“ Sphere “ Workshop for Relief International

Background:

Day after day the number, diversity and complexity of natural and man made disasters increase. Also, the circumstances surrounding the humanitarian work become more difficult on the local and external level because of the increase of number of agencies involved in relief and disaster preparedness and response with different standards, which cause variety in the level of humanitarian services provided to people affected by disasters and caused embarrassment to some humanitarian agencies. In the light of that there was a  demand of the concerned authorities,  donors and beneficiaries asking of more transparency and accountability to prove that the humanitarian involvement has achieved its objectives, and in the light of all international humanitarian treaties, more than 800 experts from 400 relief organization representing 80 countries in the world gathered to develop minimum standards and its concerned indicators and   for  disaster preparedness and response, " Sphere " was the outcome of two years effort and new update version was launched in 2004 .

Main Goal:

" Sphere " training is seeking to assist the local and international relief agencies working in disaster management to provide an effective and efficient services to the affected people through exerting all possible effort and taking all relevant procedures to alleviate the humanitarian suffering and reduce the impact of disaster and conflict through prompt response to all kinds of disasters and by implementing the minimum standards on the basis that affected people have the right to live with dignity and to be provided with humanitarian assistance. The overall goal of the different training modules of Sphere project is to assist the persons working in relief organizations to understand Sphere handbook and how to apply it through their daily involvement of emergency operation in time of disaster.

Objectives:

ü       Introduce and familiarize the local and international relief organizations working in emergency and relief with “ Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response “ and  indicators  mentioned in Sphere manual.

ü       Assist participants to identify how to benefit of Sphere as an effective tool in disaster management.

ü       Provide participants with practical experience in  using  Sphere manual  through different study cases.

ü       Increase the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance provided to affected people in time of disaster.

ü       Improve the accountability of humanitarian agencies through introducing laws that preserve and protect human rights.

ü       Identify the minimum standards in the field of : ( water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion - food security, nutrition and food aid - shelter, settlement and non-food items - health services )

ü       Introduce the role of different stakeholders before, during and after disaster ( additional as required )

ü       Increase cooperation between different stakeholders who are concerned with disaster management.

ü       Introduce the role of local and international NGOs and UN agencies before, during and after disaster).

   Participants:

§         Disaster coordinators and emergency relief staff/volunteers

§         Representatives from governmental relief organizations

§         Representatives from the local non-governmental organizations

§         Representatives from the international non-governmental organizations

Time and Venue:

                 Damascus 26-30 August 2007

Methodology:

o        Presentation

o        Group work

o        Case study

o        Video film

o        Brainstorming

o        Open discussion

o        Timeframe technique

Facilitator:

Haisam Baltaji

Training duration:

Agenda ^{Last Updated  01/08/07}