Translated Charter launched

Nethali STRUYS

The translated Sinhala and Tamil versions of Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response - Sphere Handbook 2011 edition was launched at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies organized under the initiation of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

It was launched by Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) Limited. The 2011 edition has been tranlated into Sinhala and Tamil for specific use in response to disasters in Sri Lanka. The Sphere Handbook shares principles and a set of universally acknowledged minimum standards in four life-saving areas of humanitarian response such as water and sanitation, food, shelter and healthcare.

The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards and Humanitarian Response offers a set of core standards and protection principles for those who are involved in humanitarian work abroad. It aims to improve the quality of response to disasters or armed conflicts and the accountability of states and humanitarian agencies to their constituents, donors and affected population.

Sphere Handbook 2011 edition incorporates a new chapter on the protection and safety of affected populations. It considers emerging issues like climate change, disaster risk reduction, disasters in urban settings, and education as well as early recovery of services, livelihoods and governance capacity of affected communities.

The extensive revision that led to the 2011 edition involved more than 650 experts from over 300 organizations from the humanitarian sector, including several United Nations agencies. The Sphere Handbook was created by a group of humanitarian non-governmental organizations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Since its first trial edition in 1998, it has been translated into more than 20 languages.