Applying Sphere Health standards in Colombia

By Alejandro Castañeda Espinel, Sphere trainer and focal point representative (Colombia Sphere Trainers)

In August 2015, the government of Venezuela ordered the closure of the border with Colombia. Nine years later, this is creating significant challenges for people fleeing neighbouring Venezuela.

In 2018, the United Nations created the Interagency Group on Mixed Migration Flows (Grupo Interagencial sobre Flujos Migratorios Mixtos; GIFMM) to coordinate the response to the significant number of new refugee and migrant arrivals from Venezuela. This forum is active throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The humanitarian system in Colombia, which previously focused on caring for victims of armed conflict, had to be restructured in response to the Venezuela migration crisis, and one of the twelve new assistance priorities identified was Health.

The Sphere Handbook was subsequently used by the GIFMM and the Government of Colombia to generate public policies for inclusive health care, and is a reference for various donors that are financing Health programmes in Colombia.

Use of the Sphere Handbook intensified among the more than fifty organisations (national and international) affiliated with the GIFMM in Colombia, as it became a pillar for coordination, accountability and technical implementation by establishing common standards for assistance. Lessons learned through use of Sphere have led to the identification of best practices, in turn leading to better quality programmes and stronger coordination.

Government of Colombia institutions including the Health Ombudsman’s Office and the National Risk Management Unit have already expressed interest in more information and learning about Sphere.

We are grateful to the Sphere office in Geneva for their support and guidance as to the proper use of the Handbook, understanding that there are still barriers that must be addressed to further improve humanitarian assistance in Colombia.

Watch Alejandro’s Applying Sphere Health standards in Colombia video, the fourth video case study in the Sphere in action series.

This post was originally in Spanish: https://www.spherestandards.org/es/implementacion-de-las-normas-esfera-para-la-salud-en-colombia/