Humanitarian community welcomes the Core Humanitarian Standard

Participants at the launch of the Core Humanitarian Standard in Copenhagen (12 December 2014).

“The Core Humanitarian Standard is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Gwi-Yeop Son, Director of the Division for Corporate Programmes at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Delivering the keynote speech of the CHS launch event, Son expressed OCHA’s commitment to support the rollout of the CHS.

Mahajan, who is a member of the Sphere Project Board, expects the CHS “to make it easier for field-level practitioners and grassroots organisations to improve the quality and the accountability of their work.” He also highlighted the need for appropriate “indicators and guidance notes” consistent with the Sphere Handbook structure and language.

“We are very excited to be part of this truly unique global effort to improve the effectiveness of aid and accountability to affected populations,” said Farrukh Marvin Parvez, regional representative of Community World Service Asia (CWSA). Formerly known as Church World Service – Pakistan/Afghanistan, CWSA is the Sphere Project regional partner in Asia.

Parvez believes that “there will be room for improvement as we develop implementation and training tools.” And he added: “We are committed not only to implement the CHS but to promote it all over Asia.”

For Lourdes Ardon, Shelter Coordinator at Honduras’ national disaster management authority (COPECO), “it’s good to have this new tool to help us respond to the needs of communities affected by crises.” As a long-time practitioner working with Sphere standards, Ardon stressed the need to ensure the CHS is compatible with the Sphere Handbook.

Memon emphasized the need for clear communication around the CHS: “We need to stress that the CHS is a consolidation of existing humanitarian standards and not something entirely new. It’s important to avoid the risk of the CHS being perceived as something fallen from the sky and therefore as a new burden.”

For Iskandar Leman, Professional Development Coordinator of the Indonesia Society for Disaster Management, the crucial question is “how populations affected by disaster or conflict will know what their rights are.” Leman, who is the Sphere focal point in Indonesia, thinks there is a need for a strong commitment by the humanitarian community, especially international NGOs, to make the CHS available to aid beneficiaries.

“We appreciate all the efforts that went into this process, and respect the final product as the outcome of a wide consensus amongst the majority of stakeholders,” said Einar Hebogaard Jensen, Head of Humanitarian Assistance, Development Cooperation and Civil Society at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jensen’s remarks closed the launch of the CHS, which was hosted by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

In addition to launching the CHS, the Copenhagen event also served as a platform to present the findings of the SCHR certification review process.

The CHS consists of a set of to people affected by crisis. They state what affected communities can expect from organisations and individuals delivering humanitarian assistance. The Commitments are supported by Quality Criteria that indicate how humanitarian actors need to work in order to meet them.

In addition to the Quality Criteria, each of the Nine Commitments includes a set of Key Actions and Organisational Responsibilities.

Key Actions describe what humanitarian workers need to do in order to deliver quality programmes in an accountable manner. Organisational Responsibilities describe the policies, processes and systems humanitarian organisations need to have in place to support their staff.

The CHS draws together key elements of several existing humanitarian standards and commitments, including the Red Cross/Red Crescent Code of Conduct, the Sphere Handbook Core Standards and the Humanitarian Charter, the 2010 HAP Standard, the People In Aid Code of Good Practice and the Quality COMPAS method developed by Groupe URD (Urgence, Réhabilitation, Développement). 

The Core Humanitarian Standard is ready for download from the CHS website (PDF, 1.5Mb).

Following the Sphere Project’s full engagement in the CHS Technical Advisory Group and in the development of the CHS, and looks forward to contributing to its promotion, utilisation and revision.

The Sphere Project is keen to contribute to the development of the CHS indicators and guidance notes, which give standards meaning in operational terms. Sphere will make lessons learned in these types of processes available to the consultants and community taking the development of indicators and guidance notes forward.

As the CHS is owned collectively by the humanitarian sector, a Steering Committee made up of key humanitarian stakeholders is to be set up and will ensure that the complementary guidance as well as any review of the CHS are undertaken in an inclusive way. Sphere will participate in the CHS Steering Committee.

It is the intention of the boards of HAP International, People In Aid and the Sphere Project that the CHS replace the 2010 HAP Standard, the People In Aid Code of Good Practice and the Core Standards section of the Sphere Handbook. The CHS Nine Commitments will also be integrated into the Quality COMPAS reference framework.

The current Core Standards of the Sphere Handbook will remain in place for the interim, as the final components of the CHS are being developed and reviewed.