LEGS and Sphere
The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (commonly known as the Sphere Handbook) is a set of minimum standards, indicators and guidelines for disaster response, based on a Humanitarian Charter and drawing on humanitarian law. LEGS complements the Sphere Handbook by expanding the current references to livestock with detailed standards and guidelines.
LEGS has drawn on the lessons learned from the Sphere process, including:
- the value of consulting a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the quality of the content and to increase ownership of the output
- the involvement of both policy makers and practitioners
- the linkages with human rights
- the independence from any single organisation both in terms of coordination and funding sources, thereby helping to ensure a wide uptake and acceptance of the Sphere standards
The Sphere Project has developed a process for the accreditation of standards and guidelines developed by other initiatives which complement the Sphere handbook and cover detail that cannot be addressed in the Sphere volume.
This ‘Companionship’ status formalises the links between Sphere and the other initiative, allowing for reciprocal publicity, sharing of communications and inclusion of training modules in each others’ training courses.
Following on-going discussions with the Sphere Project, the LEGS Project is in the process of applying for Companionship status. Most of the criteria have already been met – the only outstanding requirements are translation of LEGS into at least one other language (planned for late 2009); and at least one year of testing and feedback on the current edition. It is therefore anticipated that LEGS will achieve Sphere Companionship status before the end of 2010.
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