The Farsi version of the Sphere Handbook has been produced by the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran (ICRI) with cooperation and support from the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).
Generous funding had been provided by the European Commission’s Department for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).
The official book launch was held on Sunday October, 26 hosted by the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs (BAFIA), IRCS, ICRI and NRC.
The cornerstone of the Sphere Handbook is the Humanitarian Charter which captures both the ethical and legal foundations of humanitarian action. At the event, the Deputy Director of BAFIA, Abbas Nasrollahi, praised the publication for its “technical standards on the proper response to disaster and conflict”.
Also part of the speaking panel, Leila Khaleghi, Director General of the Department of International Communications, Protocol and Humanitarian Law of the IRCS, expressed that, “Iran experienced a high number of disasters last year and the Handbook proved to be a reliable reference to which we found every answer that we needed”.
The translation of Sphere will help the humanitarian community in Iran to “make a difference on a national scale”, says Nazanin Kazemi, ICRI country representative.
There will be conducted Sphere workshops for local non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and IRCS staff members. “In two to three years we hope to get additional funding to teach the principles and minimum standards of humanitarian response at the provincial level”.
“I would also like to celebrate the exchange of knowledge in the belief that international organizations such as the one I represent have a lot to learn about humanitarian response from state and non-state actors in Iran,” Roberto Vila-Sexto adds, “it is NRC‘s hope that the Sphere Handbook and the training we hope to implement in the coming months will provide an opportunity for enhanced dialogue amongst all humanitarian actors in Iran”.
At the most recent Sphere workshop held at the IRCS headquarters in Tehran, the Director of Operations of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Sarem Rezaei, mentioned how pleased he is “to participate in the first Sphere training in Iran and utilize the proper international procedures in earthquake-prone Iran”.
About the Sphere Handbook The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, is a voluntary initiative aimed to establish minimum standards in four life-saving sectors: water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion; food security and nutrition; shelter, settlement and non-food items; and health action.
Read more at www.sphereproject.org