap for a year, we lose volunteers. We need to constantly retrain people”. The Iraqi Red Crescent Society disaster management programme started in 1997 with two staff members and one copy of the SPHERE handbook. The minimum standards were used to develop the first emergency plans of the headquarters and the four operational branches in the country. Today, SPHERE is referred to in all emergency training. The aim is for each branch in Iraq to have key staff trained on SPHERE and enough SPHERE manuals available so that volunteers are encouraged to learn and use it. As Hassan Al Rawi says, “in this period in Iraq, many people don’t have the appetite to read. They are living in a situation of constant tension so training has to be based on local realities and has to propose real solutions”.

Promotion of Sphere standards was the main aim this year (2006) for CHA and has been successful in achieving this aim. Results are evident with the number requests to undergo training in Sphere Standards island wide. RedR/CHA training strategy incorporated Sphere training as a mainstay. Following is a brief of such activities:

This video library is composed of short video clips about stories and examples of the usage of Sphere and Quality and Accountability (Q&A) Standards in Humanitarian responses. They show what does compliance to Sphere mean in practical terms. Some clips also demonstrate consequences of not applying Quality and Accountability Standards and the effect of this on affected populations. Stories are collected for different contexts and during different responses to highlight the importance of the context in applying Sphere.

The International Symposium on Disaster Relief Capacity Building organised by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and sponsored by Islamic Relief Worldwide was held from July 4th to July 6th. The objective of this symposium is to incorporate the Sphere Project into China's disaster relief efforts; to introduce the Sphere handbook of 2004 version to the Chinese officials dedicated into disaster relief and officials/professionals from international NGOs which also focus on disaster relief projects; to create a dialogue among the local governments and NGOs, and between the local NGOs and international NGOs, to share their experience and actions; and also to build up a broad network among NGOs and local governments for the rapid response and effectiveness of relief action.