Humanitarian standards-setting initiatives hold historic meeting

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Meeting of the Boards of the Sphere Project, People In Aid and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership

This was a significant event in the long history of collaboration between the three initiatives and a key milestone on the journey towards a more coherent standards architecture. This historic face-to-face encounter provided the opportunity to build trust and discuss ways to achieve greater coherence.

Humanitarian standards are crucial for “increased quality and accountability in humanitarian response,” said Erik Johnson, Chair of the Sphere Project Board in his opening remarks to the half-day meeting.

“Coherent, easy-to-use and straightforward standards are more likely to be put into practice. And if they’re used, they’re more likely to make a difference in the lives of conflict- and disaster-affected people. That’s why we’re here,” he emphasized.

The three initiatives have adopted the name  and a fruitful dialogue to set the goals for the next stage of the process.

Against this backdrop of collective achievement, some 40 members of the three Boards gathered at the headquarters of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which hosted the meeting. They discussed their shared goals and visions for a more coherent humanitarian standards architecture, as well as the scope of the JSI and the next steps in the process.

Addressing the meeting participants, Neil Casey, Chair of the People In Aid Board, highlighted its “unprecedented” character. “There is a tremendous amount of commitment represented in this room as well as much agreement on what we want to achieve and how we move forward,” Casey said.

Commenting on the event, the-then Chair of the HAP Board Matthew Carter said: “The coming together of the three Boards was a historic moment within the humanitarian enterprise, highlighting the great potential of closer and more structured working.”

One of the next steps of the process is a wide consultation with the initiatives’ main stakeholders, including humanitarian field workers. A working group on standards and organizations made up of representatives of the three Boards plus independent experts will analyze the consultation’s findings, make recommendations and propose changes towards a new humanitarian standards architecture.

The outcomes of the consultation process and of the working group will be shared at a Forum on Humanitarian Standards to be held in the Spring of 2013. The whole process is being overseen by a Steering Group made of the three Board Chairs and the three initiatives’ senior staff. A full-time Coordinator will be appointed in June.

For Carter, “there are both challenges and great opportunities in taking forward the JSI, but fundamentally HAP believes that this commitment will bring about major and positive change across the sector and be another move to enhancing accountability to people affected by disasters.”

Highlighting the “historic opportunity to address what is a very important challenge,” Johnson affirmed “dialogue and debate, and the evidence-based approach which have defined our standards” as the “best tools” for the task ahead.

In his closing remarks, Casey stressed the need for the ‘greater coherence’ process to be both “ambitious” and “beneficiary-led”. “Let’s not think about organizational restructuring, but about what our beneficiaries need; let’s put them at the heart of the process,” he emphasized.