What is Sphere?
The Sphere Project and its Handbook are well known for introducing
considerations of quality and accountability to humanitarian response.
But what are the origins of the Sphere Project? What are its philosophy
and approach? How and why was this Handbook conceived? What is its place
in the wider realm of humanitarian action? And who should use it and
when? This chapter strives to provide some answers to these key
questions. Furthermore, it details the Handbook structure and explains
how to use it and how you or your organisation can conform to the Sphere
minimum standards.
The Sphere Project philosophy: The right to life with dignity
The Sphere Project – or ‘Sphere’ – was initiated in 1997 by a group of
humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Their aim was to improve the
quality of their actions during disaster response and to be held
accountable for them. They based Sphere’s philosophy on
two core beliefs: first,
that those affected by disaster or conflict have a right to life with
dignity and, therefore, a right to assistance; and second, that all
possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out
of disaster or conflict.
Striving to support these two core beliefs, the Sphere Project framed a Humanitarian Charter and identified a set of
minimum standards in
key life-saving sectors which are now reflected in the Handbook’s four
technical chapters: water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion; food
security and nutrition; shelter, settlement and non-food items; and
health action. The
Core Standards are process standards and apply to all technical chapters.
The minimum standards are evidence-based and represent sector-wide
consensus on best practice in humanitarian response. Key actions, key
indicators and guidance notes (described in the ‘How to use the
standards’ section below) accompany each standard, providing guidance on
how to attain it.
The minimum standards describe conditions that must be achieved in any
humanitarian response in order for disaster-affected populations to
survive and recover in stable conditions and with dignity. The
inclusion of affected populations in
the consultative process lies at the heart of Sphere’s philosophy. The
Sphere Project, consequently, was one of the first of what are now known
as the
quality and accountability (Q&A) initiatives.
The Humanitarian Charter and the minimum standards are published together as a
Handbook,
the latest edition of which you are reading now. The Sphere Handbook is
designed for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation during
humanitarian response. It is also an effective advocacy tool when
negotiating for humanitarian space and for the provision of resources
with authorities. Furthermore, it is useful for disaster preparedness
activities and contingency planning, with donors increasingly including
the standards in their reporting requirements.
Because it is not owned by any one organisation, the Handbook enjoys
broad acceptance by the humanitarian sector as a whole. It has become
one of the most widely known and internationally recognised set of
standards for humanitarian response and is used as an inter-agency
communication and coordination tool.
First published in 2000, the Handbook was revised in 2003 and again in
2009–2010. During each revision process, sector-wide consultations were
conducted, involving a wide range of agencies, organisations and
individuals, including governments and United Nations (
UN) agencies.
The principal users of the Sphere Handbook are practitioners involved in
planning, managing or implementing a humanitarian response. This
includes staff and volunteers of local, national and international
humanitarian agencies. In the context of fund-raising and project
proposals, the minimum standards are also frequently referred to.
Other actors, such as government and local authorities, the military or
the private sector, are also encouraged to use the Sphere Handbook. It
may be useful in guiding their own actions, but also in helping them to
understand the standards used by the humanitarian agencies with whom
they may interact.
The Handbook: A reflection of Sphere’s values
The Handbook structure reflects Sphere’s aim to firmly anchor
humanitarian response in a rights-based and participatory approach.
Humanitarian Charter, Protection Principles and Core Standards
The Humanitarian Charter, the Protection Principles and the Core
Standards articulate Sphere’s rights-based and people-centred approach
to humanitarian response. They focus on the importance of including the
affected population and local and national authorities at all stages of
the response.
The cornerstone of the Handbook is the
Humanitarian Charter (accompanied by a descriptive list of key legal and policy documents in
Annex1).
It provides the ethical and legal backdrop to the Protection
Principles, as well as to the Core and minimum standards, thereby
setting the stage for their correct interpretation and implementation.
It is a statement of established legal rights and obligations and of
shared beliefs and commitments of humanitarian agencies, all collected
in a set
of common principles, rights and duties. Founded
on the principle of humanity and the humanitarian imperative, these
include the rights to life with dignity; to right to receive
humanitarian assistance; and the right to protection and security. The
Charter also emphasises the importance of agency
accountability to affected communities. The Core Standards and minimum standards are an articulation of what these principles and obligations mean in practice.
The Humanitarian Charter explains why both assistance and protection are
critical pillars of humanitarian action. To further develop this
protection aspect, the Handbook includes a set of Protection Principles,
which translates several of the legal principles and rights outlined in
the Charter into strategies and actions that should inform humanitarian
practice from a protection perspective. Protection is a core part of
humanitarian action and the
Protection Principles point
to the responsibility of all humanitarian agencies to ensure that their
activities are concerned with the more severe threats that affected
people commonly face in times of conflict or disaster.
All humanitarian agencies should ensure that their actions do not bring further harm to affected people (
Protection Principle 1), that their activities benefit in particular those who are most affected and vulnerable (
Protection Principle 2), that they contribute to protecting affected people from violence and other human rights abuses (
Protection Principle 3) and that they help affected people recover from abuses (
Protection Principle 4).
The roles and responsibilities of humanitarian agencies in protection
are, generally, secondary to the legal responsibility of the state or
other relevant authorities. Protection often involves reminding these
authorities of their responsibilities.
The
Core Standards are the first set of minimum
standards and inform all others. They describe how the processes and
approaches taken during a humanitarian response are fundamental to an
effective response. A focus on the capacity and active participation of
those affected by disaster or conflict, a comprehensive analysis and
understanding of needs and context, effective coordination among
agencies, a commitment to continually improving performance, and
appropriately skilled and supported aid workers are all essential in
order to attain the technical standards.
The Protection Principles and Core Standards are grouped together at the
beginning of the Handbook so as to avoid repeating them in each
technical chapter. They underpin all humanitarian activity and
must be used in conjunction with the technical chapters. They are critical to achieving the technical standards in a spirit of quality and accountability to the affected populations.
The Core Standards and the minimum standards in four technical chapters
The Core Standards and minimum standards cover approaches to programming
and four sets of life-saving activities: water supply, sanitation and
hygiene promotion; food security and nutrition; shelter, settlement and
non-food items; and health action.
How to use the standards
The Core Standards and minimum standards follow a specific format. They
begin with a general and universal statement – the minimum standard –
followed by a series of key actions, key indicators and guidance notes.
First, the
minimum standard is stated. Each standard is
derived from the principle that disaster-affected populations have the
right to life with dignity. They are qualitative in nature and specify
the minimum levels to be attained in humanitarian response. Their scope
is universal and applicable in any disaster situation. They are,
therefore, formulated in general terms.
Next, practical
key actions are suggested, to attain
the minimum standard. Some actions may not be applicable in all
contexts, and it is up to the practitioner to select the relevant
actions and devise alternative actions that will result in the standard
being met.
Then, a set of
key indicators serves as ‘signals’ that
show whether a standard has been attained. They provide a way of
measuring and communicating the processes and results of key actions.
The key indicators relate to the minimum standard, not to the key
action.
Finally,
guidance notes include context-specific points
to consider when aiming at reaching the key actions and key indicators.
They provide guidance on tackling practical difficulties, benchmarks or
advice on priority and cross-cutting themes. They may also include
critical issues relating to the standards, actions or indicators and
describe dilemmas, controversies or gaps in current knowledge. They do
not provide guidance as to how to implement a specific activity.
Brief
introductions to each chapter set out the major
relevant issues. The technical minimum standards chapters further
contain appendices including, for example, assessment checklists,
formulas, tables and examples of report forms. Each chapter ends with
references and suggestions for further reading.
All the chapters are interconnected.
Frequently, standards described in one sector need to be addressed in
conjunction with standards described in others. As a result, the
Handbook contains numerous cross-references.
Conforming to the Sphere minimum standards
The Sphere Handbook is a voluntary code and a self-regulatory tool for
quality and accountability, and the Sphere Project does not operate any
compliance mechanism. There is no such thing as ‘signing up’ to Sphere, a
Sphere membership or any process of accreditation. The Sphere Project
has consciously opted for the Handbook not to be prescriptive or
compliance-oriented, in order to encourage the broadest possible
ownership of the Handbook.
The Handbook does not offer practical guidance on how to provide certain
services (the key actions suggest activities to reach a standard
without specifying how to do that). Rather, it explains
what needs to be in place in
order to ensure a life with dignity for the affected population. It is,
therefore, up to each implementing agency to choose a system to ensure
conformance with the Sphere minimum standards. Some agencies have used
purely internal mechanisms, while others have opted for peer review.
Some agency networks have used Sphere to evaluate their collective
response in particular emergencies.
Conforming with Sphere does not mean meeting all the standards and indicators. The
degree to which agencies can meet standards will depend on a range of
factors, some of which are outside their control. Sometimes difficulties
of access to the affected population, lack of cooperation from the
authorities or severe insecurity make standards impossible to meet.
If the general living conditions of an affected population were already
significantly below the minimum standards before the disaster, agencies
may have insufficient resources to meet the standards. In such
situations, providing basic facilities for the entire affected
population may be more important than reaching the minimum standards for
only a proportion.
Sometimes the minimum standards may exceed everyday living conditions
for the surrounding population. Adhering to the standards for
disaster-affected populations remains essential. But such situations may
also indicate the need for action in support of the surrounding
population and for dialogue with community leaders. What is appropriate
and feasible will depend on the context.
In cases where the standards cannot be met, humanitarian agencies should:
-
describe in their reports (assessment, evaluation, etc.) the gap between
the relevant Sphere indicators and the ones reached in practice
-
explain the reasons for this and what needs to be changed
-
assess the negative implications for the affected population
-
take appropriate mitigating actions to minimise the harm caused by these implications.
By committing to the above steps, agencies demonstrate that they are
conforming with Sphere’s philosophy and its minimum standards even if
they are unable to meet them as set out in the Handbook.
The place of Sphere within humanitarian action
The Sphere Handbook is designed for use during humanitarian response in a
range of situations including natural disasters, conflict, slow- and
rapid-onset situations, rural and urban environments, and complex
political emergencies in all countries. The term ‘disaster’ encompasses
these situations, and where appropriate, the term ‘conflict’ is used.
‘Population’ refers to individuals, families, communities and broader
groups. Consequently, we commonly use ‘disaster-affected population’
throughout the Handbook.
Focusing on the period of
humanitarian response, the
Sphere minimum standards cover activities which meet the urgent survival
needs of disaster-affected populations. This phase can range from a few
days or weeks to many months and even years, particularly in contexts
involving protracted insecurity and displacement. It is, therefore,
impossible to assign a particular timeframe to the usefulness of the
Sphere standards.
When to use this Handbook
Focusing on the period of humanitarian response, the Sphere minimum
standards cover activities which meet the urgent survival needs of
disaster-affected populations. This phase can range from a few days or
weeks to many months and even years, particularly in contexts involving
protracted insecurity and displacement. It is, therefore, impossible to
assign a particular timeframe to the usefulness of the Sphere standards.
The Handbook does, however, have a specific place within the broader realm of
humanitarian action,
which goes beyond providing immediate relief and covers a spectrum of
activities that starts with disaster preparedness, then includes
humanitarian response, and finally extends into early recovery. As a
reference tool, the Handbook is useful in both the disaster preparedness
and the early recovery phases which conceptually ‘frame’ humanitarian
response but in reality need to be considered simultaneously.
Disaster preparedness requires
that actors – governments, humanitarian agencies, local civil society
organisations, communities and individuals – have the capacities,
relationships and knowledge to prepare for and respond effectively to
disaster or conflict. Before and during a response, they should start
taking actions that will improve preparedness and reduce risk for the
future. They should be prepared to at least meet the Sphere minimum
standards during a future disaster.
Early recovery is
the process following relief and leading into long-term recovery and is
most effective if anticipated and facilitated from the very outset of a
humanitarian response. Recognising the importance of early recovery,
the Handbook makes reference to it throughout and as appropriate.
Developments in the humanitarian sector and their implications for Sphere
A number of developments in the humanitarian sector and other relevant
areas have arisen over the past few years, encompassing changes in the
nature of disasters and conflicts, as well as of humanitarian work. The
developments considered during the Handbook revision process include:
-
a growing conceptual and operational focus on local and national responses with the awareness that affected populations
must be consulted and the response capacities of the crisis-affected
state and national agencies and institutions must be reinforced
-
more proactive accountability of humanitarian action,
in particular accountability to affected populations, but also more
proactive coordination, including within the humanitarian reform process
(cluster approach), under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC)
-
an increased focus on protection issues and responses
-
increasing awareness of potentially large-scale forced migration due to climate change-induced disasters and an awareness that environmental degradation increases vulnerability
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the recognition that poor urban populations are growing rapidly and that
they have specific vulnerabilities, in particular related to the money
economy, social cohesion and physical space
-
new approaches to aid, such as cash and voucher transfers and local
purchases replacing in-kind shipments of humanitarian assistance
-
an increased recognition of disaster risk reduction as both a sector and an approach
-
an increased involvement of the military in humanitarian response, a set
of actors not primarily driven by the humanitarian imperative,
requiring the development of specific guidelines and coordination
strategies for humanitarian civil–military dialogue
-
an increased involvement of the private sector in humanitarian response
requiring similar guidelines and strategies as the civil–military
dialogue.
The Sphere Project includes these developments in the Handbook as appropriate – in particular the
emerging issues of cash transfers, early recovery and civil–military relations.
Understanding the context during humanitarian response
Effective humanitarian response must be based on a comprehensive,
contextualised diagnosis (assessment, monitoring and evaluation), in
order to
analyse people’s needs, vulnerabilities and capacities in each context.
The Handbook is essentially designed as a tool to recognise different
contexts and to adapt response programmes accordingly: it guides
practitioners in their reflections around reaching a universally
applicable standard in a concrete situation or context, with particular
focus on specific vulnerabilities and capacities.
Not all individuals within a disaster-affected population have equal
control of resources and power. People are, therefore, impacted
differently on the basis of their ethnic origin, religious or political
affiliation. Displacement may make vulnerable certain people who in
normal situations would not have been at risk. Women, children, older
people, persons with disabilities or people living with HIV may be
denied vital assistance or the opportunity to be heard due to physical,
cultural and/or social barriers. Experience has shown that treating
these people as a long list of ‘vulnerable groups’ can lead to
fragmented and ineffective interventions, which ignore overlapping
vulnerabilities and the changing nature of vulnerabilities over time,
even during one specific crisis.
Relief and recovery efforts must also consider future hazards and
vulnerabilities in order to build communities back safer and promote
stronger resilience. In many parts of the world, climate change is
already beginning to have an impact on patterns of risk; traditional
knowledge of hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities needs to be
combined with assessments of future climate risks.
In order to do justice to each unique disaster situation and the
particular vulnerabilities and capabilities of the affected population,
the Handbook addresses a number of
cross-cutting themes. The themes relating to
children, gender, older people, HIV and AIDS, persons with disabilities, and
psychosocial support deal with individual and subgroup vulnerabilities.
Disaster risk reduction (including
climate change) and
environment
address vulnerability issues affecting the entire affected population.
At the end of this introduction, each theme is described in more detail.
Links with other humanitarian standards
In order to maintain the Sphere Handbook as a single volume of
manageable size, the focus remains on the four primary sectors of
humanitarian response. Many related sectors which are part of an
effective humanitarian response have developed their own standards. A
number of them are included in a series of
Sphere companion standards,
published as separate volumes but developed with the same rigor and
process of consultation as Sphere – the Inter-Agency Network for
Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards for Education:
Preparedness, Response, Recovery, the Small Enterprise Education and
Promotion (
SEEP) Network’s Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery after Crisis and the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (
LEGS).
Education in emergencies can be both life-sustaining and life-saving.
Provided in safe spaces, it offers a sense of normalcy, psychosocial
support and protection against exploitation and harm. It can also be
used to communicate messages about safety, life skills and vital health
and hygiene information. The INEE Minimum Standards for Education:
Preparedness, Response, Recovery were first published in 2004 and
updated in 2010, becoming companion standards to Sphere in 2008. They
present a framework to ensure critical linkages between education and
health, water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, shelter and protection
and to enhance the safety, quality and accountability of educational
preparedness and response.
Small enterprise development and livestock are covered by the
SEEP
Network's Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery after Crisis and the
Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards respectively. It is
anticipated that these two sets of minimum standards will become Sphere
companion standards in 2011.
Used together with this Handbook, the companion standards will improve
the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disaster or
conflict. Relevant guidance from the INEE,
SEEP and
LEGS standards has been integrated and is cross-referenced throughout this Handbook.
Agencies, coalitions and networks have established other standards and
codes to meet particular operational needs, such as specific agencies’
mandates, technical expertise or a perceived gap in guidance. Where
relevant, these other standards are referenced in the technical chapters
of this Handbook.
The Sphere Project is part of a group of
quality and accountability initiatives within the sector, having a close working relationship with the Emergency Capacity Building (
ECB) Project, which has developed the Good Enough Guide, and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (
HAP),
which deals with compliance issues through its Humanitarian
Accountability and Quality Management Standard. Other Q&A
initiatives with which Sphere regularly engages are People In Aid,
Groupe URD (Urgence, Réhabilitation, Développement), Coordination Sud
and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in
Humanitarian Action (ALNAP).
Beyond the Handbook
The Sphere Project’s primary and most used tool is this Handbook. It is
also available in electronic format on the Sphere website
(www.sphereproject.org), where you can get the latest news and updates
about the available versions and other resources.
The Handbook exists in numerous languages and is accompanied by various
training and promotional materials. These are often adapted to local
contexts on the basis of the experience of practitioners. This
illustrates the vibrancy of the Sphere community of practice, a
sometimes informal, loosely connected and ever-expanding network of
practitioners that keep the spirit of Sphere alive. The Sphere Project
is founded on the need to help improve the humanitarian response to meet
the rights and needs of disaster- or conflict-affected people and to be
accountable to them. The Sphere Project has made great progress since
its inception, but no Handbook alone can achieve this – only you can.
Outline of the cross-cutting themes
The
cross-cutting themes in this Handbook focus on particular areas of
concern in disaster response and address individual, group or general
vulnerability issues. In this section, each theme is described in some
detail.
Children: Special measures must
be taken to ensure all children are protected from harm and given
equitable access to basic services. As children often form the larger
part of an affected population, it is crucial that their views and
experiences are not only elicited during emergency assessments and
planning but that they also influence humanitarian service delivery and
its monitoring and evaluation. Children and young people are prone to
the harmful impact of vulnerability in certain situations, such as
malnutrition, exploitation, abduction and recruitment into armed groups
and fighting forces, sexual violence and lack of opportunity to
participate in decision-making. The Convention on the Rights of the
Child states that a child is considered to be an individual below the
age of 18 years. This definition can differ depending on cultural and
social contexts. A thorough analysis of how an affected population
defines children must be undertaken, to ensure that no child or young
person is excluded from humanitarian assistance.
Disaster risk reduction:
This is defined as the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks
through systematic efforts to analyse and manage the causal factors of
disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessened
vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the
environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events. Such adverse
events include natural disasters like storms, floods, droughts and
sea-level rise. As they appear to become increasingly variable and
severe, these phenomena are increasingly attributed to global climate change.
Environment: The
environment is understood as the physical, chemical and biological
elements and processes that affect disaster-affected and local
populations’ lives and livelihoods. It provides the natural resources
that sustain individuals and contributes to quality of life. It needs
protection and management if essential functions are to be maintained.
The minimum standards address the need to prevent over-exploitation,
pollution and degradation of environmental conditions and aim to secure
the life-supporting functions of the environment, reduce risk and
vulnerability and seek to introduce mechanisms that foster adaptability
of natural systems for self-recovery.
Gender: Gender refers to the fact that people experience a situation differently according to their gender. Sex refers
to biological attributes of women and men. It is natural, determined by
birth and, therefore, generally unchanging and universal.
The equal rights of women and men are explicit in the human rights
documents that form the basis of the Humanitarian Charter. Women and men
have the same entitlement to humanitarian assistance and protection, to
respect for their human dignity, to acknowledgement of their equal
human capacities including the capacity to make choices, to the same
opportunities to act on those choices and to the same level of power to
shape the outcome of their actions. Humanitarian responses are more
effective when they are based on an understanding of the different
needs, vulnerabilities, interests, capacities and coping strategies of
women and men, girls and boys of all ages and the differing impacts of
disaster or conflict upon them. The understanding of these differences,
as well as inequalities in women’s and men’s roles and workloads, access
to and control over resources, decision-making power and opportunities
for skills development, is achieved through gender analysis. Gender cuts
across other cross-cutting themes. The humanitarian aims of
proportionality and impartiality mean that attention must be paid to
achieving fairness between women and men and ensuring equality of
outcome. Historically, attention to gender relations has been driven by
the need to address women’s and girls’ needs and circumstances, as women
and girls are typically more disadvantaged than men and boys. However,
increasingly, the humanitarian community recognises the need to
understand what men and boys face in crisis situations.
HIV and AIDS:
Knowing the HIV prevalence in a specific humanitarian context is
important to understand vulnerabilities and risks and to plan an
effective response. In addition to the most at-risk populations (i.e.
men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users and sex workers), who
often need to receive specific measures to protect themselves against
neglect, discrimination and violence, some contexts may have other
vulnerable groups such as refugees, migrants, youth and single mothers.
Mass displacement may lead to increased HIV vulnerabilities and risks
due to separation of family members and breakdown of community cohesion
and of social and sexual norms regulating behaviour. Women and children
may be exploited by armed groups and be particularly vulnerable to HIV
due to sexual violence and exploitation. During humanitarian
emergencies, people may no longer have access to HIV interventions such
as prevention programmes and the disruption of anti-retroviral therapy (ART), tuberculosis (TB) treatment and prevention and treatment for other opportunistic infections may occur.
People living with HIV (PLHIV)
often suffer from discrimination and stigma and, therefore,
confidentiality must be strictly adhered to and protection made
available when needed. The sector activities in this Handbook should
provide appropriate HIV interventions according to prevalence and
context, and not increase people’s vulnerabilities and risks to HIV.
Older people: Older men and women are those aged over 60 years, according to the UN,
but a definition of ‘older’ can vary in different contexts. Older
people are often among the poorest in developing countries and comprise a
large and growing proportion of the most vulnerable in disaster- or
conflict-affected populations (for example, the over-80s are the
fastest-growing age group in the world) and yet they are often neglected
in disaster or conflict management. Isolation and physical weakness are
significant factors exacerbating vulnerability in older people in
disasters or conflict, along with disruption to livelihood strategies
and to family and community support structures, chronic health and
mobility problems, and declining mental health. Special efforts must be
made to identify and reach housebound older people and households headed
by older people. Older people also have key contributions to make in
survival and rehabilitation. They play vital roles as carers of
children, resource managers and income generators, have knowledge and
experience of community coping strategies and help to preserve cultural
and social identities.
Persons with disabilities: The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that between 7 and 10 per cent of the world’s population –
including children and older people – live with disabilities. Disasters
and conflict can cause increased incidence of impairment and subsequent
disability. The UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) defines
disability as an evolving concept that results from the interaction
between persons with impairments (which may be physical, sensory,
intellectual or psychosocial) and the attitudinal and environmental
barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society
on an equal basis with others. It is, therefore, the presence of these
barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from fully and
meaningfully participating in, or benefiting from, mainstream
humanitarian assistance programmes. The new CRPD makes specific
reference to the safety and protection of persons with disabilities in
conflict and emergency situations (CPRD, Article 11).
Persons
with disabilities face disproportionate risks in disaster situations
and are often excluded from relief and rehabilitation processes. Such
exclusion makes it more difficult to effectively use and participate in
standard disaster support services. Importantly, persons with
disabilities are a diverse population including children and older
people, whose needs cannot be addressed in a ‘one size fits all’
approach. Humanitarian responses, therefore, must take into
consideration the particular abilities, skills, resources and knowledge
of individuals with different types and degrees of impairments. It is
also important to remember that persons with disabilities have the same
basic needs as everyone else in their communities. In addition, some may
also have specific needs, such as replacement of aids or appliances,
and access to rehabilitation services. Furthermore, any measures
targeting persons with disabilities must not lead to their separation
from their family and community networks. Finally, if the rights of
persons with disabilities are not taken into consideration in
humanitarian responses, a huge opportunity is lost to rebuild
communities for all people. It is essential, therefore, to include
persons with disabilities in all aspects of relief and recovery. This
requires both mainstreamed and targeted responses.
Psychosocial support:
Some of the greatest sources of vulnerability and suffering in
disasters arise from the complex emotional, social, physical and
spiritual effects of disasters. Many of these reactions are normal and
can be overcome with time. It is essential to organise locally
appropriate mental health and psychosocial supports that promote
self-help, coping and resilience among affected people. Humanitarian
action is strengthened if at the earliest appropriate moment, affected
people are engaged in guiding and implementing the disaster response. In
each humanitarian sector, the manner in which aid is administered has a
psychosocial impact that may either support or cause harm to affected
people. Aid should be delivered in a compassionate manner that promotes
dignity, enables self-efficacy through meaningful participation,
respects the importance of religious and cultural practices and
strengthens the ability of community people to support holistic
well-being.
References
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: www.un.org/disabilities/
WHO on disabilities: www.who.int/disabilities/en/