The Sphere Project: The Humanitarian Charter

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The Sphere ProjectThe Humanitarian Charter
Minimum Standards in Disaster Response

• The Sphere Project provides humanitarian agencies
  with a framework for rights-based assistance and
  accountability

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Through Sphere, humanitarian agencies have
achieved two important things

• 1. Articulated the argument for the universal
  right to assistance
• 2. Reached agreement on core principles and
  actions

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Sphere is about what victims of calamity and
conflict need in order to survive with dignity

• In this, it is not only a technical manual,
• but an articulation of what beneficiaries
• have a right to receive.

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The Sphere ProjectMinimum Standards in
Disaster Response

• A Program of the Steering Committee for
  Humanitarian Response and InterAction
• with VOICE, ICRC ICVA

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Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response
members

• Caritas Internationalis
• International Federation of the Red Cross Red
  Crescent
• World Council of Churches
• CARE International
• MSF International
• Luthern World Federation
• OXFAM
• Save the Children International

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InterAction

• CARE USA
• IRC
• CRS
• ARC
• ADRA
• Mercy Corp.
• etc.

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Project Aim

• Improve
• Quality of humanitarian response
• Accountability

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Three parts to the Sphere Project

• 1. The Humanitarian Charter
• 2. Minimum Standards
• 3. Key Indicators

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The Humanitarian Charter

• The right to life with dignity
• the distinction between combatants and
  non-combatants
• the principle of non-refoulment

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Minimum Standards Indicators

• Indicators for the standard
• Proportion of exits from therapeutic feeding
  program who have died is less than 10
• Proportion of exits from therapeutic feeding
  program recovered is greater than 75
• There is a mean weight gain of 8g per
  kg/person/day.

• Nutrition Standard
• Mortality, morbidity and suffering associated
  with severe malnutrition are reduced.

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Nutrition
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Health Services
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Shelter Site Selection
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Food Aid
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Water Sanitation
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History of ProjectPhase I Goals (1997 - 1998)

• Develop Humanitarian Charter
• Develop Minimum
• Standards key indicators
• Gain broad acceptance

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UNIQUE PROCESSConsensus Credibility

• Collaborative, multi-agency, positive
• Inter-relatedness of sectors
• Process of drafts, meetings, emails to identify,
  analyze and consolidate the most useful standards
  and key indicators
• Over 228 agencies involved
• Over 800 individuals involved

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Phase II Goals (1999 - 2000)

• Dissemination Discussion
• Field Reviews Feedback
• Implementation of
• Minimum Standards in program planning, monitoring
  evaluation
• Gender Protection Review
• Publication of 1st edition

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Status ReportSummer 1999

• 5000 manuals distributed worldwide
• Funding commitments from 7 govt. donors 10
  NGOs
• Developing training materials
• for practical application of handbook

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Status of UN

• UNICEF Emergency handbook
• OCHA Distributed to resident coordinators and
  endorsed by HC
• UNDP Emergency dept. endorsed and distributed
  text
• UNHCR Part of Parinac, handbook to field offices
• IASC Letter of support

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Key Concerns

• Will donors misuse the Standards?
• Will the responsibilities of State non-State
  Actors be recognised?
• Will innovation independence of NGOs be
  compromised?
• Are the Minimum Standards universal?

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Opportunities

• Common benchmark
• Monitoring Evaluation
• Coordination tool
• Contributes to more rational funding approach to
  humanitarian response

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M E Challenges

• Characteristics of CHE require special approaches
  to evaluation
• Lack of vital information (no baseline data)
• Failure to monitor key indicators
• lack of agreement on monitoring procedures
• Failure to record decisions properly

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ME and Sphere

• Standards as common program tool and for setting
  explicit goals
• Agreement on key indicators that can be monitored
• Transparency

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Web Site

• http//www.sphereproject.org
• English, French Spanish language versions
  available