''The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response'' often called the ''Sphere Standards'' is a textbook of minimum standards in

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

published by the Sphere Association. The first edition was published in 2000 and is a "cornerstone of humanitarian practice".

Background

The Sphere Handbook was developed by international humanitarian aid agencies to describe minimum standards for the provision of emergency humanitarian aid. The handbook is published by the Sphere Association (also known as the Sphere Project).

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

declined to engage in the project to create the standards.

Content

First edition (2000)

The handbook presents minimum standards for provision of humanitarian relief activity for food aid, water and sanitation, nutrition, shelter and health care. For each of the sectors, key indicators and metrics are provided.

Second edition (2004)

The 2004 edition added two chapters, one on food security another on processes of participation, monitoring & evaluation, and staff management. Seven cross-cutting themes were included: children, older people, people with disabilities, gender, protection,

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, and the environment.

Third edition (2011)

The 2011 edition included increased emphasis on protection and safety of people affected by humanitarian crisis. It includes topics of

disaster risk reduction Disaster risk reduction aims to make disasters less likely to happen. The approach, also called DRR or disaster risk management, also aims to make disasters less damaging when they do occur. DRR aims to make communities stronger and better prepared ...

and early recovery and includes increased focus on climate change and

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. The third edition introduced the issue of humanitarian agencies needing to respond in urban (rather than

peri-urban Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Such areas may be referred to as the rural–urban fringe, the outskirts ...

and rural) contexts. The technical chapters were revised to show the importance of greater system-wide preparedness, coordination and technical quality, including recognition of the need to support and strengthen local health systems, to provide standards around transitional longer-term reconstruction, and to develop a more integrated approach to the prevention and treatment of malnutrition that addresses wider causes such as poverty and livelihoods in emergencies.

Fourth edition (2018)

The fourth edition expanded further into standards for humanitarian response in urban settings and includes greater focus on the role of local authorities and communities as actors of their own recovery. More emphasis was placed on context analysis to apply standards. There was also updated standards in areas such as water and sanitation,

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

in health, security of tenure in shelter and settlement. New ways of delivering assistance, including cash-based assistance, are also integrated.

Use

The standards within the handbook have been used to monitor and evaluate humanitarian interventionsNickerson JW, Hatcher-Roberts J, Adams O, Attaran A, Tugwell P (2015) Assessments of health services availability in humanitarian emergencies: a review of assessments in Haiti and Sudan using a health systems approach. Confl Heal 9(1):20 and are used to the training of humanitarian workers.

Reception

The initial publication was generally welcomed by aid agencies, but was also met with criticism that the standards can only be met in ideal situations, and therefore are not useful the common situation of there being inadequate resources and time to respond perfectly to humanitarian emergencies. 2019 criticism, published after the publication of the fourth edition, were still criticized for being aspirational and led by consensus rather than by evidence.

References

External links

2018 edition official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sphere Handbook, The Humanitarian aid Disaster management