Sphere in 2019

Dear Sphere friends,

As another exciting year draws to a close, we would like to thank our global community for your active engagement and commitment. Every year, each person and organisation supporting Sphere plays a key role in contributing to our mission to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance globally.

We are delighted to share a snapshot of what we were able to achieve together in the last twelve months.

• After launching the new edition of the Sphere Handbook in late 2018, we released a range of adapted training materials.
• Humanitarian workers can now access a revamped online course (How to become a Sphere Champion) and a brand new Sphere training pack containing five days’ worth of materials for all skills levels.
• Sphere trainers around the world shared their knowledge with hundreds of practitioners, including in Libya, where no Sphere workshop was ever organised before.

• In June, our General Assembly strengthened Sphere’s governance and initiated discussions about the future direction of Sphere.
• Dr Balwant Singh, Sphere’s newly appointed Executive Director, will lead the development and implementation of the new strategy for 2020-2025.
• The Sphere Handbook and some partner handbooks from the Humanitarian Standards Partnership are available on a digital and interactive platform. You can now browse multiple sets of standards in different languages and look up specific keywords and resources in just a click.

• The Sphere community’s ownership of the Sphere Handbook made sure it remained among the most popular go-to guides for quality humanitarian response.
• Our network organised more than 40 launch events in 26 countries for the new edition.  It is available in 6 languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese and Spanish – and translation into 10 more languages is planned.

In 2020, we plan to launch our new strategy; further increase awareness, application and adaption of the Sphere standards globally; strengthen the global Sphere community of humanitarian purpose and practice; and facilitate collaboration through the Humanitarian Standards Partnership.

Thank you for your invaluable support and commitment to Sphere.  We look forward to another exciting year together!

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful new year,
The Sphere team