Does the Humanitarian Sector Use Evidence-informed Standards? A Review of the 2011 Sphere Indicators for Wash, Food Security and Nutrition, and Health Action

Conclusion The Sphere Handbook was conceived in 1997 by a group of non-governmental organisations, in part to respond to the overall lack of accountability experienced during, and in the aftermath of, the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The Sphere Project developed from a recognition amongst humanitarian actors of the need for greater accountability and effectiveness in humanitarian response. Twenty years later, these concepts that underpin the Sphere Handbook remain as relevant as ever, in a time when humanitarian actors require up-to-date guidance to assist in their response to established and emerging issues, such as the management of non-communicable diseases in urban, middle-income contexts. This study has demonstrated that humanitarian initiatives such as the Sphere Project must make better use of existing evidence, and document all decisions made by experts, during the development and revision of humanitarian standards and indicators. The Sphere standards and indicators published in 2011 were not sufficiently robust nor adequately evidence-informed, and do not stand as incontestable guidance, in light of the lack of clear measurement definitions that leave room for interpretation. We hope that our recommendations for greater transparency in the basis for, and origin of, the humanitarian standards and indicators, and a more refined selection of core SMART-compliant indicators, will be addressed in the next edition of the Sphere Handbook, due to be published in 2018. These r...
Source: PLOS Currents Disasters - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: research