On the 12th of November 2018 Social Change School attended the launch event for the Sphere Handbook 2018 in Madrid.
The Sphere Handbook is well-known and recognized all over the world, collecting principles and minimum standards to deliver an accountable and quality humanitarian response. The Handbook is structured to reflect “Sphere’s aim to firmly anchor humanitarian response in a rights-based and participatory approach” (check the Sphere Project website).
Our Head of Career Development Service Tirso Puig and Head of Didactics Cinzia D’Intino were both present to the event together with many of our partners and representatives of the Nonprofit Sector. We couldn’t miss this opportunity to discuss the important theme and update our didactic materials to always deliver a better service to our Masters’ fellows.
We were also particularly glad to see our lecturer Ana Urgoiti, who leads our Workshops on Humanitarian and Sphere Standards for Master HOPE in Humanitarian Operations in Emergencies, was moderating the discussion, being an internationally appreciated expert on the topic.
The event saw an introduction by representatives from Fundación La Caixa, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Government Council of Coordinadora Estatal de ONGD and Instituto de Estudios Sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria.
Following this presentation, Ana Urgoiti presented the round table and speakers:
- María Cristina Gutiérrez Hernández, Head of the Humanitarian Action Office at AECID;
- Ana Costales Plaza, Responsible of Emergency Operations at the Spain Red Cross;
- Marta Valdés García, Deputy Director of Humanitarian Action at Oxfam Intermón;
- Aninia Nadig, Responsible of Sphere’s politics and sensibilization.
During the round table, speakers made clear the importance for Humanitarian responders and organizations to follow these standards not only for their technical accuracy, but also to keep top ethical and moral levels at all times.
Tirso Puig commented on behalf of the School that “We are grateful for this event, as it was another opportunity for the Social Change School to keep updating not simply on books but practically together with the major representatives of the sector”.
