Sphere in Haiti – an update

Following the recent devastating earthquake which hit Haiti on 12th January 2010, the Sphere Project secretariat has been working to identify ways to strengthen the use of the Sphere minimum standards in the humanitarian response. These steps have been taken to date –

· The ACT Alliance is deploying a Quality and Accountability Support Team in close collaboration with the secretariats of the The Sphere Project and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP International).
The mission will be led by experienced Sphere trainer Anne Lloyd and HAP trainer Coleen Heemskerk for a 3 week period beginning 9th February 2010. 
The overall aims of the Q&A Support Team deployment are to:
      o support ACT Alliance staff and partners in Haiti in their efforts to strengthen the accountability and quality of the humanitarian response
      o assess the issues and challenges to quality and accountability as part of the overall humanitarian response in order to lay the groundwork for a potential longer-term deployment from March 2010.
      o explore the possibilities to link up with, and contribute to, other Q&A initiatives
Coleen can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  
Anne can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

· A 2-week assessment mission by RedR / Bioforce from 2nd-20th February 2010 is looking into the needs for support in implementing Sphere and HAP standards.

· Sphere is in close contact with ICVA and InterAction as they set out to establish an NGO coordination cell in Haiti. It is anticipated that there will be a quality and accountability ‘component’ within the cell with which Sphere (and other Q&A initiatives) can relate and interact.

· Contact has been made with a number of experienced Sphere practitioners and former ToT participants in Haiti from the Sphere database. These individuals will link in with the above-mentioned assessments and deployments.

More news on the development of these steps will be posted when available.