Sphere Project Newsletter No. 16 (February 2004)

1. New Sphere Project Manager

The new Sphere Project Manager, Alison Joyner, took up her post on 1st November 2003 after a month’s hand over. Alison worked most recently in Sierra Leone for Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK, and previously in Tibet and southern Sudan for UNICEF and Save the Children UK. The main focus of Alison’s work over the next few months will be to lead an extensive consultation process to inform the future of the Sphere Project (see Point 6 below for further information.)

2. Handbook and film launch

The revised handbook and the new Sphere 45-minute film were successfully launched in Geneva and Washington DC at the end of October 2003. Representatives from NGOs, UN, donors and academic institutions attended both launches. The handbook is available for free on the Sphere website (www.sphereproject.org), or for purchase from Oxfam Publishing ( ). French and Spanish versions of the handbook will be available at the beginning of April. We hope also to complete Arabic and Russian versions during 2004. The film is also available for purchase through Oxfam Publishing, in VHS and DVD in English, French and Spanish.

Forced Migration Online, a website supported by the Refugee Studies Programme in the UK, has a link to the Sphere website on its homepage, with information on the new handbook. Digitised versions of most of the reference materials will soon be available on this website (www.forcedmigration.org)

The new Sphere Project Manager, Alison Joyner, took up her post on 1st November 2003 after a month’s hand over. Alison worked most recently in Sierra Leone for Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK, and previously in Tibet and southern Sudan for UNICEF and Save the Children UK. The main focus of Alison’s work over the next few months will be to lead an extensive consultation process to inform the future of the Sphere Project (see Point 6 below for further information.)

The work of the consultant coach, hired by the Sphere Project to provide training and advice to the working groups in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, came to an end in October 2003. This coaching experience highlighted issues that will be helpful in guiding future piloting work. Highlights of the process will shortly be available on the Sphere website.

Plans are being made to hold a meeting towards the end of 2004, which will bring together representatives of all the countries involved in the piloting process. The purpose of such a meeting would be to share lessons and experiences and to create a document that would allow others to share this learning to inform future application of Sphere.

The Sphere website will shortly be updated to reflect the developments in Sphere’s piloting programme. In addition, the first edition of a newsletter highlighting Sphere piloting activities in the five focus countries will be available on the website at the end of February.