The Sphere Project: The Implications of Making Humanitarian Principles and Codes Work

In 1996, in recognition of concerns about humanitarian response efforts, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) launched the Sphere Project, the first collaborative initiative to produce globally applicable minimum standards for humanitarian response. The aims of the Sphere Project are to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian efforts and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system, primarily to those people who have a right to protection and assistance in disasters, as well as to agency members and donors.
This paper discusses the purpose of the Sphere Project, the unique process that brought it about and the major concerns that have been raised about its practical application. Finally, the paper considers the implications of this for improving the impact of humanitarian response and for future initiatives given the process that Sphere has begun. It argues that improved accountability does not start and stop with NGOs. They are just one element of a wider humanitarian response effort and more needs to be done to improve the system as a whole.     

Questionable accountability: MSF and Sphere in 2003

This article examines the relationship between Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Sphere Project. Prior to revisiting the concerns MSF had with the project, it looks at factors that give rise to differences between NGOs and cites some reasons for why an organisation such as MSF would not embrace such a project and clarifies some key elements of MSF-style humanitarianism. The author revisits the original concerns and arguments presented by MSF when it decided not to participate beyond assisting with the establishment of technical standards and key indicators for the handbook. This is followed by a critical discussion examining these concerns and counter-criticism with reference to experiences a few years after the inception of Sphere. It concludes with MSF's perceptions and stance regarding Sphere and accountability in 2003.     

Nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh flood disaster: Sphere minimum standards in disaster response

In this study we use a cross-sectional survey to evaluate the nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh Flood Disaster by 15 relief agencies using standards developed by the Sphere Project. The Sphere Project is a recent attempt by agencies around the world to establish universal minimum standards for the purpose of ensuring quality and accountability in disaster response. The main outcomes measured were resources allocated to disaster relief types of relief activities and percentage of agencies meeting selected Sphere food aid and nutrition indicators. Although the process of nutritional response was measured, specific nutritional and health outcomes were not assessed. This review found that self-reported disaster and nutritional resources varied widely between implementing agencies, ranging from US $58,947 to $15,908,712. The percentage of resources these agencies allocated to food aid and nutritional response also varied, ranging from approximately 6 to 99 per cent of total resources. Agencies met between 8 and 83 per cent of the specific Sphere indicators which were assessed Areas in which performance was poor included preliminary nutritional analysis; beneficiary participation and feedback; disaster preparedness during non-emergency times; monitoring of local markets and impact assessment. Agencies were generally successful in areas of core humanitarian response, such as targeting the vulnerable (83 per cent) and monitoring and evaluating the process of disaster response (75 per cent). The results here identify both strengths and gaps in the quality of humanitarian response in developing nations such as Bangladesh. However, they also raise the question of implementing a rights-based approach to disaster response in nations without a commitment to meeting positive human rights in non-disaster times.     

Humanitarianism,Pluralism and Ombudsmen: Do the Pieces Fit?

A variety of codes and standards for humanitarian assistance have been put forth in recent years. Many NGOs have agreed to abide by these codes. There is uncertainty, however, about if and how these codes are actually being put into practice. Have we moved from words to action? One response to this concern has been a proposal to establish a humanitarian ombudsman. This paper analyses two choices facing an eventual ombudsman: whether to attempt to take punitive actions to enforce the codes and standards, or whether instead to facilitate agencies' own internal efforts to improve accountability to their beneficiaries. It proposes a pluralistic approach, wherein a variety of methods, structures and local perceptions are accepted as potentially appropriate, but where a clear moral stance is still maintained. Some suggestions are outlined for how flexible forms of policy analysis may be used to combine an acceptance of the validity of a vast range of humanitarian actions while still retaining a strong stance against practices that may harm beneficiaries or feed the causes of conflict. Realism about each agency's room for manoeuvre is essential, especially local institutions. A modest but principled stance will involve helping actors to consider the impact of their work on conflict and to find ways to improve the quality of their interventions as perceived by beneficiaries.     

Dividing disasters in Aceh, Indonesia: separatist conflict and tsunami, human rights and humanitarianism

This paper examines the interface between human rights and humanitarian action in the context of the conflict and tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, between 1998 and 2007. It looks at the challenges international humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) faced as they engaged in human rights work in the conflict period and in conflict-related activities in the post-tsunami period. The paper argues that many large NGOs may have compromised what some would hold to be essential principles for humanitarian action because of domestic political concerns, donor restrictions and resistance among certain NGO chiefs. In contrast with the pre-tsunami period, in which NGOs worked for years amid military operations, in the post-tsunami period NGOs were decidedly apolitical, neglecting the conflict in their tsunami response--despite significant developments that permitted greater political engagement in Aceh's post-conflict transformation. The evidence suggests that NGOs are challenged in contextualising humanitarian responses and that there is a need to underscore donor flexibility and independence in humanitarian action.     

Public nutrition in emergencies: an overview of debates, dilemmas and decision-making

This paper introduces and discusses the main themes and issues arising from the workshop 'International Public Nutrition in Emergencies: The Potential for Improving Practice'. Good co-ordination within the nutrition sector of the international humanitarian response system has led to a range of achievements in recent years. Major constraints to improving programme impact remain, however, including misconceptions about the scope of nutrition among the wider humanitarian system, which tends to give it a narrow focus on malnutrition and feeding people. In contrast to this limited view, the Public Nutrition approach brings a more broad-based emphasis to assessing and responding to nutritional problems in emergencies, and takes into account the wider social, economic and political causes of malnutrition. Six case study presentations illustrated the various components of a Public Nutrition approach, including in-depth assessment, analysis and tailoring programmes accordingly. Additional presentations considered the nature of vulnerability, the concept of Public Nutrition, the responsibilities for addressing nutritional problems and some of the operational tools and frameworks in current use. Participants agreed on the necessity of raising levels of awareness and understanding among all actors in the humanitarian sphere about the impact of their actions on nutrition. Strategies for achieving this included developing better multi-sectorial working relationships and also strengthening relationships with donors and key decision-makers in the humanitarian system. Other related strategies included institutional learning, training and capacity building, particularly in relation to institutions based in developing countries and building upon initiatives such as the Sphere Project, which has successfully brought together the various actors within the humanitarian system in order to improve quality of response.     

Public Nutrition in Emergencies: An Overview of Debates, Dilemmas and Decision-making

This paper introduces and discusses the main themes and issues arising from the workshop 'International Public Nutrition in Emergencies: The Potential for Improving Practice'.
Good co-ordination within the nutrition sector of the international humanitarian response system has led to a range of achievements in recent years. Major constraints to improving programme impact remain, however, including misconceptions about the scope of nutrition among the wider humanitarian system, which tends to give it a narrow focus on malnutrition and feeding people. In contrast to this limited view, the Public Nutrition approach brings a more broad-based emphasis to assessing and responding to nutritional problems in emergencies, and takes into account the wider social, economic and political causes of malnutrition.
Six case study presentations illustrated the various components of a Public Nutrition approach, including in-depth assessment, analysis and tailoring programmes accordingly. Additional presentations considered the nature of vulnerability, the concept of Public Nutrition, the responsibilities for addressing nutritional problems and some of the operational tools and frameworks in current use.
Participants agreed on the necessity of raising levels of awareness and understanding among all actors in the humanitarian sphere about the impact of their actions on nutrition. Strategies for achieving this included developing better multi-sectoral working relationships and also strengthening relationships with donors and key decision-makers in the humanitarian system. Other related strategies included institutional learning, training and capacity building, particularly in relation to institutions based in developing countries and building upon initiatives such as the Sphere Project, which has successfully brought together the various actors within the humanitarian system in order to improve quality of response.     

Locating responsibility: the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and its rationale

Criticised by some as a technical initiative that neglects core principles, Sphere was seen by its originators precisely as an articulation of principle. The Humanitarian Charter was the main vehicle through which this was expressed, but its relationship to the Minimum Standards has remained a matter of uncertainty. Specifically, it was unclear in the original (1999) edition of Sphere how the concept of rights informed the Minimum Standards. The revised (2004) edition goes some way to clarifying this in the way the standards are framed, yet the link between the standards and the charter remains unclear. The concern with the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance, which motivated the attempt to establish system-wide standards through the Sphere Project, was accompanied by a desire to establish such actions in a wider framework of legal and political responsibility. In part, this reflects the conditional nature of the undertaking that agencies make when they adopt Sphere. This aspect of the charter has been neglected, but it is fundamental to an understanding of the standards and their application. This paper considers the rationale of the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and the conceptual model that underpins it. It discusses the relationship between the charter and the Minimum Standards, and the sense in which the latter are properly called "rights-based" (explored further in a related paper herein by Young and Taylor). The author was closely involved in the conception and drafting of the charter, and this paper attempts to convey some of the thinking that lay behind it.     

Linking rights and standards: the process of developing "rights-based" minimum standards on food security, nutrition and food aid

This article examines the recent revision of the Sphere Minimum Standards in disaster response relating to food security, nutrition and food aid. It describes how the revision attempted to incorporate the principles of the Humanitarian Charter, as well as relevant human rights principles and values into the Sphere Minimum Standards. The initial aim of the revision was to ensure that the Sphere Minimum Standards better reflected the principles embodied in the Humanitarian Charter. This was later broadened to ensure that key legal standards and principles from human rights and humanitarian law were considered and also incorporated, in part to fill the "protection gap" within the existing standards. In relation to the food security, nutrition and food aid standards, it was agreed by participants in the process that the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger should be incorporated. In relation to more general principles underlying the Humanitarian Charter, itself drawn largely from human rights and humanitarian law, it was agreed that there was a need to strengthen "protection" elements within the standards and a need to incorporate the basic principles of the right to life with dignity, non-discrimination, impartiality and participation, as well as to explore the relevance of the concept of the progressive realisation of the right to food. The questions raised in linking rights to operational standards required thought, on the one hand, about whether the technical standards reflected a deep understanding of the values expressed within the legal instruments, and whether the existing standards were adequate in relation to those legal rights. On the other hand, it also required reflection on how operational standards like Sphere could give concrete content to human rights, such as the right to food and the right to be free from hunger. However, there remain challenges in examining what a rights-based approach will mean in terms of the role of humanitarian agencies as duty-bearers of rights, given that the primary responsibility rests with state governments. It will also require reflection on the modes and mechanisms of accountability that are brought to bear in ensuring the implementation of the Minimum Standards.     

Mental and social health in disasters: the Sphere standards and post‐tsunami psychosocial interventions in Asia

The primary objective of this paper is to examine and inform the mental health and psychosocial support standards of the 2011 edition of the Sphere Project's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. This is done through a qualitative analysis of internal evaluation documents, reflecting four long‐term humanitarian psychosocial programmes in different countries in post‐tsunami Asia. The analysis yielded three overall conclusions. First, the Sphere standards on mental health and psychosocial support generally are highly relevant to long‐term psychosocial interventions after disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, and their application in such settings may improve the quality of the response. Second, some of the standards in the current Sphere handbook may lack sufficient guidance to ensure the quality of humanitarian response required. Third, the long‐term intervention approach poses specific challenges to programming, a problem that could be addressed by including additional guidance in the publication.     

Rights,Standards and Quality in a Complex Humanitarian Space: Is Sphere the Right Tool?

The Sphere Project (consisting of both the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards for Disaster Response) has made prominent contributions to the debates, thinking and work on the quality of assistance and accountability of aid agencies. However, since its inception in 1997, several agencies expressed concerns regarding Sphere's approach, many of which were confirmed by the Sphere evaluation (2002/3). The present article restates these concerns, and addresses more fundamental issues regarding Sphere's cornerstone. It questions the validity of Sphere's rights-based approach, which consists of a tenuous link between the rights of affected populations and standards for technical interventions. Sphere is founded on "the right to assistance", although this right does not exist in international law. Its elaboration would entail solving several complex legal and political issues, which Sphere fails to address. This article also questions the validity and usefulness of universal standards for technical performance in helping relief agencies provide adapted assistance to disaster-affected populations, in line with their mandates and principles. It suggests that Sphere's approach and content largely reflect the concerns, priorities and values of technical professionals in Northern agencies, leaving limited space to genuine "participation" by affected populations and partners from the South.     

Cracking the code: the genesis, use and future of the Code of Conduct

This paper reflects on the genesis of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief, on the tenth anniversary of its adoption. The origins, usage and future of the code are examined with respect to three debates, current at the time of its inception, namely: the debate about the core content of humanitarianism; the debate about coherence and the consensual nature of the humanitarian community; and the debate about the need for, and the ability to demonstrate, accountability. The paper concludes that although the Code of Conduct was very much a product of its time, its content remains relevant today. However, its future application hinges on the capacity of those who purport to follow it to realise true accountability, and on proving that the code, written essentially for natural disasters, is relevant to contemporary complex emergencies.     

Children and the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health

Most of the world's children live in resource-poor countries where people are at a relatively high risk of exposure to catastrophic situations arising from conflict and natural disasters.(6) Given the potential social, psychological and psychiatric consequences of exposure to disaster, mental health and psychosocial support programmes are increasingly part of humanitarian aid. A minimum standard on mental and social aspects of health is included in the recently revised Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere Handbook) (Sphere Project, 2004). Most recommendations for mental health and psychosocial interventions in guidance documents are based on expert opinion rather than research. Consequently, interventions are being implemented without full understanding of their potential benefit or harm. This paper offers a child-focused review of the evidence for each of the interventions described as indicators for the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health. It suggests some, but limited, support for each of them. However, the evidence base needs substantial strengthening.     

The changing emphasis of disasters in Bangladesh NGOs

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, affected by cyclones and floods, as well as chronic hazards such as arsenic poisoning. NGOs have played a major role in bringing concerns related to risk management on to the national agenda and promoting a shift of focus from mere relief response to disaster mitigation and preparedness. The government has, after earlier scepticism, now accepted NGOs as major partners in these tasks. Innovative approaches, such as the use of microfinance, have been applied; many of which are related to preserving the gains of development efforts as part of rehabilitation. NGOs have pressured for better coordination with government. Improved structures are now approved, but it is still too early to judge their impact. Despite progress, neither NGOs nor governmental agencies have clearly defined roles in the effort to link disaster management priorities. This will ensure that longer-term development efforts build on local capacities and reduce vulnerabilities.     

Beyond performance and protocols: early responders' experiences of multiple accountability demands in the response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Critics have long questioned the push for professionalised and performance‐driven accountability in the humanitarian sector, yet the matter is largely treated as a ‘back office’ issue of standards, guidelines, and processes. Scant attention is paid to the accountability demands experienced by early responders to disasters. Set in the contested climate of the emergency response to the earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015, and drawing on interviews with 15 early responders, this paper reveals three forms of accountability demands: (i) accountability as compliance; (ii) accountability as the object of government regulation; and (iii) accountability as public opposition and interrogation. Beyond the performance‐centric, non‐governmental organisation‐driven understanding of accountability, early responders to the earthquake experienced multidirectional accountability demands, not only from donors and beneficiaries, but also from the national government and wider public. Engaging with public criticism is a significant feature of early responders' responsibility that warrants further consideration by the humanitarian community.     

Humanitarian Crises: What Determines the Level of Emergency Assistance? Media Coverage,Donor Interests and the Aid Business

This paper proposes a basic hypothesis that the volume of emergency assistance any humanitarian crisis attracts is determined by three main factors working either in conjunction or individually. First, it depends on the intensity of media coverage. Second, it depends on the degree of political interest, particularly related to security, that donor governments have in a particular region. Third, the volume of emergency aid depends on strength of humanitarian NGOs and international organisations present in a specific country experiencing a humanitarian emergency. The empirical analysis of a number of emergency situations is carried out based on material that has never been published before. The paper concludes that only occasionally do the media play a decisive role in influencing donors. Rather, the security interests of Western donors are important together with the presence and strength of humanitarian stakeholders, such as NGOs and international organisations lobbying donor governments.     

Challenges in humanitarian information management and exchange: evidence from Haiti

There is a growing recognition of the critical role information management can play in shaping effective humanitarian response, coordination and decision‐making. Quality information, reaching more humanitarian actors, will result in better coordination and better decision‐making, thus improving the response to beneficiaries as well as accountability to donors. The humanitarian response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake marked a watershed moment for humanitarian information management. Yet the fragmented nature of the response and the use of hierarchical models of information management, along with other factors, have led some observers to label the Haiti response a failure. Using an analytical framework often found in humanitarian emergencies, this study analyses challenges to information flow in the Haiti case and the implications for effective humanitarian response. It concludes by offering possible paths for overcoming such challenges, and for restoring the value and utility of humanitarian information management and exchange in humanitarian relief settings.     

East Timor emerging from conflict: the role of local NGOs and international assistance

International assistance efforts have represented a conundrum for East Timorese seeking to assert their new independence and autonomy. While urgent needs have been met, local participation, involvement and capacity building have not been given adequate attention. This outcome is aptly demonstrated in the case of local non-government organisations (LNGOs). This paper specifically examines the role of LNGOs in the recovery of East Timor within the international assistance programme. It examines the challenges of rehabilitation efforts in East Timor with a particular focus on capacity building of East Timorese NGOs as part of a broader effort to strengthen civil society. The initial crisis response in East Timor highlighted tension between meeting immediate needs while simultaneously incorporating civil society actors such as NGOs and communities. It has been argued that local NGOs and the community at large were not sufficiently incorporated into the process. While it is acknowledged that many local NGOs had limited capacity to respond, a greater emphasis on collaboration, inclusion and capacity building was desirable, with a view to supporting medium and longer term objectives that promote a vibrant civil society, sustainability and self-management.     

‘Faith can come in,but not religion’: secularity and its effects on the disaster response to Typhoon Haiyan

While other works have analysed what constitutes a faith‐based approach, this study examines what values and practices are employed in a secular approach to disaster response in communities where religion matters. Evidence of a secular approach is assessed in the context of the disaster response to Typhoon Haiyan (2013) in the Philippines, a country in which more than 90 per cent of the population identify themselves as religious. Using interviews with staff members of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and focus groups composed of beneficiaries, this paper provides an overview of how respondents commonly characterise a secular approach to disaster response. Results indicate differing NGO and beneficiary opinions on interaction over efficiency and the impartiality and neutrality of organisations. Secularity had a distinct effect on the disaster response to Haiyan, mostly by creating boundaries vis‐à‐vis when and where religion was permitted in the secularised humanitarian system. An awareness of these effects is encouraged to improve interaction with affected populations and local organisations.     

Civil society and the state: Turkey after the earthquake

On 17 August 1999 Turkey was hit by a massive earthquake. Over 17,000 lives were lost and there was extensive damage to Turkey's heartland. This paper examines how various public and private institutions, including state and civil society institutions such as NGOs and the media responded to the needs of earthquake survivors. It documents the extensive involvement of NGOs in the relief efforts immediately after the disaster and examines the impact of such participation on state-civil society relations in the country. The data show that state response to the disaster went through several phases from a period of ineptitude to effective management. The paper credits the media and the NGOs for acting as advocates for survivors and forcing changes at the state level. The paper argues that an ideal response system, which fully addresses the needs of victims, can only be based on state-civil society relations that are both collaborative and adversarial.