Letter To Act Friends RE: Sphere Handbook Revision Update
Dear ACT friends,
Re: Sphere Handbook Revision update- re. common standards, protection and vulnerability sections
A third handbook revision focal point workshop was held in Geneva on 20-22 January 2010. Participants included:
- Michelle Yonetani (ACT Secretariat Sphere focal point, and attending on behalf of the ACT General Secretary who is a member of the Sphere board)
- Roland Schlott (attending on behalf of LWF representative on the Sphere board, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria)
- Nigel Timmins (Christian Aid, focal point for Sphere revision for Disaster Risk Reduction)
Please kindly note that it was decided in that meeting that the texts/chapters on the Minimum Standards Common to all Sectors, Minimum Standards on Protection and the Vulnerability standard still need to undergo some substantive changes and re-alignments. Therefore, for the time-being the aforementioned texts will be temporarily removed from the Sphere website.
There was ongoing discussion on where protection and psycho social support should fit. And you may be interested to also note that the workshop has pushed for the reinstatement of 'participation' as a common standard. Vulnerability is expected to become a 'mainstreamed' or cross-cutting issue rather than a specific standard, with explicit text being inserted at the head of each of the chapters.
The version of the humanitarian charter previously circulated is being further revised. New points or drafts will include greater clarity on who is the 'we' referred to in the language used (to whom the charter applies ie. organisations/agencies with humanitarian action as part of their main mandate); also to highlight the importance of coordination (a better definition of our role in relation to others), and with a stronger point on protection; and to look again at the language and concepts of 'non-partisan' vs 'neutrality' vs 'impartiality'. The charter should underpin the standards, and be more clearly linked to the common standards.
The point was made that throughout the handbook care should be take to ensure that the language in the charter and elsewhere does not exclude local organizations.
The first drafts of the revised texts will be uploaded for public review in the near future (please check the Sphere website for regular updates on status of these chapters/texts). In the meantime, please note that feedback which has already been provided on existing texts on the Common Standards, protection and vulnerability will be taken into account.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Sphere Handbook Revision Coordinator, Avishan Chanani (avishan.chanani@ifrc.org)
Best Regards,
Michelle Yonetani
(Sphere focalpoint in the ACT Alliance Secretariat)
ACT Liberia Forum:
NOTE TO FILE
ACT Liberia Forum convened her final meeting for 2009 on Friday, December 11, 2009 at the CCC Offices in Monrovia. Citation for meeting was emailed to all members on December 4th, 2009. The meeting begun at about 1:30PM and was chaired by CCC Chairman.
Attendance
Liberia Council of Churches – Ben Lartey & Robert Williams
Diakonie Emergency Aid – Verena Jenner
Lutheran Development Service – Joseph Binda
Finn Church Aid – Kofi [Arrived when meeting was over]
Concerned Christian Community – Rev. Kortu Brown & Patrick Ackatia
Members absent were:
Christian Health Association of Liberia
United Methodist Church
YMCA
Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran Church in Liberia
Other previous members/participants not active in Liberia at the moment are:
Norwegian Church Aid
UMCOR
Presbyterian Relief Services
The World Hope International has been inactive in the local forum since the Liberian management team was replaced with a US-staff management team about 3 years ago.
During the meeting, the following were discussed:
New Coordination Team: Liberian Council of Churches (LCC) through her General Secretary formally turned over the Chairmanship of the Forum to the Concerned Christian Community (CCC). LCC has chaired from 2007-2009.
2010 Meeting Schedule: Meeting agreed that monthly meetings of the forum be held on the 3RD FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH. The venue of the meetings will be rotational. First meeting is scheduled for January 22, 2010 at Lutheran Development Service (LDS) when the full schedule of the rest of meetings for the year will be formulated.
During that meeting, the forum will also consider:
Developments in ACT International Merger
Update on OCA process in Liberia
Resolution agreed in Freetown, Sierra Leone in May 2008 during OCA Consultation to establish a Regional ACT Forum in West Africa
Explore possibility of strengthening field collaboration between international and local partners in the forum
Binda Town Flood Victims: Meeting agreed to follow up on results from previous assessments done to determine possibility of assisting victims in the area of shelter since the disaster could not be considered an emergency anymore. Since flood rains destroyed Binda Town village, not much has been done to help victims rebuild their structures. Victims decided to relocate village.
OCA Process: Meeting was informed that two forum members, CCC and Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL) had been qualified by ACT International Capacity Development Office to participate in the OCA process.
ACT International Membership Renewal: Members were reminded about the need to meet deadline for membership renewal at the end of 2009
Guinea: Because of the precarious military situation developing in the neighboring country of Guinea with population of about 10 million, meeting agreed to:
Monitor developments along the border lines
Share information on unfolding developments including movement of people, humanitarian concerns, etc, and
Be in readiness to intervene in border areas…
Other Matters
The meeting also agreed that citations for meetings be sent timely with agenda to prepare participants for discussions.
Meeting dismissed at about 2:30PM.
Recorded By
Patrick Ackatia Recording Secretary/CCC
