Improving the Humanitarian Response - International Federation of the Red Cross 2008

Sphere is based on the core beliefs that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate humanitarian suffering arising out of calamity and conflict and that those affected by disaster have the right to live with dignity and a right to assistance. Sphere is a handbook a broad process of collaboration and an expression of commitment to quality and accountability within the humanitarian system. The Sphere Project aims to improve the quality of assistance as well as the accountability of states humanitarian agencies and donors to affected populations. Amongst the Sphere Project's accomplishments are the widely recognized Sphere Handbook and Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. Objectives for the Sphere Project for 2007-09 are to: Support the implementation of Sphere standards in the early weeks of a disaster and learning from this process by sending resource people to new emergency situations; lead revisions of the Sphere Handbook and Charter; develop a distance-learning tool for field practionners; and collect and analyze evidence of Sphere's impact on the quality and accountability in terms of humanitarian response.