There could not have been a better time for the launch of 2011 Sphere Handbook in Arabic as the entire Middle East is going through major political, economic and social changes keeping in mind that much is desired to be done to streamline humanitarian responses in the region and the Sphere Standards are considered to be the gold standard for humanitarian assistance.
“The Sphere Handbook has informed our response to various disaster situations, most recently those in Yemen, Pakistan and Libya,” Mohammed Khalifa Alqamzi, secretary-general of the UAE Red Crescent Authority, said during the recent launch in Abu Dhabi.
The new Sphere Handbook is also available in Russian, Spanish, French and German.
During the launch of the revised English edition of the handbook in New York in April 2011, Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general and emergency relief coordinator, said: “The Sphere standards are the benchmark for ensuring humane and fair humanitarian assistance to people in need around the world… “I hope that all organizations that provide humanitarian aid will become familiar with the standards and use them,” she added.
Speaking at the Arabic launch, Sultan Al Shamsi, executive director of the UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid, said it was important for Arab donor organizations to apply agreed minimum standards in their relief operations. “[Arab] aid workers need to be aware of the mechanisms to deliver aid and to be accountable according to these internationally accepted standards,” he added.
According to Khaled Khalifa, head of IRIN Dubai office and Sphere trainer, the “lack of specialized humanitarian studies in Arabic represents a major challenge for Arab aid workers who strive to embrace new theories and practices in the field. The Arabic edition of the Sphere handbook is a good tool which contributes to bridging this gap.”
The extensive revision of the Sphere Handbook that led to the 2011 edition involved more than 650 experts from some 300 organizations in about 20 countries. All the relevant UN agencies participated in the process.
The Sphere Project was created by a group of humanitarian non-governmental organizations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Since its first trial edition in 1998, the Sphere Handbook has been translated into more than 40 languages, becoming the most widely known and internationally recognized set of standards for humanitarian response.
The cornerstone of the Handbook is the Humanitarian Charter, which describes core principles that should govern humanitarian action and asserts the right of disaster-affected populations to life with dignity, protection and assistance. For the new edition, the Humanitarian Charter has been completely re-written so as to offer clearer language and strengthened linkage to the standards.
The core principles include avoiding exposing vulnerable people to further harm as a result of response, ensuring their access to impartial aid, protecting them from physical and psychological harm due to violence or coercion and assisting them to claim their rights and recover from abuse.
Sourced From: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93083
