People at the center of humanitarian responses, looking not only at their needs but also at their capabilities. This was one of the highlights during the three days of the Sphere Workshop, in Przemyśl – Poland, in continuity to the cycle of training in humanitarian standards carried out in cooperation between Save the Children Poland | Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), Sphere Association and the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Missions (FIHM).
The meeting took place from May 23 to 25, 2023, with the participation of around 20 social and humanitarian actors from organizations in four Eastern European countries: Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, as well as a representative of the Roma community – the gypsy community, ethnic minority with the largest number of representatives in Europe – all involved, directly and indirectly, in the humanitarian response given to Ukrainians fleeing their country as a result of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
A striking feature this time was the location where the training took place in Przemyśl, in the building of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, located close to the border between Poland and Ukraine. According to Higor Horków, president of the Association in Przemyśl, before the start of the war last year, the organization worked mainly with cultural activities and in the Polish-Ukrainian dialogue; however, after the beginning of the conflict, they had to adapt all activities, fully focusing on humanitarian work, since then hosting more than five thousand people in the place where the Workshop was held, making it one of the main points of aid for Ukrainians.
For Gabriel Cyrilo, a volunteer humanitarian actor and one of the facilitators of the Workshop for the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), “the training sought to provide not only theoretical information, but also to provide a deep dive into the content, aiming at real learning and driving improvements in the approach of the activities currently carried out by the participants, seeking the practical application of the knowledge acquired during the training.”
The team of facilitators promoted reflections on key issues in humanitarian responses, especially in relation to affected people being actively at the center of processes and decision-making. They deepened the history of the Sphere Handbook, as well as the importance of adherence and monitoring so that the principles of the Code of Conduct of the International Red Cross and the Humanitarian Charter, contained in the Handbook, are fulfilled, as a guarantee of the rights and dignity of the affected people, with moral and technical quality in the different contexts of humanitarian crises.
Axel Schmidt, lead facilitator and current emergency coordinator of the German organization Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB), commented on the importance of carrying out the training in this location, where reception and support for Ukrainians still takes place, simultaneously with the Workshop, sharing an example of participants who needed to be absent to attend to people who were just arriving from the border. For him, training in the Sphere Handbook is very important in this context, as it really “enables the delivery into people’s hands, in a simple but not simplistic way, of precise guidelines, through a set of good practices from 25 years of humanitarian responses around the world.”
Case studies and scenarios were presented, the Essential and Technical Chapters of the Sphere Handbook focused on Accommodation and Settlement, creating safe environments for exchanging experiences. Through a dynamic methodology, the focus was on interaction and direct contact between the participants and the Sphere Handbook, bringing theory closer to the daily practice of organizations.
One of the participants, Bogdan Andrei, regional coordinator of the Kindernothife organization, brought up the importance of training for his development as a humanitarian actor, because, according to him, “the face-to-face participation made it possible to expand his knowledge about the approach of the Sphere Handbook, with the intention of continuing to deepen in content with the aim of becoming a Sphere coach, with the aim of disseminating their knowledge and good practices in countries such as Moldova and Romania.”
In addition, there were several presentations, interactions and sharing of experiences on the Principles of Protection, WASH – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion and Community Involvement. Community participation was assessed as crucial, as it allows an understanding of the needs, priorities and coping capacities of the affected population and indicates whether responses are appropriate or need to be adjusted. In closing, they addressed the importance of access to Mental Health services, both for humanitarian actors and affected people.
As the focal point of the Sphere Humanitarian Standards in Brazil and Portugal, the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) will be the co-facilitator of a new training, which will take place in June of this year, again in Warsaw, Poland, this time focusing on the training of trainers, being the third meeting of this initial cycle of training on Sphere Humanitarian Standards, in cooperation with Save the Children Poland | Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), Sphere Association.
For more information about the first Workshop held in February this year, in Warsaw, visit:
Sphere Workshop in Warsaw, Poland
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