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Why more training is important in Iraq?
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”.
Keeping volunteers motivated in Syria
“It took 18 hours to develop an appropriate food basket”, says Abdel Qader Abu Awad, regional disaster preparedness delegate in Amman. The volunteers worked day and night to develop an accurate and appropriate food basket for beneficiaries during their field training in Swiida, Syria earlier this year. Volunteers were so motivated that they sat around for hours debating and weighing he contents of the food basket and what was needed. They themselves would be feeding on it during the week-long training in the Syrian desert. A similar effort was made for the establishment of the latrines and other sanitation facilities. Volunteers with no previous experience in these technical areas learnt ‘on the job’ how to set up a camp according to SPHERE minimum standards. No attention to detail was spared – volunteers were organized into technical committees according to the sectors in SPHERE and rotated between the committees so that by the end of the week they had knowledge of each technical sector. When an outbreak of diarrhoea occurred during the course in the training, volunteers took charge of identifying the source and taking measures to improve hygiene in the makeshift camp. “Training was a hands-on experience”, says Abdel Qader. “This is not learning disaster response and preparedness from an office but experiencing it yourself in the field”. This is the best way for volunteers to learn – and to stay motivated with the Red Crescent.
Improving response efforts in Morocco through SPHERE standards
During the Al-Hoceima earthquake operation in Morocco, the training given to volunteers on SPHERE just a few months earlier in Agadir was really put to the test. The national team of 85 volunteers applied their training to one of Morocco’s most powerful earthquakes in decades. But the response operation was also used by the Moroccan Red Crescent to evaluate where the weakness in their response lay and what further training was needed for their volunteers. A bigger team and better training was called for and as a result, the largest training camp of its kind in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region was organized i  n the Moroccan desert in July 2004 with the help of the regional delegation. The training was not for the fainthearted – volunteers endured rain-storms, sand storms and temperatures of close to 50 degrees Celsius. More than ten people were inflicted with scorpion wounds and bites from other insects. A simulation disaster exercise was sprung unexpectedly on the volunteers in the last days of the training. In the middle of the afternoon, whistles were sounded and there was loud screaming as participants rushed to gather. Officers from the Royal Armed Forces participated in sealing the neighbourhood to provide protection and in organizing the road traffic. The ‘Protection Civil’ assisted in caring and evacuating the ‘victims’. The Ministry of Health and the ational radio and TV were also integrated in the exercise. The simulation highlighted the growing network of agencies working in tandem with the Moroccan Red Crescent to coordinate disaster reparedness and response. It also helped address some of the identified weakness in the Al-Hoceima response - next time the Moroccan Red Crescent will be better prepared than ever. Exceeding SPHERE minimum standards in Jordan “Each morning at breakfast, Jordan National Red Crescent Society volunteers were briefed on SPHERE and the Code of Conduct1 was read aloud”, said Ahmed Al-Hadid, former Manager of the Al-Ruweished camp. Before the Al-Ruweished refugee camp was established in March 2003, there was nothing but desert. Because of the political situation, no-one knew how many refugees would flee the war in Iraq and cross over into Jordan. The Jordan National Red Crescent Society and the Middle East Regional Office had to be prepared for anything – it could have been a minimum of 100 refugees or a maximum of 100,000. During the first Gulf War in 1991, 1.4 million people came across the border and the Jordan National Red Crescent Society simply had to cope – at that time without the assistance of guidelines or tools. This time, SPHERE standards were used in all aspects of anticipating the refugee influx; preparing warehouses and stocks, establishing the mobile hospitals, assuring facilities for children and women in the camp and preparing the food basket. In the end, 650 refugees came to Al-Ruweished camp, mostly third-country nationals fleeing Iraq to Jordan or to other countries. For these 650 people, there was relative comfort waiting for them in the camp. Jordan National Red Crescent Society staff was able to offer good services to refugees – in excess of the minimum standards prescribed in SPHERE and with caution given to the principles enshrined in the Code of Conduct. A success story in exceeding the minimum standards and in teaching volunteers how to apply them when preparing for a disaster. 1. The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief Tough standards set by the regional level “The strategy of the Middle East Regional Office is down to earth and focu  sed”, says Abdel Qader. “Training in disaster management at the national and branch levels is the priority, regional training is another step. First you have to build capacity within the National Societies”. The regional delegates spend more than half their month working together with National Societies, helping to build capacity through training and other activities. Faced with the challenges of high volunteer turnover in countries like Iraq or low numbers of volunteers in Jordan, this is no easy task. The main aim of the Regional DP Delegate is to build capacity through training national intervention teams in disaster management. In these trainings, all elements of disaster response and preparedness are covered from constructing camps to tracing and psychological support. SPHERE standards are used as a reference point throughout – “SPHERE is the basis of disaster management”, says Abdel Qader. It is a tool for preparedness and response. National intervention teams have so far been formed in Syria, Yemen and Morocco with future trainings planned in Yemen, Jordan and Iraq in the coming year.  Download a PDF version for this Case Study.
For more information, please contact:Middle East Regional Office, Al Shmeisani, Maroof Al Rasafi Street, Building 19, Amman, Jordan E-mail:
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International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, P.O. Box 372, CH-1211 Geneva 19 - Switzerland E-mail:
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