Dear Sphere friends, As another exciting year draws to a close, we would like to thank our global community for your active engagement and commitment. Every year, each person and organisation supporting Sphere plays a key role in contributing to our mission to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance globally. We…

Energy and waste management are vital issues for the humanitarian sector to address in the near future, says Amanda George. Photo: Kate Holt/IRIN   Sphere recently published a new resource that offers hands-on guidance to practitioners looking to consider environmental issues in their humanitarian programmes. It is the first in…

The second edition of the Child Protection Minimum Standards. Photo: Sphere   The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, one of Sphere’s partner standard initiatives, released the second edition of the Child Protection Minimum Standard (CPMS) in October. The CPMS handbook guides humanitarian professionals in preventing harm…

Bringing water to South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: the Nyumanzi 1 refugee camp. Photo credits: Oxfam Uganda   Edward Sembidde Mwebaze, Oxfam’s humanitarian programme manager in Uganda, shares his experiences and lessons learnt during the response to the country’s protracted refugee crisis. This article is based on his contribution…

  This article first appeared on the blog of the European Association for Palliative Care. Continuing our new series about palliative care in the context of humanitarian crises where we shall look at the implications of providing palliative care for migrants, refugees and people who have fled war-torn countries…

Dr Balwant Singh is a senior executive with long-standing experience in humanitarian and development programmes. Photo: Sphere   The Sphere Executive Committee is delighted to announce that Dr Balwant Singh will start as Sphere’s new Executive Director on 15 October 2019. Dr Singh brings more than 25 years of…

Patrick Melancon, BGR’s Director of Disaster Response and Training, leads BGR work after an earthquake in Asia. Photo: BGR   Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas islands on 1 September 2019. The storm destroyed 13,000 homes and affected around 76,000 people, leaving Bahamians in extreme need of shelter, food, and…

  Participants learn about the Sphere standards during the workshop in Tripoli. Photo: Osman Consulting   The first Sphere workshop to be organised in Libya took place in late August in the capital, Tripoli. It was delivered by the Sphere member and focal point Sheikh Tahir Azzawi Charity Organization…

Participants in a training workshop organised by Community World Service Asia in Pakistan to learn about the Sphere standards. Photo: CWSA   The updated version of the Sphere training pack has been published in three additional languages, making the material available to an even broader group of humanitarian practitioners around…

  The Amman Citadel. Photo: D. Bjorgen via Wikimedia Commons   Aninia Nadig’s * recent visit to Jordan made her think about how early warning systems and Sphere standards can work together to temper the impacts of crises.  A few weeks ago, I visited the Amman Citadel. As I explored…