The Sphere Pilot Programme at Country Level is is a continuation of the institutionalisation of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards, focusing on the work of pilot agencies in various countries. This initiative responds to the recommendations expressed by the Sphere Pilot agencies in their last meeting (May 2002). The programme is designed to use our resources in order to gather lessons learned and documented case studies on the application of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in these countries.

In each country, working groups were created, initially through agencies who took part in the Sphere pilot programme (until 2002) and subsequently engaging other key actors within the national and local framework. The program supported institutionalization and Sphere training in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras in Central America, the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa and India in Asia.

At the end of 2004, a meeting was organized in Geneva on the topic "Sphere in practice" (document pdf). The Geneva meeting brought together representatives of all the countries invlolved at the national level in order to share lessons and experiences of working in inter-agency collaboration, on the uses of Sphere in each country, and on implementation strategies and activities. It was decided to broaden the group and to include other key practitioners that - to the knowledge of the Sphere office – have been active in the use and institutionalization of Sphere at the field level in other countries. The meeting therefore was an “official” closure of the Sphere country pilot programme, as well as an opening for future collaboration and sharing between Sphere practitioners.