Following an intensive initial review process, the first draft of the Sphere Standards 2018 edition is now open for comments and suggestions from practitioners around the world.

To provide an opportunity to learn about the main improvements and how you can contribute to the process, PHAP hosted an online briefing session on 27 April. This was an opportunity to hear directly from the lead chapter authors and the Sphere secretariat and ask questions about the process.

The lead authors and writing teams have been working with their review groups across six chapters to create the framework for the revised standards. The first draft moves the standards from a text-heavy format to a clearer table style which draws out indicators, thresholds, and targets and encourages the reader to think more about context. Common terminology is being used to build greater consistency across chapters. Drivers of future humanitarian response, such as cash transfer programming, urban response, and environmental concerns, are grouped and woven throughout them.

Speakers

Christine Knudsen Director, Sphere
Aninia Nadig Advocacy and Networking Manager, Sphere
Takeshi Komino General Secretary, Church World Service (CWS) Japan
Catherine Cowley Protection Mainstreaming Coordinator, Joint Protection Mainstreaming Framework (Caritas Australia, CAFOD, CRS and Trocaire)
Kit Dyer WASH Advisor, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
Daniel Wanganga Senior Director of Food Assistance Operations, World Vision International
Paul Wasike Emergency Nutrition Advisor, Save the Children
Ela Serdaroglu Shelter Lead (including Global Shelter Cluster Coordinator), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Judith Harvie Technical Coordinator for the Emergency Response Unit, International Medical Corps (IMC)

Facilitator

Angharad Laing Angharad Laing Executive Director, PHAP

Recordings

Session recording (YouTube - faster loading time)

Session recording (Adobe Connect - higher quality)

Session recording (audio podcast)

Consultation surveys

A survey on specific technical issues identified by the lead chapter authors at this stage of the revision of the Sphere Handbook is now available online.

Sphere Handbook 2018 version.

Survey on key issues

Feedback form

Recommended resources

  • Sphere's revision webpage
  • Sphere's calendar for upcoming consultations and training
  • Sphere, Sphere revision Consultation toolkit, 2017
  • Sphere, The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, 2011

Geneva Humanitarian Connector

This event was made possible through the Geneva Humanitarian Connector, an initiative of PHAP supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.