Sphere Workshop, Juba, South Sudan, June 2018

“I fancied a Geography lesson once I was invited for the sphere training and I was curious to know how knowledge of the globe was relevant to me and my job – I envisage that you comprehend where I am coming from, (it was my first sphere training). But I must admit that I was caught off-guard since a totally different identity was put into perspective and that identity is what I longed to be associated with.

Thanks for the initiative, I learnt first hand that sphere is an amalgam of humanitarian standards/principles across the globe – arguably that’s where it got baptized “sphere” from. Further, what intrigued me the most are the common principles that spell out the three fundamental humanitarian rights and the nine commitments that expound on – these were explicitly discussed during the training.

What I loved the most about this training from the Public Health Advisor from HQ (Dr. Oliver Hoffmann) is that it was so elaborate, so relevant and easy to adopt/apply. From the above connotation comes the comprehension with even greater weight that Sphere is so practical and with it, people centered. By applying Sphere, needs facing and sustainable projects can be developed and budgeted for with a sound reference. The same applies to implementation: For instance, in logistics and programs among other humanitarian response operations it is very useful in developing distribution plans since it states the minimum standards to be met while carrying out NFI, WASH or nutrition items distribution – this was particularly helpful during our recent response to Deim Zubeir IDP crisis.

Therefore, I strongly recommend its application throughout our project spectrum given its merits and believe that its full adoption can only be realized if we have regular refresher courses/trainings.”

T.J.A., Participant