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Self Report 2019

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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  • 2B
    Ensure full access to and protection of the humanitarian and medical missions

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The Sphere Project further commit to support and reinforce actions which preserve the global capacity to provide urgent life-saving assistance and protection, reaffirming the primacy of humanitarian principles. It will actively contribute to the development of evidence and learning in the use of voluntary humanitarian standards with partners.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Result: Sphere revised its Handbook and published the 2018 Sphere Handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response.

    Sphere (formerly known as the Sphere Project) worked to encourage adherence to humanitarian principles and to collect evidence and learning in humanitarian response. Building on the World Humanitarian Summit outcomes and additional preparatory work in 2016, Sphere carried out an in-depth Handbook revision during 2017 and 2018, releasing the fourth edition of its Handbook in November 2018. The publication was the result of a global consultation process across more than 65 countries, including national and international actors who contributed their knowledge, experience, and evidence into this open-source tool which is the most-used reference in humanitarian action. The Sphere Handbook includes three foundation chapters (the Humanitarian Charter; Protection Principles; Core Humanitarian Standard) and four technical chapters (WASH; Nutrition and Food security; Shelter; Health) which are interlinked in an integrated approach to quality and accountability. 

    Sphere also worked with its partners to publish case studies, online learning, and training resources aiming at supporting and reinforcing the global capacity to provide quality, accountable humanitarian assistance.

    Keywords

    Quality and accountability standards

  • 3A
    Reduce and address displacement

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Result: Sphere adopted stronger language and guidance on understanding the operational context, self-help initiatives, and the linkages to recovery, including collaboration with local, national and regional actors.

    With more people displaced for longer periods, the updated version of the Sphere standards, released in 2018, addresses these new realities in the humanitarian sector. Revised guidance and stronger contextual analysis provide greater focus on more complex and protracted crises, as well as humanitarian needs in urban settings. A new section on using cash and markets to deliver the standards describes ways to choose modalities of assistance over time to support dignity, recovery and resilience for instance. Over the past two years, Sphere has worked with partners to support municipalities, governments, authorities, and regional bodies to integrate  humanitarian quality and accountability standards into their humanitarian response frameworks, disaster reduction platforms, and national preparedness policies. 

    Keywords

    Quality and accountability standards, Strengthening local systems

  • 3G
    Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The Sphere Project endorses the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Result: Sphere has endorsed the Charter and promotes the rights of persons with disabilities throughout the core of its work.

    Sphere has been strongly advocating for the inclusion of older people and persons with disabilities in all aspects of humanitarian assistance. 

    The Sphere Handbook was revised to strengthen the inclusion of persons with disabilities, promote an inclusive and people-centered approach, and take steps to become aware of barriers to assistance and protection. Thematic experts reviewed all aspects of this fourth edition, to focus on non-discrimination and inclusion. For instance, data disaggregation guidance was revised to include analysis of age, sex, and disability (following the Washington Group questions) at a minimum. The revised Protection Principles include impartiality and non-discrimination, encouraging all humanitarian actors to identify obstacles to accessing assistance and take steps to ensure it is provided in proportion to need and without discrimination. 

    In May 2018, the "Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities" became the seventh member of the Humanitarian Standards Partnership (HSP), an alliance of standards initiatives aimed to improve quality and accountability in humanitarian action. The standards, developed by the Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), are grounded in the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities as well as in international human rights instruments, evidence, and practice. 

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action
    Keywords

    Disability, People-centred approach, Quality and accountability standards

  • 4A
    Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The Sphere Project commits to maintain fully open and free access to all Sphere standards and training materials to support the integration and adaptation of voluntary standards (Humanitarian Charter, CHS, Protection Principles and technical standards) into systems and skills training so that these standards are used to improve quality and accountability in humanitarian response.



    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The Sphere Project commits to promote, advocate for and build global capacity to adhere to and respect the Humanitarian Charter, Protection Principles, Core Humanitarian Standard, and the Sphere and Companion technical minimum standards in humanitarian response as an expression of the fundamental right to life with dignity. The Sphere Project commits to take all possible steps to support those governments, authorities, and regional bodies who act to integrate Sphere and Companion standards, including all elements founded on humanitarian principles and informed by international humanitarian and human rights law, into their humanitarian response frameworks, disaster reduction platforms, and national preparedness policies.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    People-centered approaches (feedback mechanisms, community engagement, etc)

    Result: The Sphere revision process was designed to reflect all users’ inputs through a global consultation, including national authorities and service providers, to identify key issues relevant for technical coordination and shared accountability. 

    Fully one-third of contributors to the 2018 Sphere Handbook consultations represented national or local NGOs, service providers or authorities. As a result, stronger local ownership and leadership of response and recovery is woven throughout the revised Handbook. Specific guidance was developed to support working with and through national, local and community structures in each of the chapters. 

    Together with the member of its network, Sphere has supported governments, authorities, and regional bodies in integrating the Sphere and partner standards into their humanitarian response frameworks, disaster reduction platforms, and national preparedness policies. As a result of these efforts, Chile’s National Bureau for Emergencies (ONEMI) was supported by UNDP (Sphere Focal Point in Chile) to work with local and national authorities to introduce the Sphere Handbook as a core reference tool for first responders. The government of the Philippines revised national legislation on the protection of children in disaster and crisis situations and aligned this policy with Sphere standards. Ecuador’s newly adopted National Disaster Response Plan moved to recognise the Sphere standards as the normative basis for the country’s humanitarian response.

    Keywords

    Local action, People-centred approach, Quality and accountability standards

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management (including resilience)

    Result: The 2018 Sphere Handbook incorporates guidance on risk reduction and collective outcomes, with enhanced analysis of risks, vulnerabilities and capacities, informed by humanitarian principles and commitments as reflected in the Humanitarian Charter. 

    The disaster risk reduction approach integrated in the new edition of the Sphere standards is one that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs and advocates for a reduction of risk and vulnerability over multiple years. The standards are also widely used for disaster preparedness, since they give a clear outline of the quality response necessary for a given population to survive and recover with dignity. The guidance provided is also concerned with sustainability during the recovery phase. In addition, its people-centered and rights-based approach clearly serve a holistic approach to disaster management and development work as well. 

    In close collaboration with its community, Sphere has been working to support efforts to develop supplementary guidance on disaster risk reduction that will contribute to bridging existing response gaps and allows for a more holistic approach to supporting affected and at-risk populations over longer periods of time.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian-development nexus, People-centred approach, Quality and accountability standards

  • 4C
    Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Investing in disaster risk reduction

    Result: Sphere minimum standards provide an important framework for preparedness, with particular focus on cross-sectoral approaches and coordination.

    The disaster risk reduction approach integrated in the new edition of the Sphere standards is one that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs and advocates for a reduction of risk and vulnerability over multiple years. The standards can also be used for disaster preparedness, since they give a clear outline of the quality response necessary for a given population to survive and recover with dignity. The guidance provided is also concerned with sustainability during the recovery phase. In addition, its people-centered and rights-based approach clearly serve a holistic approach to disaster management and development work as well. 

    In close collaboration with its community, Sphere has been working to develop supplementary guidance on disaster risk reduction that will contribute to bridging existing response gaps and allows for a more holistic approach to supporting affected and at-risk populations over longer periods of time.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian-development nexus, People-centred approach, Quality and accountability standards

Attachments

  • Sphere_WHS commitments report 2018
    Transformation - 2B, 3A, 3G, 4A, 4B, 4C | Humanitarian principles, Humanitarian-development nexus, People-centred approach, Protection, Quality and accountability standards, Strengthening local systems