For the first time in response to a new emergency, the Sphere Board agreed to field a Sphere Focal Point to offer support on the effective use of Sphere to agencies responding to the earthquake. Two Sphere ToT facilitators, Rory Downham and Sylvie Robert, shared this consultancy for four weeks during November and December 2005. Church World Service (CWS), a member of the Sphere Board member network, Action for Churches Together, hosted the consultants in their Islamabad office. Sphere Board member and other interested agencies – a total of 15 organisations – contributed the funds necessary to cover the consultancies.

The aim of the Sphere focal points was ‘to ensure that all relevant agencies were given the opportunity to build their awareness and practice in relation to Sphere standards, so that their work is representative of recognized “best practice” in humanitarian work’. The consultancies also aimed to be a learning experience for the Sphere Board and office, and to inform the possible establishment of a protocol for supporting 'new emergencies' in future.

The consultants found a considerable need for such support from a range of actors responding to the earthquake, including the Pakistan army, local and international NGOs, and UN agencies. They responded to this by holding awareness raising workshops for people unfamiliar with Sphere, experience-sharing between people more experienced in the use of Sphere, and starting the process of translating the 2004 Sphere handbook into Urdu.

The ongoing demand for the kind of support offered by the focal points has led CWS to seek funding for a 6 month focal point position, supported by 3 periods of up to 4 weeks each of an international Sphere and training specialist. Sylvie will be in Pakistan in the first two weeks of February for the first of these 4 week periods, and it is hoped that the 6 month focal point position will be recruited during that time.

The Sphere Board will discuss at its meeting in February the possibility of developing a protocol as a basis for fielding such focal points in future new emergencies.

We would be glad to have your view of the idea of Sphere focal points to support agencies responding during the early weeks of an emergency. Rory’s and Sylvie’s report on their time in Pakistan is available on the following link.