Objective:

To make Honduras a Sphere country, where the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards are applied at all levels.

1. Honduras is located in Central America, covers an area of 112,492 km2 and has a population of 7 million inhabitants, 90% of which are mestizo and 10% are of Indigenous or Afro-American descent. It shares its borders with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

2. The Honduras Sphere Group was established in 2001, with members from 15 national and international organizations. Its main objectives are dissemination, training and advocacy.

3. The different levels of institutionalization of the participating organizations are reflected in:

• Training Personnel
• Integrating Sphere into Strategic Plans
• Sphere elements are reflected in project indicators
• Used in advocacy activities
• Reflected in conventions

4. In 2003, the leading body involved in the emergency preparedness and care policy in the Government of Honduras (COPECO, the Standing Committee on Contingencies), certified the Sphere Project, proposing that all projects from COPECO and the system’s member agencies include Sphere’s Minimum Standards and the Humanitarian Charter in their implementation.

5. In 2004, the publishing of a version of the Sphere handbook adapting language and content to the country’s situation and simplifying the messages for training of community organizations and local government was initiated. The handbook is now in the final stages of publishing.

6. In October 2004, the Honduras Sphere group held its first Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop, with 24 participants. The level of commitment of participants will accelerate the process of institutionalization and implementation of the HC and MS, and will strengthen relations among Central American countries.

7. The Honduras Sphere group promotes an open-door policy in order to include those institutions identified to abide by the principles of the Sphere Project. The Group now has some 27 national and international institutions:

1. To continue the dissemination process so as to attract the involvement of as many institutions as possible, namely within the United Nations System and among other donors, the Central Government (Health, education, etc.), Local Government, Community Organizations and NGOs.

2. Further the process of institutionalization of the HC/MS and promote evaluation among participants using the defined assessment indicators.

3. Continue to promote the processes of training, especially through strengthening the trainer group, but also through the training of trainers, using the User-Friendly Handbook. We will promote the revision and continuous adaptation of the handbook’s contents.

4. The Honduras Sphere Group will continue to carry out activities to strengthen unity of the group, and will be committed to extending membership; proposals are being prepared for management of funds, and attracting membership from Central American region will be fostered using HC/MS as a basis.

1. Sphere has enabled systematically improving cohesion and coordination among the institutions working in the area of risk management.
2. The existence of the group and knowledge about HC/MS have enabled more effective advocacy actions.
3. Our challenge is to further involve the relevant institutions of the Government of Honduras.

Original working plan (2003-2004) in SPANISH

For more information contact Mr. Oswaldo Diaz This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it