As part of our continuous effort to become a hub of communications and experience sharing among Sphere users, we continue to aggregate News, collect contacts, experiences, documents, reports, etc. related to Sphere implementation in Practice. We would like to hear from you if you have any contribution to that. If so, please contact us on
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- 10 years of Sphere This year 2007 witnesses the tenth anniversary of Sphere; a Product, Process and a “Phenomenon” that are unique in the Humanitarian world. Since its launch in 1997, the Sphere Project has become an important influence on the practice of emergency relief in a wide variety of disaster settings. On this occasion, the Sphere Project wishes to receive articles from practitioners about their views on Sphere 10 years after its inception:
* How far has Sphere succeeded in improving the Quality and accountability of Humanitarian action? * Has it contributed to a movement concerned with the rights and dignity of those affected by disasters?
- Change in the timing of the next revision process for the Sphere Handbook You may have heard that the next revision of the Sphere handbook was scheduled for 2008. However, at the last meeting of the Sphere Board (25-6 January 2007), the rationale for a revision process next year was discussed. The Sphere Board believes it does not currently have sufficient understanding of the demand for a revision of the existing Sphere Handbook Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (2004 edition). In addition, a number of new translations and low-cost editions of the handbook have just been launched, or are about to be. More time should be allowed for them to be used. It was therefore agreed to delay the revision process planned for 2008, and to carry out an initial, small consultation within Board member organizations and networks. Read more...
- Call for new Sphere Board members To any agency or network interested in joining the new Board of the Sphere Project: The Sphere Board Chair is glad to invite NGO families, networks or federations that are interested to support the future of the Sphere Project, to apply for membership of the Sphere Board. Following calls for applications for new members to the Board at the end of 2004 and during 2005, 4 new members have joined the Board. 2 previous members have left, so there remain a few vacant places. It has therefore been decided to reopen the application process as from 15 February 2007. The closing date for applications is 31 March 2007. Read more...
- Sphere and the Humanitarian Reform The Sphere Project conducted presentations to OCHA and UNICEF in New York on the 23rd of January 2007 on Sphere’s place within the Humanitarian Reform process. 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. Read more on specific different aspects of the Humanitarian Reform where the Sphere Project can be relevant.
- Inter-agency Sphere Review in Pakistan, 5-9 March 2007 As part of the Sphere Focal Point Project hosted by Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS P/A), CWS P/A plans to conduct an Inter-agency Sphere Review process in Pakistan in March 2007. All relevant stakeholders such as project teams, communities, local partners and authorities will be included in the exercise to review whether the projects identified by each participating agency are in compliance with Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response and make recommendations for the future. Finally all review teams will come together and share experiences and lessons learned during one day where also other organisations and stakeholders could be invited as observers. This first exercise would be conducted as a learning event limited to a 3 participating organisations and if successful to be duplicated by other organisations. CARE International, CWS P/A and World Vision will be participating actively in the review exercise. Read more...
- Caritas and Sphere Caritas Sri Lanka has started to use sphere standards before the beginning of the tsunami rehabilitation programmes. All programmes are defined respecting the sphere standards. In any case, Sphere standards are being mainstreamed within our organization as they are widely used by the different stakeholders in the humanitarian field and they enable us to improve the coordination, as well as generally improving the quality of humanitarian programmes. Sphere follow up actions in Sri Lanka is facilitated through CHA (Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies). Consultation process is in progress. Now sphere is translated into native language Sri Lanka (Sinhalese) and it is also in the process of translating into Tamil. Read more...
Caritas Australia has be a strong advocate and supporter of Sphere since it’s inception and, like many international NGOs, has made efforts to institutionalise the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards into our policies, procedures and programs over the past 7 years. While it is clear that Sphere has successfully influenced our policies and procedures in relation to disaster response, it is much harder to say that we have been able to effectively implement Sphere in our disaster response programs. A key reason for this is that we work mostly through local partners and the ability for Sphere to be implemented in the field is very much dependent on our partner’s own understanding and capacity. Read more...
- Islamic Relief efforts to promote Sphere On the 22nd of January 2007, Islamic Relief Disaster Preparedness and Response Unit (DPRU) organised a 3 days "Implementing Sphere Standards" Training workshop for Islamic Relief staff. The aim of the course is to facilitate an understanding of the basis of the Sphere process and to enable the use of the handbook as a tool to improve the efficiency and accountability of the organization in humanitarian relief. It is worth mentioning that DPRU has trained more than 300 IR staff and other NGOs members on how to use the Sphere guidelines, and has distributed over 500 English, Arabic and French books worldwide. Training Team Leader: Mr Osman head of the disaster Preparedness and Response Unit,
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- The launch of Esfera Latino A new website was launched in Spanish (http://www.esferalatino.info/) to support Sphere activities in Latin America and to help sharing of experiences and knowledge about Sphere in the region. The website is managed by a number of volunteers and administered by Wilmar Echeverry,
. Welcome and Congratulations!
- Upcoming new translations: Handbook to Somali and Training Materials to Arabic A first meeting of the Sphere handbook Translation Steering Committee was held in CARE Garowe office on 28 December 2006 composed of representatives from Save the Children UK, UNOCHA, AAIS, DAIKONIA, CARE. CARE is pleased to confirm that it has already hired the services of a Project Manager to coordinate the translation process. Read more...
The translation of the Sphere Training Materials into Arabic is almost completed. The translation process is managed by Islamic Relief. Point of contact: Mr. Mostafa Osman,
- New Promotion Posters published Promotional Posters developed by World Vision covering the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and different Minimum Standards in Disaster response that can be used for Training and Promotion of Sphere are now available for Download. Posters exist in three languages: English, French and Spanish. Read more...
5. Next Training of Trainers in Arabic The next Training of Trainers in Arabic is tentatively planned to take place in United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted by the UAE Red Crescent between the end of May and 15 June 2007. If interested, please follow our website regularly for more information.
- Video Library Check our new video library which is composed of short video clips about stories and examples of the usage of Sphere and Quality and Accountability (Q&A) Standards in practice. Some of the video clips show what does compliance to Sphere mean in practical terms. Some clips also demonstrate consequences of not applying Quality and Accountability Standards and the effect of this on affected populations. Stories are collected for different contexts and during different responses to highlight the importance of the context in applying Sphere. Read more...
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