Prepared by the Sphere Project office, in consultation with OCHA Humanitarian Reform Support Unit, January 2007
These notes were used as the basis for presentations to OCHA staff and others on the 23rd of January 2007 in New York, on Sphere’s place within the Humanitarian Reform process.
1. Background: The Sphere Project
• Launched 1997 by a group of NGO networks (led by Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response and InterAction’. Trilingual (English, Spanish, French) • Aim: ‘To improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters, and improve the accountability of states and humanitarian agencies to their constituents, their donors and their beneficiaries’. • Key tool the ‘Sphere Handbook’: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards for Disaster Response. Wide consultations: first edition of handbook launched 2000; revised edition 2004. Next revision being planned for 2008. Handbook available in ‘Project’ languages and several other ‘spontaneous translations’. • Other materials: Training materials (4 languages), Sphere Review and Elearning tool being developed • Interactive website www.sphereproject.org : all materials available for free download, ‘Community of Practice’, discussion fora, Sphere news and stories, video clips • Small Project team (4.5 positions) remains based at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva
2. History: Sphere and United Nations agencies
• Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working Group meeting, September 2000:
- endorsed the Sphere handbook as ‘an important tool for anyone working with populations affected by disaster. It will be particularly useful for those working for international and national humanitarian organizations’;
- called on all IASC members ‘to promote the use of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response within their organizations, particularly in their field operations’.
• About 60 of the 950 registered members of the Community of Practice (on the website), and 3 out of 65 ‘Sphere focal points’, are from UN agencies.
3. Sphere in the context of Humanitarian Reform
• Project representatives interviewed by Humanitarian Response Review consultants
• Resulting Humanitarian Reform process followed closely by the Project from the outset, by Sphere Board members represented on the IASC (Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR), International Council for Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and InterAction), and the Project Manager.
• Two principal aims of Sphere’s involvement with Humanitarian Reform:
- to ensure that the achievements of Sphere are integrated as relevant into Humanitarian Reform, which aims ‘to enhance humanitarian response capacity, predictability, accountability and partnership’ (similarity to Sphere’s aim).
- to ensure the genuine engagement of NGOs – both international and national – in the process of reform.
• Important to highlight that Sphere is a practical, technical tool particularly relevant to the field based cluster leads, Humanitarian Coordinators and OCHA field staff to support assessment, analysis, planning and monitoring through the Common Humanitarian Action Plan. It is one of a number of tools that can support the aims of Humanitarian Reform.
• Key question remains: how in reality Sphere can be used as a tool to support the aim of Humanitarian Reform. These notes aim to suggest some answers to this question.
4. Clusters
4.1 Clusters at global and field level
• Aim of Clusters, at global and field levels, to: ‘strengthen system-wide preparedness, and technical capacity’ and ‘demand high standards of predictability, accountability and partnership’ – as with the overall aim of Humanitarian Reform, complementary to the aim of Sphere
• Technical specialists – ‘focal points’ – who led the revision of the WASH (water/sanitation/hygiene promotion), Shelter, Nutrition and Health Services chapters of the Sphere handbook, 2004 edition, participate at a global level in the IASC ‘technical’ Clusters for these areas in order to incorporate Sphere into technical guidance provided to the field. All have close contact also with work at field level.
• Aim to ensure that Sphere standards and indicators will be used where appropriate in the work of the Clusters on improving standards and accountability: Sphere referred to as a key reference document for standards and indicators in these Clusters’ implementation plans; should be included as a key part of training within these Clusters.
• Also encouraging genuine engagement with NGOs – both international and national – and relevant local authorities by the Clusters. The sense gained by the focal points is that the discussions remain very much focused on issues of concern to the UN, without due consideration to the valuable inputs that partners provide, and without treating partners as “equals.”.
4.2 Cluster/Sector Lead Training (CSLT)
• First one to be held 12-16 March; organized by HRSU, plan to include a 1-1.5 hour session on Sphere. Sphere representatives will meet with consultants designing the training, and possibly participate in the training as resource people.
• Sphere is a tool that should help Cluster Leads to define what is expected from agencies that participate in the Clusters. A ‘Sphere Compliance tool’, outlining a process carried out at project level to define what it means to be ‘compliant’ with Sphere in a given context, is being developed, and could be particularly relevant in this respect.
• CSLT will complement the training being carried out in the individual sectors, which, as noted above, should also reflect strongly the technical sectors’ use of Sphere as the basis for standards and indicators agreed.
4.3 Development of Standard Operating Procedures for the Cluster approach and Evaluation of the Clusters
• Involvement of Sphere in this process, through the Humanitarian Reform Support Unit (HRSU), OCHA Geneva.
5. Humanitarian Coordinators
5.1 Humanitarian Coordinator training
• Strong link with Sphere in the development and delivery of this training envisaged (through collaboration between Project office and soon-to-be-appointed Training Coordinator for Humanitarian Reform, and Humanitarian Coordinator Strengthening Project Coordinator).
• Aim to present to HCs, and RCs where relevant, practical examples of how Sphere can be seen to have helped improve humanitarian response. Need to ensure an appropriate approach for these senior members of staff.
5.2 Links with other training:
• With support from OCHA, Sphere following up links with other training relevant to CSLT and HC/RC training:
- UNDAC/FACT
- DMTP – CADRE (OCHA providing IASC Country teams training for CADRE)
- CAP
6. Sphere and Field Information Support/Information Management Units/Humanitarian Information Centres
• Contact between Sphere users and OCHA IMUs and HICs at field level – particular example in Pakistan (development of an Integrated Monitoring Matrix based on indicators for Sphere Standards Common to All Sectors)
• Meetings being held with representatives of OCHA Field Information Support in Geneva and New York to explore the best way to pursue links
• Sphere will be involved in IASC Information Management Working Group
7. Global Humanitarian Platform
• Two thematic issues for the GHP planned for July 2007: accountability to beneficiaries and ‘capacity building’.
• Sphere is relevant to both these issues, and could be used as a focus around which to base discussions. Through HRSU, Sphere will be involved in discussions of the GHP to this end.
• GHP should be an opportunity to change the perception that Sphere is more of an NGO tool than a UN one, and, through the ‘principles of partnership’, that Humanitarian Reform is solely UN-led. Both areas fit very well with Sphere’s two aims in relation to Humanitarian Reform as set out above.
8. Other relevant links between OCHA and Sphere:
8.1 Deployment of Sphere resource people to ‘new’ emergencies
• First experience in Pakistan, November 2005-January 2006.
• For the future: prepare to ensure strong connection with OCHA from an early stage in such cases.
8.2 CAP subworking group
• Sphere’s involvement in training on the CAP from early stages of CAP; most recently presentations at CAP ToTs
• Involvement in development of the Needs Analysis Framework (NAF) (explicit references to Sphere in annexes)
• Involvement should continue with revision of the NAF and development of monitoring tools
8.3 OCHA Needs Assessment Project
• Anticipated involvement of Sphere
9. Sphere and other aspects of Humanitarian Reform
9.1 Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative
• Sphere referred to in the GHD principles
• Humanitarian Reform process offers an opportunity to reinforce this with relevant donors; being followed up by Sphere Board member organizations and Project office
9.2 ‘Benchmarking’/Humanitarian Health and Nutrition Tracking Service (HNTS)
• Sphere represented on the Department for International Development (DFID, UK government)-led advisory group on benchmarking during the second half of 2005. The Project Manager presented at a meeting hosted by IASC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2005, which proposed the establishment of a Humanitarian Health and Nutrition Tracking System (HNTS).
• Sphere focal points for Health and Nutrition participating in current discussions on the development of the HNTS. As in the Clusters, aim is to ensure that Sphere standards and indicators are taken into account as appropriate in the agreement of indicators on health and nutrition by a future HNTS. Also emphasized that NGOs and governments need to be partners in the establishment of an HNTS, if they are to be expected to collect the data on which such a system would depend.
10. Conclusion
• Complementary aims of Humanitarian Reform and Sphere
• How to put stated intentions on the part of leaders of Humanitarian Reform into practice? OCHA’s leadership in supporting this, and supporting Sphere to advocate for this, is critical
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