Innovations in training, El Salvador, 2001
Background
Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and Panama -countries all under the umbrella of the office
of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
in Guatemala - face poverty, extreme inequality in the distribution of
wealth, and little government capacity to cope with the rise of malnutrition
and the spread of disease. Their populations live under the constant threat
of natural disaster as witnessed by the devastation caused by El Niño
and Hurricane Mitch. In recent years, several major disasters requiring
international assistance have struck the region, including earthquakes
(Mexico), floods (Honduras), droughts (Nicaragua), volcanic eruptions
(Nicaragua) and hurricanes (Mexico and Central America). These disasters
left a trail of destruction, not only taking lives but also destroying
physical infrastructures and disrupting production in vast areas of these
countries.
Furthermore, likely changes in the global climate combined
with further environmental degradation may well cause the region to become
even more prone to disasters. Compounding the threat of natural disasters,
social violence is on the rise as political stability in countries such
as Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua hangs precariously in the balance.
This is the context in which a Red Cross regional workshop on Sphere was
held in El Salvador in June 2001 for the countries mentioned above and
Belize.
How Sphere was used
The workshop followed standard training modules developed
by the Sphere project, adjusted to ensure that they were relevant to the
Central American region. It went a step further, however, to include a
'field school' that used practical exercises to strengthen the basic training.
Before arriving in El Salvador, the field school concept had been first
developed in Zambia and tested further in Namibia with the Namibian Red
Cross and UNHCR.
During the El Salvador workshop, participants spent
the third day in a shelter for people affected by the earthquakes of early
2001. Going through the following steps, they were asked to compare the
minimum standards and key indicators with existing projects:
· Participants were divided into five groups;
each group was assigned a technical sector. They were informed that the
purpose of the exercise was not to evaluate, and that respect for people
affected by the disaster and for the projects was of utmost importance.
· Each of the five groups was asked to choose
two minimum standards within their technical chapter, and to identify
a few key indicators and guidance notes that would serve as their focus
for the field trip. They were given 60 minutes to do this.
· A 30-minute briefing took place at the workshop
venue before the group departed. Since MSF Holland was running most of
the shelter programmes, their staff conducted the briefing; this gave
general information about the site and the history of the people living
there.
· Participants left for the shelters where they
observed the situation and conducted interviews with project managers
and people living there.
Once the exercise was over, the participants returned
to the workshop venue. In groups, they organised their findings, drew
conclusions and identified lessons learned.
Following the training, participants established a regional
network to further promote Sphere in Central America.
Lessons learned
Most participants concluded that the exercise was very
useful in 'grounding' the contents of the Humanitarian Charter, and in
understanding what the minimum standards, key indicators and guidance
notes look like in real life. Sphere's value for monitoring and evaluation
was also recognised.
Contact: Juan Saenz. Email: juanami@earthlink.net
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