now - The Sphere Project
Transcription
now - The Sphere Project
SPHERE LEARNING WORLDWIDE 2010 REPORT Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................... 3 Executive summary .................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4 I. Types of Trainings, Learning Events and Activities ............................................. 6 Sphere workshops ......................................................................................... 7 Sphere Sessions in other trainings ................................................................ 8 Sphere in courses of academic and training institutions ................................ 8 Presentations at conferences ........................................................................ 9 Learning outside of classroom setting ........................................................... 9 5.1 Inclusion of Sphere in e-learning tools........................................................... 9 5.2 Disaster simulation exercises ...................................................................... 10 5.3 On-the-job coaching .................................................................................... 10 6) Promotional tools, translations and research: .............................................. 10 6.1 Promotional tools ......................................................................................... 10 6.2 Translation ................................................................................................... 10 7) Training of trainers (ToT courses) ............................................................... 11 8) Follow-up meetings for Sphere practitioners ............................................... 12 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) II. Geographical outreach: ..................................................................................... 13 1) Learning activities worldwide ....................................................................... 13 2) Strengthening Sphere capacities in the aftermath of disasters: Haiti and Pakistan ................................................................................................................ 16 III. Target groups ................................................................................................. 18 1) Participants by type of organisation ......................................................... 18 2) Participants by profile ............................................................................... 19 3) Training tips for different audiences ......................................................... 21 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 23 Acknowledgment ...................................................................................................... 24 Appendices 1) Appendix 1: Training and learning events in detail See: Training and learning events in detail 2) Appendix 2: Examples of training materials used See: Examples of training materials used 2 Foreword This Training Report – the third of its kind in as many years – comes at the time of the launch of the 2011 edition of the Sphere Handbook. While this report reflects on what has been achieved so far, additional challenges and opportunities will present themselves in the years to come as people become familiar with the content of the new Handbook. Training, as part of the learning approach adopted by Sphere, is clearly identified as a strategic priority in Sphere‟s „Strategy 2015‟ – ‘Strengthen the capacities (people and tools) of the sector to adopt Sphere more widely’. While the Training Report highlights the significant scope of activities, it should be remembered that this is only what has been reported; what else is going on unreported in the sector, about which we have no information? It is important to understand Sphere training and learning events as integrated with Sphere „companion‟ standards, other Quality and Accountability initiatives within the sector and within other relevant trainings rather than in isolation. This vision reveals the reality of Sphere. It is also significant to note that Sphere‟s use in the academic sector is on the increase, thus clearly providing another fundamental source of learning about quality and accountability. Training materials on Sphere are being revised this year to reflect the content of the 2011 edition of the Handbook. When reporting on the training activities of 2011, it is anticipated that there will be renewed interest in Sphere and its role within the sector. John Damerell Project Manager Geneva, June 2011 3 Executive summary This report is the third edition of the Sphere Project office‟s annual overview on Sphere learning worldwide. It captures the scope of Sphere learning and training activities developed throughout 2010, informs the Sphere Project office and Sphere trainers of potential gaps in training outreach and approaches, and shares methodologies and tips to facilitate learning activities around Sphere. Sphere learning in numbers: 339 learning activities on Sphere, including 148 Sphere workshops, in different countries covering all five continents: 37% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25% in Asia, 15% in Europe, 9% in North Africa and the Middle East, and 7% in Africa without the Middle East. A total of 50 training sessions in Haiti from February 2010 to May 2011.and around 20 in Pakistan from August to November 2010 to respond to the unprecedented disasters that hit these countries. An estimate of 8472 people trained or briefed on Sphere worldwide. 1 Workshops remained the main teaching tools used to train on Sphere. These trainings increasingly included presentations on other related Quality and Accountability initiatives, contributing to greater clarity among humanitarian actors on how to use these initiatives in conjunction with each other. These stand-alone workshops were complemented by the integration of Sphere sessions into other relevant trainings, which sensitized a wider group of practitioners. Courses or events in universities and training institutions that integrated Sphere followed suit. They formed the third-largest group of learning activities on Sphere, highlighting the key role these institutions play in Sphere dissemination. To a lesser extent, alternative learning activities took place in the form of Sphere courses in e-learning modules, coaching and simulation exercises. There is a need extend Sphere learning beyond classroom training and to explore new learning methodologies which reach out to the widest possible audience. Short presentations on the Sphere Handbook were also given on the occasion of conferences. In parallel to training activities, a couple of promotional activities, translations and research were carried out. Training of trainers‟ courses on the Sphere Project continued to be an important teaching vehicle. Refresher courses for practitioners were held and resulted in renewed commitments to advance the Sphere Minimum Standards. All these learning activities were instrumental in raising awareness of humanitarian workers, who remain the main audience of Sphere learning events, but also of governments, clusters, students, the media, military officers and communities. It is crucial to increase learning efforts aimed at this public; not traditionally targeted by Sphere learning activities, their increasing role in humanitarian action now makes it paramount to sensitize them on Sphere. Finally, it is essential to tailor-make learning activities to the specific needs of the audience targeted. This report presents tips on how to do so. 1 These figures are based on 104 responses to a survey the Sphere office sent to trainers who had participated in Sphere ToT courses from 2000 to mid 2009 and feedback from some Sphere groups. 4 Introduction Why publish Sphere Project Training Reports? Sphere training and learning activities developed by the Sphere Project‟s community of trainers around the world are a core component of the Sphere Project. They are a fundamental means to promote increased awareness on the Sphere Handbook and to help humanitarian actors to gain the necessary knowledge and practical skills to apply it effectively. Since 2008, the Sphere office has produced global reports on Sphere learning on an annual basis. The aim is to assess the scope of Sphere training and learning activities taking place worldwide and to inform the Sphere Project office and Sphere trainers of potential gaps in learning outreach and approaches, in order to help design a more strategic approach for the future. The goal is also to provide a space to share methodologies which improve learning around Sphere. This third edition on Sphere learning around the world gives an overview of Sphere training and learning activities developed throughout 2010. It also presents some methodological tips Sphere trainers are using to ensure that training events meet the needs of the audience targeted. How was it done? This report does not claim to give a complete picture of all the Sphere training events that took place in all organisations and institutions around the world. It focuses mainly on the activities of former participants of Training of Trainers courses (ToTs) and on some of the Sphere focal points. The findings are based on 104 replies to a survey on Sphere learning activities in 2010. The Sphere office sent the survey questionnaire to all of the trainers who had participated in a ToT course between 2000 and mid-2009 and to Sphere groups. The questionnaire focused on: Gathering general information on Sphere trainers‟ activities (including the type of events facilitated, the target groups, the location/context and the content of the sessions). Collecting learning tips for different target audiences. Limitations of the report The actual number of Sphere learning activities of former ToT participants probably exceeds what is recorded in the report. We invite the organisers and trainers of activities not included in this report to contact the Sphere Project office. 5 I. Types of Trainings, Learning Events and Activities 339 learning activities on the Sphere Project were reported to the Sphere Project office. A wide range of actors organised these events. 6 1) Sphere workshops Sphere workshops made up the majority of activities held in 2010. The previous annual training reports highlighted the same findings; this indicates that workshops remain the main means used to spread Sphere knowledge. 148 Sphere workshops were reported, attended by 2,968 people.2 The duration of these workshops ranged from half a day to five days. Most of them were general Sphere workshops including an introduction to Sphere, the Humanitarian Charter, the Code of Conduct, the Common Standards, the technical chapters and practical exercises. Sphere training in Basra, Iraq, organised by Janaen Charity Organisation and OCHA Increasingly, Sphere trainers also include presentations on other Quality and Accountability (Q&A) initiatives within their workshops. This was the case in 14% of the workshops. These trainings generally covered the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) standard or the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) or the Interagency Standards for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Standard, which are Sphere companions. Combining presentations on the Sphere Project with other related Q&A initiatives is indeed an effective way of showing how these initiatives can complement each other on the ground. There is a need to develop some standard presentations to introduce these different initiatives together. A few courses focused on presenting specific technical chapters (4% of the workshops). Other trainers put the emphasis on promoting learning about the use of Sphere in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) (4%), in the Project Cycle Management (3%) or in gender mainstreaming (1%). Participants of the workshop Trocaire and NANGO, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, with the support of the Irish Aid. 2 See details in Appendix 1 7 2) Sphere Sessions in other trainings Complementing stand-alone Sphere trainings with Sphere sessions embedded into other related training courses is crucial. It is an excellent way of weaving Sphere learning into the learning patterns of humanitarian stakeholders and of showing specifically how it can be included within the different phases of humanitarian interventions. Sphere sessions incorporated into existing trainings held by humanitarian agencies were the second main teaching methodology used to train about Sphere. One hundred and eleven (111) trainings targeting 2,496 people included a presentation on Sphere. (See the appendices for the details). 3) Sphere in courses of academic and training institutions Presentations and courses on Sphere in universities and training institutions formed the thirdlargest group of events. These presentations targeted students on humanitarian action, wellseasoned humanitarian workers and governments. This finding confirms the active role these institutions played in the dissemination of Sphere and highlights the need to strengthen partnership with them. In the majority of the cases, these activities took the shape of short presentations of one hour or more within other courses. These included courses on nutrition, food security in emergencies, humanitarian action, accountability, international cooperation, disaster management, project cycle management and NGO management delivered within Masters in Humanitarian assistance, International Cooperation, and Risk Management courses. Students in a Sphere course, Birmingham University, United Kingdom. 8 Some institutions dedicated several days within their programme to Sphere learning. This was notably the case of the Instituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) which holds a four-day course covering the whole Sphere Handbook within its Advanced Diploma in Management of Humanitarian Interventions. The course is open to professionals and aims at making Sphere known to field operators. 4) Presentations at conferences Short presentations on the Sphere Handbook at international conferences and meetings, were other means used to train on the Sphere Handbook.3 These included Q&A round tables, operational inter-agency meetings, meetings with partners and conferences on health, climate change and refugee rights. The majority of these presentations lasted a couple of hours and provided a general introduction to the different sections of the Handbook. A few of them focused on the Humanitarian Charter, the use of Sphere in disaster risk reduction or community participation according to the Sphere standards.4 Some of them covered both Sphere and HAP standards. In India, the Government and Sphere India organised a series of conferences, throughout the country to raise the awareness of various stakeholders on the minimum standards. These included the Government, NGOs, community-based organisations, the media and universities. Some events were held at the village level. Participants Sphere conference organised by Sphere India in Jaipur 5) Learning outside of classroom setting Sphere learning can be disseminated in many other ways than traditional classroom workshops or meetings. The annual Sphere Training Report offers an opportunity to explore different approaches that can be used to diversify learning methodologies around the Sphere standards and to adapt to new trends. Learning events outside of classroom settings reported in 2010 were as follows (see the appendices for details): 5.1 Inclusion of Sphere in e-learning tools Some e-learning courses incorporating Sphere learning were reported. In Spain, The Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) integrated a two-hour introductory course on the Sphere Project and the Handbook within its e-learning course on assessment and management of quality of humanitarian action. The e-learning course also includes a practical exercise with a case study on Sphere. 3 See details in Appendix 1 The El Salvador Sphere group gave a presentation on community participation according to the Sphere standards during an event the World Food Programme organised to validate the operational guidelines of the Food for Work programme it put in place for the population affected by Huracan Ida in El Salvador. 4 9 5.2 Disaster simulation exercises The Sphere Handbook was used in the annual three-day simulation exercise on disaster management organised by Harvard University in the Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover, Massachussets, USA. The participants spent two nights in the forest, where they were subjected to a disaster and conflict scenario. Among their assignments, they were asked to prepare and implement a detailed service delivery plan for water and sanitation which follows Sphere minimum standards. 5.3 On-the-job coaching A group of humanitarian organisations in Venezuela worked together to coach the representatives of the State of Zulia in designing an emergency plan based on the Sphere Project. Thirty-five (35) people participated in the process, including members of the Civil Protection units of the State of Zulia, the Fire Department, Caritas, the Red Cross, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 6) Promotional tools, translations and research: A number of tools were developed or used to accompany Sphere learning and/or increase awareness about Sphere. 6.1 Promotional tools In collaboration with Oxfam, CWS P/A prepared leaflets on water and sanitation standards for the community affected by the floods in Pakistan and field staff working in the disaster areas. They designed posters and T-shirts with a Q&A message about Sphere and HAP standards to raise awareness of communities, local NGOs, the government, international NGOs (INGOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies. The Sphere deployment mission in Haiti also produced and distributed posters and presentation booklets to several national and international NGOs, UN agencies and governmental institutions. 6.2 Translation To support the dissemination of Sphere in Haiti, World Vision translated the Code of Conduct. Oxfam Canada coordinated the translation of the 2004 edition of the Sphere Handbook into Creole, funded by members of the Policy Action Group on Emergency Response (PAGER Canada). It is now translating the 2011 edition of the Sphere Handbook into Creole. 10 7) Training of trainers (ToT courses) Nine Sphere ToT courses were organised, in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain and Venezuela. They were delivered in English, Spanish and Portuguese, contributing to strengthening the community of Portuguese-speaking pools of trainers. Sphere ToT in Philippines organized by Lutheran World Relief and Church World Service (CWS) Six ToTs were open to participants from all over the world while four were national courses. This was the case of the ToT in the Philippines which used an interesting approach. Convened to develop a pool of national Sphere trainers, the course was tailor-made to address specific needs and challenges faced by stakeholders in the application of Sphere in their country. Regional trainers participated in the training, which demonstrates the increasing knowledge on Sphere and related skills within the region. These ToTs followed the overall structure recommended by the Sphere office, but trainers enriched it with additional items, tools or exercises they had developed. The ToT in Bolivia allocated a space to discuss the common standard of participation in all phases of the project cycle and used a field-school exercise on disaster management. The facilitators of the ToT in Ethiopia developed some pedagogical materials to facilitate teaching around the Humanitarian Charter and on the project cycle management. (See Annex 2, Examples of training materials used). The ToTs were of varied duration. While some of them, such as the ToT organised by the Sphere Project, lasted around eight days or more, others ran for a shorter period. For example, the IOM in Venezuela organised a threeand-a-half-day “Sphere training for facilitators” for representatives of governmental institutions and of civil society involved in risk management and emergency response. It was designed to give these institutions access to facilitators with strong knowledge on Sphere and able to disseminate it at the basic operational level. Sphere training for facilitators held in Venezuela by IOM A member of the Sphere office participated in the ToT in Ethiopia as an observer, enabling a rich interaction with the ToT participants. A specific time was allocated for group work to enable participants to provide feedback on the type of assistance they would like to receive from the Sphere Project office. They particularly mentioned tools to accompany the revised Handbook, a new video and a revised website. All the input and questions collected informed the revision of the Sphere Project‟s learning and communication strategy. 11 8) Follow-up meetings for Sphere practitioners Follow-up meetings offer a good opportunity to refresh and strengthen knowledge of Sphere and to identify additional learning needs. In Latin America, 28 representatives of the Sphere community of practitioners in Venezuela met for the first time for two days to update their knowledge on the Sphere Project and to share experience and learning on their use of the Handbook. Sphere meeting in Venezuela, organised by IOM The meeting was organised by IOM Venezuela and the Venezuelan Red Cross. At the end of the event, a group of trainers committed to create a network of the Sphere community in Venezuela. Its goal will be to train, disseminate and apply Sphere in their institutions and to reach a solid buy-in from the public authorities. In Asia, representatives of Sphere India, a Sphere Board member and a Sphere focal point held two „lessons-learned‟ trainings for the Caritas India Emergency Response Support team. The objective of the meetings was to capture how the staff had put into practice the learning acquired through Sphere trainings conducted one year ago, to identify gaps in capacities or knowledge and ways to enhance the learning. 12 II. Geographical outreach: Sphere trainers continued to be very active all over the world in 2010. Sphere learning activities were organised in 76 countries covering five continents. These events took place in different contexts and scenarios. However, our data seem to indicate that most of the trainings were held in disaster-prone areas while only a few took place in conflict-affected countries. Sphere workshop in Sudan Sphere workshop in South Korea 1) Learning activities worldwide In 2010, due to the disasters that affected these countries, the learning effort on the Sphere Project seemed to concentrate on Haiti and Pakistan. Apart from these two specific cases, Sphere learning activities mainly took place in Latin America and the Caribbean and in South Asia and South-East Asia. This would indicate a need to strengthen Sphere learning efforts in West Africa and Central Africa, North America and South- East Europe. Activities per region 13 North Africa and the Middle East North Africa and the Middle East Total East and Southern Africa East and Southern Africa Total West and Central Africa West and Central Africa Total Dubai Egypt Iraq Jordan Lebanon Morocco Occupied Palestinian Territories Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Tunisia UAE 1 2 5 1 3 2 South America South America Total Central America and the Caribbean 1 1 1 4 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 Canada 1 United States 2 North America Total 5 1 3 1 4 3 32 Burundi Democratic Republic of Congo Djibouti Ethiopia Kenya Mozambique South Africa Swaziland Tanzania Uganda Zimbabwe North America 3 Bolivia 6 Brazil 2 Chile 9 Colombia 1 Ecuador 5 Peru 4 Suriname 1 Venezuela 13 41 Belize 2 Costa Rica 4 Cuba Dominican Republic 1 El Salvador 8 Guatemala Haiti Central America and the Caribbean Total 4 6 54 Honduras 2 Nicaragua 3 Panama 2 86 20 Gambia Ghana Mali Niger Senegal 2 1 1 1 1 5 14 Central Asia Kyrgyzstan 1 1 Central Asia Total East Asia South Korea 1 East Asia Total South Asia 1 India 30 Afghanistan 1 Nepal 2 Pakistan 26 South Asia Total South East Asia 59 Indonesia 8 Malaysia 1 Myanmar 2 Philippines 5 Sri Lanka 3 Thailand 2 Vietnam 2 South East Asia Total West Asia 23 Iran 1 West Asia Total 1 Central Europe Germany 2 Western Europe France 1 Eastern Europe Romania 1 Italy 2 Spain5 Switzerland 1 UK 8 (blank) 1 Western Europe Total Northern Europe 32 45 Denmark 1 Finland 2 Northern Europe Total South East Europe 3 Bosnia Herzegovina South East Europe Total Oceania Oceania Total Australia 1 1 1 1 5 A significant number of events were held in Spain, and were mainly presentations within courses in academic and training institutions. 15 2) Strengthening Sphere capacities in the aftermath of disasters: Haiti and Pakistan 2010 was marked by two unprecedented disasters in Haiti and Pakistan. While the community of trainers continued to be very active in the other parts of the world, particular efforts were made to increase Sphere capacity in these two countries. Haiti After the earthquake in Haiti, at the beginning of 2010, DanChurch Aid (DCA) in collaboration with the Sphere office, saw the need to send resource persons to Haiti to strengthen the capacity of the humanitarian community to provide the affected population with a response in line with Sphere and HAP standards. Two short deployments in February and April 2010 were done. In June a long term mission started, hosted initially by RedR and Bioforce „s Disaster Response Support Service (DRSS). After the closure of this office in October 2010, the Sphere Project was hosted by World Vision Haiti‟s Earthquake Response Programme from December 2010 until May 2011. Participants in Sphere trainings in Haiti held after the earthquake A total of three Sphere specialists consecutively participated in the process and undertook a considerable amount of work to raise awareness about Sphere. Advocacy for the effective use of Sphere to local government, humanitarian national and international agencies and trainings were their main activities. They were directed to agencies with institutional interest and commitment to integrate Sphere standards within their work. A total of 50 training sessions were conducted from February 2010 to May 2011. Most of the trainings were short workshops ranging from half a day to a full day and a half in order to adapt to the identified needs of the humanitarian agencies involved in the response. Two Sphere Training of Trainers workshops were also conducted for a total of 47 participants, deployed in the 10 Haitian administrative departments and coming from 22 national, international and government agencies working in Haiti. A total of 947 people were trained during this period, and included staff from more than 109 agencies, Government, NGOs, international organisations and journalists in the main quake-affected locations. From the trained participants, 92 % were national staff and 35 % women. The mission reports indicate that the humanitarian stakeholders in Haiti had varying knowledge, practice and engagement on the Sphere Project. National organisations generally lacked knowledge about Sphere and other Quality and Accountability initiatives but were keen to learn about them. On the other hand, some international agencies who were already familiar with Sphere did not implement it for various reasons such as: - lack of capacity-building process on Sphere within the organisation which had incorporated Sphere standards and indicators into their assessment, proposals and log-frames; - non-integration of the minimum standards into the programmes from the beginning of the response; and - prioritization of programme coverage above quality. Others considered that Sphere was not applicable to the Haitian context due to a common misconception that Sphere is about reaching quantitative indicators. These findings emphasizes the need to communicate more strongly on what constitutes the core of the Sphere Project, which is the right to life with dignity and the minimum standards in disaster response. Finally, an Haiti Sphere Group was constituted by the Sphere trainers. The primary purpose of the Haiti Sphere Group is to promote the Sphere Project and Handbook through advocacy and training activities in order to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian response in the country. Reports on the Sphere support mission in Haiti can be found soon on the Sphere Project website: 6 http://www.sphereproject.org/content/view/676/57/lang,english/. 6 In parallel to the Sphere deployment, a number of organisations also delivered Sphere workshops for their staff and partners working in Haiti. This was notably the case of Plan Honduras, Concern Worldwide, and Secours Catholique. 16 Pakistan After the floods in Pakistan, Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS P/A), as a partner of the Sphere Project in Asia and HAP Member Agency, undertook a significant amount of activities to advocate for the use of Sphere and HAP standards within the humanitarian community involved in the disaster response. It offered orientation sessions on Sphere and HAP, distributed Sphere Handbooks in Urdu in disaster-affected areas and organised Q&A round tables with clusters and other humanitarian stakeholders. Great efforts were made to tailor-make and contextualize the trainings and orientation sessions in order to meet the specific needs of the target audience. From August to October 2010, CWS P/A trained and sensitized more than 400 people with limited or no previous knowledge of Sphere. The participants represented different capacities: INGOs, partners of INGOs (Community-based organisations (CBOs) and NGOs), government authorities, ministries and community members. The participants‟ feedback was very positive. CWS also organised a three-day Sphere workshop for its senior management to improve Quality and Accountability in the Disaster Management Programme through implementation of Sphere. During this “Internalization of Sphere standards”, disaster management programme tools were reviewed according to Sphere standards Poster prepared by CWS CWS also provided technical advice and guidance to humanitarian aid workers, notably to the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) cluster‟s Strategic Operational Framework to ensure that the WASH provisions were in line with the Sphere standards. It broadcast radio notices on Quality and Accountability messages to sensitize communities in affected areas on their rights to assistance. It also mobilized the participants of previous Sphere ToT based in Pakistan. CWS-P/A further urged the donor community to collaborate with local and global representative institutions and agencies on Quality and Accountability to ensure a dignified relationship between aidgivers and aid-receivers in the coming days and months in Pakistan. In parallel, it prepared a Q&A research to explore the compliance, gaps and challenges and way forward against the implementation of Sphere and HAP standards in flood response. Reports on CWS P/A activities can be found on the Sphere Project website. 7 7 Other organisations such as Concern Worldwide, RedR, Islamic Relief, UNDP, NDMA. reported Sphere workshops for their staff working in the country. 17 III. Target groups 1) Participants by type of organisation The humanitarian sector includes an increasing array of actors. It is critical to share Sphere learning with all the stakeholders who influence humanitarian action to ensure that they respect and serve the right to life with dignity of the affected populations. An estimated 8472 people were trained or briefed on the Sphere Project in 2010. The actual number of participants may be higher. Some training reports indicated that the participants trained heard about the Sphere Project for the first time. This finding underlines the persistent need to continue raising awareness about the Sphere Project. The graph below gives more details on the audiences targeted. As the graph shows, in the majority of cases, the learning events gathered together several types of organisations instead of targeting a single one. This is indeed a good way of encouraging communication between different actors on issues of common interest. Highlights on Sphere trainings mixing different stakeholders: Mixing staff from local NGOs with United Nations staff During a Sphere workshop in Basra organised for Iraqi NGOs, field coordinators of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) based in the country were invited to join in for a simulation exercise on coordination. Mixing technical with the academia The IOM in Venezuela held a Sphere workshop on the Wash Chapter of the Sphere Handbook. It mixed technical staff with members of academic institutions. The result was very positive. The academic institution played a key role in presenting what the Sphere Handbook recommends in concrete situations on the ground described by the technical staff. Governments and NGOs working together Sphere India organised a joint Sphere training for the government and NGOs at the National Institute for Disaster Management which contributed to a rich exchange. Governments and community leaders World Vision organised joint workshops for its staff and community leaders on Sphere Standards and other Quality and Accountability standards in El Salvador, Ecuador and Romania. 18 Some learning events targeted a specific audience. The majority of them were addressed to humanitarian NGOs, who are the traditional audiences for Sphere learning activities. A few trainers focused on governments and community-based organisations. It is important to reach out to governments who have the primary responsibility to protect their citizens. Getting the affected populations knowledgeable on Sphere standards is essential too as it is a key component of accountability. However, it seems that learning events for affected populations are still limited in number. Sphere sessions were also organised for other strategic groups like the clusters, who play a key role in the coordination of humanitarian affairs, notably the Wash and Shelter clusters in El Salvador, Haiti, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sphere trainers put some effort into raising the awareness of the military and the media. This was the case for officers deployed in United Nations peacekeeping missions and media agencies in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Dubai. These groups were not traditionally targeted in Sphere learning but their increasing role in humanitarian action make it crucial to sensitize them on the minimum standards. 2) Participants by profile An efficient selection of participants is an important element to ensure that the learning acquired is fully maximised and generates changes of practices within the organisations sending participants to Sphere learning events. The majority of the Sphere learning activities were not addressed to a single type of profile but to a diverse audience with a variety of profiles. A few of them, however, specifically targeted senior management, technical staff, junior staff or volunteers. Targeting top and senior management in learning activities is indeed crucial to making an impact on the policies of the organisations involved in humanitarian response. After participating in a group work to design a shelter according to the Sphere standards, the El Salvador Ministry of Shelter decided to redesign the shelters that had been built for affected families in conformity with the Sphere standards. This was the result of a workshop held by the El Salvador Sphere group in 2010 for the government in response to hurricane Ida. 19 It is also important to ensure that policies are translated into practice and that technical staff is made aware of Sphere and receive adequate training on it. Some trainers made recommendations to guarantee a wider application of Sphere standards within an organisation. They advised delivery of in-house training to ensure that knowledge and skills are transferred to more than one person within the organisation. For inter-agency learning events, they suggested inviting more than one individual from the same institution and targeting people whose position should allow them to use the Sphere standards. They also recommended asking for even a small financial contribution from participants to increase their ownership of the process. 20 3) Training tips for different audiences To ensure that the Sphere standards are applied, it is crucial to tailor-make the training to suit the specific needs of the audience targeted. This section gives a few trainers‟ tips. For all types of audience DO Focus on the field/area of work of the participants and use examples and case studies relevant to the local context. Take successful examples from participants‟ experience. For less successful examples, take case studies outside of the countries and organisations where participants are working. DON’T Use the same exercises regardless of the audience. Expect people who say they know Sphere to be fully aware of all its components. Assume that all participants have field experience. Use local languages as much as possible. Make it practical Practical exercises (simulation, group work, case studies, role plays, games where appropriate) are a must to make the Sphere Handbook tangible. Give a lecture or theoretical course by the book without showing its applicability to the emergency work. Restrict capacity-building to classroom training. Hold long sessions. Overload the programme. Two-way communication Encourage participants to share their ideas and experience with the rest of the group. Respect their views. Record all their organisational experiences which may be useful for other organisations and audiences. Forget to allow space for questions and participation from the audience. Consider that you know it all and underestimate the knowledge of the group. Forget your role as a neutral facilitator. Criticize participants‟ comments. Let participants decide whether the Sphere Handbook is a useful tool for their work. Content Overlook some of the chapters. Stress the importance of the Humanitarian Charter and the Core Standards, including in technical trainings. Overstress the indicators, at the cost of the standards. Sell Sphere as a technical recipe. Present Sphere background including the criticisms that are made. It helps to understand its use and how to apply it. Forget to make the link between Sphere and other initiatives. Present the Handbook as a tool meant to judge humanitarian actors rather than a tool which will complement their work and give them some guidance. 21 Tips for trainings with governments DO Contextualize the training, adapt it to the country, the type of emergencies. Refer to national standards. Share success stories of working with governments elsewhere. DON’T Emphasize immediately the contentious points. Always challenge their systems and processes. Try to find the strengths in each and improve collaboration. Do have a mix of participants from the government and humanitarian sector for a greater collaboration on common matters. Get the decision-makers on board. Emphasize the primary role of government and the complementary role of other humanitarian actors. Always remain neutral. Tips for trainings with communities or community-based organisations (CBOs) DO Use local language and local translations of the Handbook. Start with what is practised within the commmunities in everyday life in case of emergencies and show what can be done with the Sphere Handbook. Use the knowledge and skills of the participants as additional resources in the training. This increases ownership and interest. Privilege continous learning rather than one-off training events. Learn again every day. DON’T Be too technical. At the same time, do not underestimate the knowledge and experience of CBOs Tackle more than two issues per training day. Hesitate to stay with the participants Tips for trainings an audience with no or limited field experience DON’T DO Hold a one-day-training session on general humanitarian issues before working on the Handbook. Exercises to digest the learning easily. Daily reviews of the previous days. Tips for trainings with students DO Show the practical use of Sphere, share field examples which bring the use of Sphere alive. Present Sphere background including its criticisms. It helps to understand its use and how to apply it. DON’T Spend too much time on lecturinge. Forget to present other Q&A initiatives in the sector that could allow participants to understand Sphere better. Leave a space for debate and reflection on Sphere, its relevance, its limitations. 22 Conclusion “Strengthening the capacities (people and tools) of the sector to adopt Sphere more widely” is one of the main strategic objectives of the Sphere Project Strategy 2015. Thanks to the commitment of several organisations and trainers, a significant number of people were trained or briefed about Sphere in 2010, including humanitarian workers, governments, community-based organisations and other groups such as the media and the military which, although not traditionally trained on Sphere, today are increasingly influencing humanitarian action. At the same time our data, although indicative seem to show that a proportion of humanitarian workers are still unaware of the Sphere Minimum Standards. Some reports indicated that participants were hearing about Sphere for the first time. At the regional level, the information collected may suggest a need to increase learning efforts in West and Central Africa, North America and Central Asia and South-East Europe. It is therefore crucial to continue to seek efficient means to widely disseminate Sphere minimum standards. Strengthening the existing partnership with Sphere focal points, companions and Q&A initiatives is essential if this goal is to be reached, as is the development of new partnerships with key players such as academia and training institutes. Within these different groups, it is crucial to target the persons who can effectively transfer the knowledge to the rest of the organisation‟s staff and contribute to changing practices. It is also essential to contextualize the learning events and adapt them to the participants to allow for direct application of the learning on the ground. Sphere workshops remain the main currently used learning approaches. Without leaving aside these important methodologies, it is important to diversify capacity-building methods around Sphere to encompass a wider set of learning styles and contexts and to reach the widest possible audience. E-learning could be a particularly good alternative in this respect, given the wide audience it can reach. It is equally important to continue to seek opportunities to incorporate Sphere learning within existing humanitarian trainings. The findings of this Learning Report also show that complementing Sphere learning by additional capacity-building events and coaching during emergency operations is very useful. It is also important to organise refresher meetings for practitioners to enable them to update their knowledge and to share good practices. The revised Sphere learning strategy drew on some of these conclusions. 23 Acknowledgment Trainers - - - - - - - Abid Fauzia, RedR, Pakistan Abidin Iswar, IBU Foundation, Indonesia Aiolfi Luca; ISPI, Italy Ali Saima , Church World Service (CWS) Pakistan/Afghanist an, Pakistan Aung Thura, Radanar Ayar Rural Development Association, Myanmar Arteaga Galarza Daniel Rodrigo, Banco Interamericano de desarrollo y Banco Mundial, Ecuador Ayoub Dr.Ali, Human Appeal International, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ballarin Francesca, Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI), Italy Bansal Gen., Sphere India, India Barahona Edgardo, Centro de Referencia en Preparación Institucional para Desastres, (CREPD), El Salvador Bera Suparna, Red Cross, Guyana - - - - - Bergmann Nicole, AWO International, Germany Bird Simon, Medair, Thailand Boisen Axel, Engineers without Borders, Denmark Caravotta George, Sphere India, India Castro Alexei, Red Cross Society, Nicaragua Dr. Bhanu, Pooravanchal Gramin Vikas Sansthan (PGVS), India Bhatti Shabana, CWS, Pakistan Blumentha Sharon, Workers‟ Samaritan Federation, Germany Brennan Eithne, Trocaire, Zimbabwe Brenes William Guzmán, Cruz Roja, Panama Cancelliere Giorgio, ISPI, Italy Casas Osorio Sara, Cruz Roja, España Castañeda Alejandro, Organisación internationacional para las Migraciones (OIM), Venezuela Castro Alexei, Red Cross, Nicaragua - - - - - - - Chung Jisun, Korea NGO Council for Overseas Cooperation (KCOC), Republic of Korea Cirugeda Pilar, Spain CWS SHA team, Pakistan Dechamps Sebastien, Secours Catholique Caritas France Delattre Sandrine, Independent Consultant De Valon Astrid, Trocaire, Kenya Djoko Sudira Catur, Masyarakat Penanggulangan Bencana Indonesia (MPBI), Indonesia D'Yong Arnaldo, Venezuela Downham Rory, Bioforce, France Duroy Lori, Enablers Asia, Thailand Dutta Enakshi, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), India Eboma Paul, Caritas, République démocratique du Congo Edwards Jane, Haven Foundation, Thailand Elsaadany Sahar, RedR, Pakistan 24 - - - - - Escalier Mario, Bolivia Falcao Viren, Sphere India, India Faller Martin, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Jordan Färm Merja, Finn Church Aid, Finland Farrah Nabia, CWS, Pakistan Fauor Hikmat, CRS, Lebanon Faye Ebou, Concern international, Gambia Franco Marco, Cruz Roja, Mexico Fraser Lydia, Red Cross, Guyana Frize Jacqueline, Independent Fudlallah Hasunah, CRS, Lebanon Galadima Hadjara, Oxfam, Niger Garcia Patricia, Act for Peace, Australia Garzona Erwin, Habitat para la Humanidad, Costa Rica Giannone Paul, Center for Global Health, United States Gonzalez Pineda Agustin, Predes, Peru Gora Vikas, Sphere India, India Guachalla Francisco, UNICEF, Bolivia - - - - - Gustiana Ridwan, IBU Foundation, Indonesia Hadrill David, Hamdan Rita, CRS, Lebanon Hamid, IOM, Iraq Hassan Nawal, CRS, Lebanon Harrag Mohamed, Red Crescent, Morocco Hasib Abdul, Action Aid, India Herrera Rodolfo, Federación Luterana Mundial, El Salvador Iarola Rosario, Independent Consultant Jalil Abdul Jayakumar C., National Disaster Management Authority, India Joshi Mihir, Sphere India, India Kacchotiya Narendra Singh, Sphere India, India Kalimuthu Arumugham, Sphere India, India Kamalraj, UNICEF, India Kumar Nanda, Sphere India, India Iqbal Shaukat, CWS, Pakistan Jalil Abdul, Sphere India, India Jean Pierre Moise, Protection civile, Haiti Jisun Chung, World Vision, Republic of Korea - - - - - - - Johnson Dr. Kirsten McGill University, Canada Jorgensen Lars Bru, Engineers without Borders, Denmark Joshi Mihir, Sphere India, India Kaireh Youssouf Said, Red Cross, Djibouti Khaleel Ali, IOM, Iraq Khalifa Khaled, UNOCHA, UAE Kumar Raman, Sphere India, India Kumar Nanda, Sphere India, India Lampião Jorge, Ayuda Obrera Suiza, Mozambique Langa Alfredo, Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria (IECAH), Spain Lee Kyungshin (Faye), Korea NGO Council for Overseas Cooperation (KCOC), Republic of Korea Levaditis Alexandra, World Vision, South Africa Leman H. Iskandar, MPBI, Indonesia Lloyd Anne, Independent consultant 25 - - - - - Luzze Fredrick, DanChurchAid, Denmark Maani Monique, UNAMI, Iraq Magaña Pinto Giovanni, Federación Luterana Mundial, El Salvador Mahajan Vikrant, Sphere India, India Manggala Brata, IBU Foundation, Indonesia Marín Haydée, Consultora Independiente Marissa Vanie, IBU Foundation, Indonesia Martínez Dax, Plan Internacional Honduras Martínez Belkis Rivera, Red Cross, Panama Mary Berna, Sphere India Mathew Jimmy, Sphere India, India Medlotfi Khanfir, Red Crescent, Tunisia Medrano Magdalena (PAAC), Sphere focal point, Bolivia Moataz AbdelGhaffar, Red Crescent, Egypt Mohamed Mostafa Ibrahem Shereen, Red Crescent, Egypt Montellano Patricia, FUNDEPCO – BENI, Bolivia Mulyana Dadan, IBU Foundation, Indonesia - - - - Muñoz Sandra, El Salvador Mutiso Stephen, Trocaire, Ethiopia Myendo Elizabeth, Trocaire, Ethiopia Nakuagelewi ata DEAGBO Boniface, Caritas Congo, Republique démocratique du Congo Narayanan Uma , CWS P/A, Pakistan Ncube Pios, UNOCHA, South Africa Norcutt Anders, Enablers Asia, Thailand Nussbaum Camille, Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria (IECAH), Spain Ocharan Jacobo, Independent Consultant, Spain Omude Emoru Francis, Trocaire, Ethiopia Ortega Raymundo, Red Cross, Panama Osman Moustafa, Osman Consulting, UK Palacios Delgado John Herbidson, Independent Consultant Paradisi Stefania, ISPI, Italy Parisetti Piero Calvi; ISPI, Italy Peter L. Sphere India, India - - - - - Plaizier Mark Prazopa, UNOCHA, Switzerland Prusty NM, Sphere India, India Pugh Daniel, Independent Consultant Puthumai Fr., Sphere India, India Quezada Luis, Cruz Roja Salvadoreña, El Salvador Ramírez Luis, Cruz Roja, Venezuela Raza Mansoor, CWS, Pakistan Rey Francisco, IECAH – Codirector, Spain Rihani Nacif Robert Sylvie, Independent Consultant Rocita Oya, MPBI, Indonesia Rossbach Manuela, Bochum University, Germany Rout Jonathan, LWR, India Roy Subhashis, Lutheran World Relief ( LWR), India Rufini Gianni, ISPI, Italy Rusimbi JeanBerchmans, Act Alliance, Burundi Sahayam Joseph, Sphere India, India Salazar Cristina, El Salvador Salma Rehena, Sphere India, India 26 - - - - Sanchez David, Save the Children, Bolivia Santos Porras Borja, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) - Oficina de Acción Humanitaria, España Sasiharan Luxmanan, UMCOR, Haiti Savage Kevin, World Vision, Switzerland Sciacovelli Valeria, ISPI, Italy Sekar K., Sphere India, India Serra Lasa Irantzu, Red Cross, United States Sharma V.K, Sphere India, India Shammala Ibtisam Abu, UNICEF, Occupied Palestinian Territories Shenoy Rekha, Sphere India, India Subhashis Roy, Lutheran World Relief, India - - - - - - Sofyan, MPBI, Indonesia Shiripinda Mbiri, Goodhope, Zimbabwe Sidibé Boukari Haoua, Mercy Corps, Niger Schmidt Axel, Workers‟ Samaritan Federation, Germany Storbeck Adrian, World Food Programme, El Salvador Stork Carsten ASB(ArbeiterSamariter-Bund Deutschland ), Germany Sulaiman Syed, Concern Worldwide, Pakistan Sundaray Dipjyoti, Aide Et Action, India Sungtae Kim, World Vision, Republic of Korea Sunil, Sphere India, India Sunna Lina, Al Raya International, Jordan Taschereau JeanPierre, Red Cross, Canada - - - - - Twisa Burton, Concern Worldwide, Pakistan Ul Haq Naveed, CWS-P/A, Pakistan Urgoiti Ana, Independent Consultant Villarroel Martin, Save the Children, Bolivia Watson Cathy, Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS), Ethiopia Wigley Barb, HAP International, Switzerland Wooster Kelly, Wooster Consulting, International Wooster Paul, RAPID-UK and Wooster Consulting Wulansari Ranti IBU Foundation, Indonesia Zaman Zubin, OXFAM, India 27 Organisers Academic and training institutions - Bioforce, France Bochum University, Germany Centre for Public Health Nutrition, University of Westminster, United Kingdom (UK) Cideal, Spain El Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria, (IECAH), Spain FLASH (Formación en Logística, Agua, Saneamiento e Higiene), Spain Harvard Humanitarian Studies, United States Instituto Universitario de Desarrollo y Cooperación IUDC, Spain Instituto Universsitario Ortega y Gasset, Spain, Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI), Italy McGill University, United States National Institute of Disaster Management, India Queens University Belfast, United Kingdom RedR UK, United Kingdom Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India Universidad de Coruña, Spain Universidad de Guayaquil, Ecuador Universidad de Castellón, Spain Universidad de Comillas, Spain Universidad de Granada, Spain University of Birmingham, UK University of East Anglia, UK Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica de la Fuerza Armada Bolivariana (UNEFA) University of Tarumanagara, Indonesia Wash Institute, India Governments - - Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), Spain - Fondo de Cooperación para el Agua y Saneamiento, Spain AECID - Oficina de Acción Humanitaria, Spain Agencia Extremaña de Cooperación, Spain Australian Defence Force, Australia Axencia Humanitaria Gallega, Cooperación descentralizada, Spain Ayuntamiento de SS de los Reyes, Spain Dirección General de Cooperación de Baleares, Spain Fondo de Inversión Social y Alcaldía de Santa Cruz Michapa, Spain Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA), United Arab Emirates Protection civile, Haiti Dirección Nacional de Defensa Civil y Ministerio de Cooperación y Extranjería, Cuba Viceministerio de Defensa Civil (VIDECI), Bolivia 28 Non governmental organisations (NGOs) - - - ACT Alliance Aktion Deutschland Hilft Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz Asociación Salvadoreña de Profesionales en la Salud Graduados en Cuba AWO international Caritas Catholic Relief Service CIECH Chile Concern Worldwide Coordinadora ONG castilla la Mancha Cruz Verde Hondureña CRWC, Indonesia Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanist an (CWS P/A) DanChurchAid - - Diocese of Lodwar, Kenya Dorcais Aid International Engineers without border ELAM El Salvador FinnChurch Aid FUNDEPCO German Agro Action (Welthungerhilfe) Haven Foundation HelpAge Human Appeal International IBU Foundation Inter-Mondes Belgique Islamic Relief Pakistan Joint Office of Trocaire, SCIAF and CAFOD Korea NGO Council for Overseas Cooperation (KCOC) Lutheran World Relief Merlin International organisations - European Union International Organisation for Migration (IOM) UNICEF United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Oficina del Coordinador Residente del Sistema de Naciones Unidas en Chile OPS United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) World Health Organisation (WHO) World Food Programme - - - - Masyarakat Penanggulangan Bencana Indonesia (MPBI) NANGO Norwegian Refugee Council Oxfam Plan Programa de Asistencia Agrobioenergetica al Campesino (PAAC) Reproductive Health Acces, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Save the Children SDMA,India Trocaire UMCOR Workers‟ Samaritan Federation World Vision – Red Cross - British Red Cross Centro de Referencia en Preparación Institucional para Desastres, (CREPD), Cruz Roja española Croix Rouge, Djibouti Cruz Roja Dominicana Cruz Roja Nicaraguense Cruz Roja Venezuela Egyptian Red Crescent Internatonional Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Moroccan Red Crescent 29 Sphere focal points/partners - Church World Service P/A Sphere focal point in Bolivia Grupo Esfera El Salvador Sphere India Quality and Accountability (Q&A) initiatives - Emergency Capacity Building (ECB), Bolivia The Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) Media - Dubai press club Military - Australian Defense Force, Australia Coordinación de la 22 Brigada de Infantería del Ejército, Venezuela CIVC Boinas Azules – UNEDU, Ecuador Front page pictures’credit - Picture 1: Sphere training in Haiti, Anne Lloyd, Picture 2: Sphere training in Seoul, Republic of Korea, Kyungshin (Faye) Lee, Picture 3: Sphere training in El Salvador, Henry Giovanni Magaña Pinto 30