Launch of Sphere Handbook 2011 edition HUMANITARIAN CHARTER and MINIMUM STANDARDS IN HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE 14th April, 2011 (New Delhi, India) Sphere India Secretariat Building # 3, Flat # 401, Sona Apartments, Kaushilya Park, Hauz Khas, New Delhi
Inauguration and launch of Sphere handbook 2011 edition: Ms. Jaya Jha, Focal Point, Inter-Agency Collaborative Advocacy, welcomed the audience and shared that the Sphere handbook 2011 edition: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response is being launched at 15 locations internationally, including New Delhi on 14 th April, 2011. Simultaneously, the handbook is being launched at 14 different states in India, thus making India the only country with so many launch events. She shared that the launch event is an opportunity for all of us to discuss on the emerging challenges and increasing complexities in the humanitarian sector in India, to identify the key learning and advocacy issues pertaining to disaster management framework in India and to collect recommendations and way forward for us. Mr. Vikrant Mahajan, Chief Operating Officer, Sphere India welcomed the Chief Guest Major Gen. J. K. Bansal, Hon ble Member, NDMA, Govt. of India. He also welcomed Mr. N. M. Prusty, Chairperson, Sphere India and Mr. Ray Kancharla, Vice-Chair, Sphere India, on the dais. He also welcomed the members of the governing body of Sphere India, representatives from Govt. of India, the UN agencies, I/NGOs, representatives from state inter-agency groups, corporate, civil societies, academia and other guests in the event. Picture 1: Mr. Vikrant Mahajan, COO, Sphere India, giving welcome address Mr. N. M. Prusty, in his keynote address, shared the background and origin of Sphere process in the post- Rwanda crisis and that how the handbook evolved with a process of consultation and incorporation of experiences & learning over a period of time. The current version is the third version of the handbook being launched globally. He shared that the revision didn t only consult the civil societies but also a large number of state players, government actors, communities, and other key stakeholders. He explained Sphere process by emphasizing on the fact today on this occasion, the humanitarian aid workers all over the world are engaged to reaffirm, recommit to the humanitarian charter, the rights principles, in right process to Today on this occasion, the humanitarian aid workers all over the world are engaged to reaffirm, recommit to the humanitarian charter, the rights principles, in right process to protect the rights of people to ensure life with dignity for those affected in humanitarian crisis Picture 2: Mr. N. M. Prusty, Chairperson, Sphere India delivering keynote address protect the rights of people to ensure life with dignity for those affected in humanitarian crisis. He elaborated that the scope of humanitarian crisis not only includes the natural disasters but also the human induced, technology induced, development induced disasters; and that the humanitarian community need to strategize for all kind of humanitarian crisis situations. Mr. Vikrant Mahajan readout the letter of appreciation received from The Sphere Project for Sphere India. (Letter enclosed)
Chief Guest Major Gen. J. K. Bansal, Hon ble Member, NDMA, Government of India appreciated the efforts of Sphere India for not only promoting the Sphere Handbook but also bringing together all the stakeholders on a common platform for enhanced collaboration and coordination. He also acknowledged the support of Sphere India in the development of National guidelines on Minimum Standards being prepared by NDMA. He also emphasized that the humanitarian assistance should expand its scope to all kinds of crisis including conflicts. He Picture 4: Major Gen. J. K. Bansal, Hon'ble Member, NDMA, Govt. of India, giving the inaugural address discussed on the importance of all the key sectors during disaster response including water supply, sanitation & hygiene, food, nutrition, health services, medical cover, shelter provisions etc. He specially mentioned that the vulnerable groups need extra care and attention and all the humanitarian players need to prioritize them in the response plan. He added that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) setup by Govt. of India is Sphere India has not only specialized in rescue and promoted the Sphere evacuation operations Handbook but also brought together all the stakeholders on a during disasters and have played a commendable role in the last few disasters. He common platform for suggested that the civil enhanced collaboration and coordination societies need to commit a minimum response in their Picture 3: Major Gen. J. K. Bansal, Hon'ble particular sectoral expertise Member, NDMA, launching the revised Sphere handbook and they should extend their support to the administration in managing the disasters. He added that mechanisms should be created to avoid duplication and gaps in humanitarian response. He also suggested Sphere India that there should be team of experts ready at National level who may be deployed in case of disasters and can manage & take charge of situation instantly. He shared the technical aspects of CBRN disasters (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters) and said that dealing with CBRN disasters needs additional skills and equipments such as exposure training and minimum protection equipments. He also added that such kind of trainings can be planned for selected set of participants with an objective of creating a pool of trained people on CBRN disasters. He shared that such complex disasters need more preparedness and planning. Mr. Ray Kancharla, Vice-Chair, Sphere India extended vote of thanks to the Chief Guest, the speakers, and the attendees of the launch event. He shared that the presence of the distinguished guests and the attendees in the program has helped in strengthening the commitment towards humanitarian actions and quality and accountability. Picture 5: Mr. Ray Kancharla, Vice-Chair, Sphere India, giving the vote of thanks
Press briefing and open discussion: Mr. Vikrant Mahajan shared a presentation explaining Sphere India, the core commitments and the various programs Sphere India is implementing. It also included brief overview of the revised Sphere handbook. With the presentation, the discussion was opened for media and other participants for questions and interactions. Mr. Ajay Mahajan, World Vision India, shared that WVI has plans to integrate Sphere processes in all their programs, and they are wiling to have collaboration with Sphere India to take this initiative ahead. This would include capacity building of the ADPs of WVI and their communities. It was shared that Sphere India has extended capacity building support to Tearfund for their partners in India, Welthungerhilfe for their project in AILA affected areas and other few agencies time to time, and that Sphere would be happy to extend support for Sphere processes, coordination, capacity building, information & knowledge management and advocacy as and where required. The other key points discussed are: There is a need to develop contextualized operational manual for the handbook which will act as a ready reference for the frontline workers. There was debate on whether to have a summary of the Sphere handbook for the non-disaster professionals and for the people engaged in disaster response. It was discussed that the Sphere handbook is very precise and we need not go for preparing another summary of a summary. Sphere India may develop Do s and Don t s kind of materials for different technical chapters of the Picture 6: Mr. N. M. Prusty, Prof. V. K. Sharma, Mr. Sarbjit Singh, Mr. Ray Kancharla during media briefing and discussions handbook. They would be helpful in understanding the key actions in in different sectors in the time of disaster. The handbook should reach more number of stakeholders. Corporate bodies, Govt., academia etc. should also be sensitized on the Sphere processes and the handbook. Different agencies may develop training materials, modules etc. based on their sectoral expertise and share them to Sphere India and other agencies for use. There are companion standards to Sphere viz. LEGS, INEE, HAP etc. which should also be adopted and used by different agencies. Panel discussion: How prepared is India for complex disasters like Japan? Prof. S. M. Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural Deemed University, shared about the technological aspects of disaster management. He shared that there is a need to have a mapping of seismic and micro-seismic zones in India for better preparedness and planning. The recent earthquakes in the areas which were not supposed to be EQ prone have emphasized this need. Use of GIS, remote sensing, and other technologies would definitely be a great help in early warning and preparedness at different levels.
Prof. N.V.C. Menon, Former member, NDMA & Founder member, Sphere India complemented Sphere India for the launch of the revised Sphere handbook and emphasized on the need of translating There is a high probability of a low probability disaster happening anytime anywhere. the handbook in vernacular Indian languages. Responding to the question Is India prepared for complex disasters? he shared that we need to be brutally honest on this. There is a high probability of a low probability disaster happening anytime anywhere. Every disaster situation brings new challenges and opportunities for new modeling and innovations as well. He shared that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is very capable in search and rescue operations. India has largest network of Red Cross volunteers, approx. 21 million. The 53 billionaires of India contribute to 33% of national GDP. We have enough opportunities to be explored and engaged in disaster management. He also thrown light on the importance of institutional mechanisms, service delivery, critical infrastructures etc. and added that timely and appropriate relief should be right of the disaster affected people. Timely and appropriate relief should be right of the disaster affected people Shri. Satyabrata Pal, Honorable Member, National Human Rights Commission congratulated Sphere India for the launch of the handbook and said that rights based perspective is very important not only during disasters but also in peace time. He emphasized on the need of coordination among different agencies to avoid duplication and gaps, avoid humanitarian favoritism, and adherence to humanitarian ethics. He emphasized on the basic rights of all to be able to live with dignity. He said that there should be no discrimination in treatment with the disaster affected people. Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed, Hon ble Member, NDMA, Govt. of India, emphasized on the need of community awareness and preparedness and said that community level actions are the key to saving lives and property. It is important to train people in different disaster management skills. He added that trauma care, basic life support care etc are few of the themes where we should plan interventions. He shared that IRCS is planning wide-scale trainings and they aim to develop 300-500 certified first responders in each district. In response to a query from Mr. Peniel (EHA) he said that the volunteers trained by EHA can be linked to the SDMA. Picture 7: Prof. S. M. Ramasamy, Prof. N.V.C. Menon, Mr. Satyabrat Pal, and Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad in the panel discussion Mr. Vikrant Mahajan extended vote of thanks to the panelist and the attendees in the event and added that the discussions have helped to analyze the situation and there are lots of learning and issues for advocacy which would be taken up in subsequent consultations at appropriate forums.
List of Attendees Panelists S.No Name Organization 1 Major Gen. J.K. Bansal Hon ble Member, NDMA, Govt. of India 2 Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed Hon ble Member, NDMA, Govt. of India 3 Prof. N.V.C. Menon Former Member, NDMA Founder Member, Sphere India 4. Shri Satyabrata Pal Hon ble Memner, NHRC 5. Prof. S. M. Ramasamy Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram University 6. Mr. N.M. Prusty Chairperson, Sphere India 7. Mr. Ray Kancharla Vice Chairperson, Sphere India 8. Mr. Vikrant Mahajan COO, Sphere India Participants S. No. Name Organization 1 Abha Mishra UNDP 2 Ajay Mahajan World Vision 3 Akhil K. Chaudhary PCI 4 Amrit Kumar ARLDF 5 Anil K. Malik D. C. D 6 Anuj Chheti UNDP 7 Anuj Tiwari GFDR 8 Avni Malhotra Heifer International 9 Bipin IGSSS 10 Cassie Dummett CRS 11 D S Kapur India Wash Forum
12 Dan Andrew EFICOR 13 Danish Aziz Islamic Relief India 14 Dr. A. K. Shinha NDMA 15 Dr. Devashish Bhattachary 16 Dr. K. J. Anandha Kumar NIDM 17 Dr. K. S. R. Sajbaba JNU 18 Dr. Rajiv ICRC 19 Dr. Rakesh Kumar Sharma INMAR DRIOO 20 Faisel T. Illiyas Institute of Land and Disaster Management 21 G. Padmanabhan UNDP 22 Gurpreet Kaur IFRC India 23 Harichandran PCI 24 Harsh Jahli VANI 25 Impuri World Vision India 26 J. Willians Save the children 27 Jai Parkash Yadav Janta Sewa Samiti Basti 28 Jaya Jha Sphere India 29 Jitendra Singh Santhak 30 Joachim Schwarz Welthunger Hilfe 31 Junila Paul Junior Achievement India 32 Kamal Sahi GFDR 33 Kastubh D. Kukde IFRC-IO 34 Katherine ACTED 35 Mani Kumar DCA 36 Manish Jain ACF 37 Manisha Kachhotiya Volunteer, Sphere India 38 Manjunath ILO 39 Manu Gupta SEEDS 40 Margareta Tileva UNICEF 41 Md. Ziauddin Ahamed ASSART, Odisha 42 Mohammad Aftab Save the children 43 Mudasser Plan India
44 Murali Kunduru Plan India 45 Naghma Firdaus UNDMT Associate 46 Narender Jadav CMS 47 Narendra Singh Kacchotiya Sphere India 48 Naresh Kumar Innovations Unlimited 49 Neha Agrawal Sphere India 50 Nupur Arora UNDP 51 Pardeep REDR India 52 Parkash CGD India 53 Peniel Malakar EHA 54 Prasad Sevekari Humanitarian Consultatnt 55 R. John Suresh Kumar Christian Aid 56 Rajan ADRA 57 Rajesh Narayan GFDR, BIhar 58 Rajesh K. Kaushik Govt. of Haryana 59 Rajesh Kumar. P UNICEF 60 Raman Kumar Sphere India 61 Raviraj Atrey Sphere India 62 Rekha Shetty C.R. S. 63 Romita Anand Sphere India 64 S. Ambekar Vishwa Yuva Kendra 65 Sanjeev Rai Save the children 66 Santiswarup Sahoo Phd Scholar, IIT Kanpur 67 Sarbjit Singh UNICEF 68 Sebastian T. V. Concern Worldwide 69 Shachi Grover UNFPA 70 Shakeel IGSSS 71 Sheena Arora REDR INDIA 72 Sheila George EFICOR 73 Suchitra Acharya Welt Hunger Hilfe 74 Sunil Mammen CARITAS 75 Suraj Bahadur Sphere India
76 Sushil Kr. Argar Helpage India 77 Wungmaya Lunghar World Vision India 78 V.K. Sharma IIPA, New Delhi 79 Vaishali M Welthunger Hilfe 80 Venkat. Rv. Plan India 81 Victoria GFDR 82 Vinay Sadavarte IFRC 83 Yudhisthira Save the children and Bihar IAG
PRESS COVERAGE On Launch of SPHERE HANDBOOK (2011 Edition): MINIMUM STANDARDS IN HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE 14 th April, 2011 (New Delhi, India) 15 April 2011
15 April 2011
15 April 2011
15 April 2011 Online Presence: http://www.inewsone.com/2011/04/14/india-faces-coordination-problem-during-disasters/43353 http://www.siasat.com/english/news/india-faces-coordination-problem-during-disasters http://www.anhourago.in/show.aspx?l=8379837&d=502 http://andhravilas.com/newsdetail/502003/india-faces-coordination-problem-during-disasters.html http://twocircles.net/2011apr14/india_faces_coordination_problem_during_disasters.html http://www.indiatalkies.com/2011/04/india-faces-coordination-problem-disasters.html http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-189794.html
http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=content&sd=newsdetails&newsid=14909 http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/india/20110414/1730061.html http://in.news.yahoo.com/indians-more-prepared-natural-calamities-experts-20110418-210048- 022.html http://green.in.msn.com/environmentalthreats/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5127995 http://news.bioscholar.com/2011/04/indians-need-be-more-prepared-for-natural-calamitiesexperts.html http://www.samachar.com/indians-need-be-more-prepared-for-natural-calamities-expertsletjjgigfii.html (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110416/jkplus.htm#7 http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article1698247.ece *More press coverage is in pipeline.