How can humanitarian standards support the empowerment of local actors, including affected people? With the localisation agenda receiving much attention and the 2018 Sphere Handbook focusing even more on using standards in context at the local level, this question was discussed by a group of 20 experts.

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What is Sphere?

The Sphere Project, now known as Sphere, was created in 1997 by a group of humanitarian non-governmental organisations and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its aim was to improve the quality of their humanitarian responses and to be accountable for their actions. The Sphere philosophy is based on two core beliefs:

• People affected by disaster or conflict have the right to life with dignity and, therefore, the right to assistance; and

From the unparalleled consultative process which nurtured the revision of the Handbook to the growth of its global community, many achievements marked 2017 as an important year in Sphere's history. 2017 represented the first year of Sphere’s operations as an independent organization. Since 2016, the Sphere Project has transitioned from a time-limited initiative to more fully develop its global role as a convening platform for quality and accountability in the humanitarian sector.

Facing a host of natural hazards and recurring emergencies, both Chile and the Philippines have recently taken steps to embed the Sphere standards into national regulations on emergency response.

Six humanitarian standards bearers announce the launch of a joint mobile application.