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July 2003

Sphere Project Newsletter No. 14 (July 2003)

Table of contents

1. Overview

2. Handbook revision

3. Institutionalisation at country level

4. Training news

5. Evaluation

6. Video

7. Upcoming course

1. Overview

It has been a fruitful start to the summer… the second edition of the handbook is now in final draft and plans are underway for its design, promotion and dissemination; the new induction/orientation video is near completion; field-level institutionalisation efforts in the five selected countries are yielding encouraging results; and the project has just held its 8th Training of Trainers.

2. Handbook revision

In April, a UNICEF-funded meeting was held in Geneva between sector-specific human rights specialists and the technical focal points responsible for the handbook revision. The discussions increased clarity on the link between human rights and the Minimum Standards.

An ECHO-funded meeting in Brussels was held in May, at which ECHO’s regional technical experts had the opportunity to meet with the Focal Points to discuss the revision process, learn about the changes to the chapters and provide feedback.

This phase of the consultation process came to a close at the end of April, when the technical Focal Points submitted the final drafts of the revised chapters to the Sphere office. The final draft of the revised edition was posted on the Sphere website during the month of May 2003 for public comment. During this time, over 2,000 downloads of the chapters were made from the Sphere website, and over 400 comments on the revised edition were received by Focal Points.

The revision process represents months of worldwide consultation with hundreds of practitioners, and we would like to express our sincere thanks to the many people around the world who participated in consultations or provided feedback. The 2004 edition of the handbook is on track for publication in October 2003.

3. Institutionalisation at country level

In March, a consultant coach was hired by the Sphere Project to provide training and advice to the working groups and Sphere resource person in each of the three focus countries in Central America. The Sphere Project Officer and the consultant coach made a follow-up visit to El Salvador and Honduras in April, to understand how the process of institutionalisation had developed since the assessment visit in October 2002. In El Salvador 13 NGOs are forming the working group and Oxfam America, the Lutheran World Federation, ASPRODE, World Vision, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance ES will act as the coordinating body. In Honduras the Sphere working group is formed of NGOs, the government disaster response agency and IOM; Oxfam GB, CARE, CRS, and the Honduran Red Cross are forming the steering group to act as a coordinating body. Examples of the areas that will serve as a frame to guide their activities are interagency co-ordination, dissemination and training and the development of tools for institutionalisation of the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards, among others.

In the DRC, two working groups have been formed, one in Kinshasa and one in Goma. CRS, the host agency in Kinshasa, is now calling for proposals from consultant trainers. They are looking for fluent French speakers who will train interagency groups in data collection methods and the use of the Sphere handbook to audit projects. See the Sphere website for more details (www.sphereproject.org).

In India, an innovative structure has been formed, with a wider Sphere membership chaired by the National Centre for Disaster Management, and a smaller managing committee who will direct two staff. CARE India is the chair of the committee, and Oxfam is the host agency. Staff selection is underway, and it is anticipated that work will commence in August.

In addition to the five countries the Sphere Project is formally working in, four additional countries are spontaneously working on country level institutionalisation (Burundi, Kenya, Afghanistan and the Pacific Islands).

4. Training news

In June, the Sphere Project held its 8th Global Training of Trainers course in France. Out of 75 applicants, 24 people were selected, of 20 different nationalities and representing 16 organisations. We hope to hold another English-language ToT near Geneva in December 2003. Full details will be available on our website in October.

Two sets of independent training modules based on the Sphere handbook are now available on the Sphere website: a five-day technical course (primarily logistics) designed and generously donated by Jim Good (Interworks) and a set of health and nutrition modules developed by a committee of health and nutrition specialists in a number of UK and Irish NGOs. These modules are highly complementary to the Sphere Project’s own training modules.

5. Evaluation

The external evaluation of the Sphere Project, conducted by Columbia University in partnership with the Institute of Public Health at Makerere University in Uganda, is due to come to a close in September. The evaluation team published a questionnaire in March, intended for anyone who is working or has worked in humanitarian assistance, at any level and in any capacity. If you have not yet filled in the questionnaire and would like to make your opinions on Sphere heard, it is available on-line in English, French and Spanish. Please go to:

http://www.sphere-eval.hs.columbia.edu

It has been a fruitful start to the summer… the second edition of the handbook is now in final draft and plans are underway for its design, promotion and dissemination; the new induction/orientation video is near completion; field-level institutionalisation efforts in the five selected countries are yielding encouraging results; and the project has just held its 8th Training of Trainers.

6. Video

The production of the new 45-minute Sphere induction/orientation video is coming to a close and the English VHS (PAL/NTSC) version will be available in August. A 3-language (English, French, Spanish) DVD version will be available in October. The video and DVD will be sold through Oxfam Publishing, and details will be posted on the Sphere website.

7. Upcoming course

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Engineering Professional Development and its Disaster Management Center, will offer the course, "Disaster Management Workshop", September 22-26, 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Click here for more details.

The Sphere Project
P.O. Box 372
1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland

E-mail:
Tel: (4122) 730 4501
Fax: (4122) 730 4905
www.sphereproject.org

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Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response