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Post ScriptBy Sean Lowrie, Training Manager, Sphere ProjectHumanitarian practitioners are becoming more technically proficient, and the above article is an excellent exploration of the dilemmas of operating in a difficult situation, while maintaining loyalty to as scientific and ethical an approach as possible. The author raises valid questions about the application of the Minimum Standards and Key Indicators. The Sphere Minimum Standards were developed to reflect a qualitative level of disaster provision applicable across all operating environments. The standards define the requirements for life with dignity in relatively general terms, while the indicators attach either qualitative or quantitative values to associated standards. It would be a disservice to the rights of populations affected by disasters to call the levels reflected in the current Sphere handbook international - hopefully international levels would be higher! It might be argued that agencies and staff were effective given the limitations of Sudan in 1998. The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards make a line in the sand (the right to dignity, quantified in the five basic sectors) from which we can measure our programmes, describe a particular context, and justify results and the indicators we use to measure those results. Perhaps one way to look at the Key Indicators in the Sphere handbook is to insist that they be maintained as written. They are minimal after all, and what NGOs need to do better is describe in more credible detail what the reality is in the field. With this line in the sand that fixed indicators would help define, humanitarians can describe needs and report on their results with reference to something concrete. (Thus there is a big difference between inappropriate indicators and unattainable ones). Obviously in Sudan in 1998 there was a pretty big gap between the line and the reality on the ground. That gap can be explained in terms of time to implement an operation, resources and other contextual factors like security and access. The Sphere handbook does not contain operational guidelines because it is a book of Minimum Standards and indicators. How agencies and their staff will respond in a particular situation will depend on their mandate, capacity and experience. One might argue that 'front line workers' could better lobby for resources and support by explaining their operating context with reference to that "line in the sand". Whether agencies have time to do this analysis, reporting and advocacy is another matter, and a problem that we all face. Distinguishing between innovative and poorly managed programmes is compromised when one applies only a technocratic application of the quantitative indicators. The difference between innovation and shoddy programming is in the ability to articulate the analysis done and the assumptions made about the cause-effect relationship between actions and the impact on people's ability to live with dignity. Accountability requires some sort of standard, and so the creation of the Minimum Standards is an important step in improving accountability. The Sphere Project is in fact a process, and that process is continuing to evolve and improve. A revised edition of the handbook will be published in the year 2003, based on the suggestions, advice and feedback from practitioners in the field, and lessons learned from the application of the handbook in practice. Those comments should be directed to the Project Office using the following email: sphere@ifrc.org . Let us remember that a situation in which entrance criteria must be reduced, or indeed, in which a TFC is needed at all, is a horrible injustice facing people in the developing world. The fact that most humanitarian workers must make decisions when in a dilemma, based on minimal information, with inadequate resources and access is one of the most difficult things about field work. It is also one of the things that humanitarian agencies don't speak about enough. The essence of accountability in this particular context would not be to say whether a standard is being met or not, but to measure the gap between what was possible and what is aspired, and to explain why that gap exists. This article explains why the Minimum Standards were not met, and any donor would understand. Any recipient would also understand, but the fundamental question remains, why does this happen in the year 2000? The humanitarian system needs to blow the whistle on injustices, and having a common language to work from will only strengthen our unique and independent actions toward this common purpose. Lowrie@ciuk.org or sean_lowrie@hotmail.com Tel: (44)20-7379-5247 ext. 255 Fax: (44)20-7379-0543 Mailing address: c/o CARE International in UK Tower House, 8-14 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA, UK http://www.sphereproject.org Issue contents | ENN home |