ANNOUNCING: Renewed Companionship Agreement between INEE and The Sphere Project!

Dear INEE Members,     

INEE and The Sphere Project are pleased to announce that the Companionship Agreement between the two entities has been renewed. The Agreement recognizes the INEE Minimum Standards as Companion and Complementary Standards to the Sphere Project's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. The continued use of the INEE Minimum Standards alongside the Sphere Standards will help to ensure that crucial linkages between education and traditional sectors are made at the outset of an emergency - through contingency planning, multi-sectoral needs assessments and holistic response. Used together, the two good practices tools help improve the quality of humanitarian assistance, enhance the predictability and accountability of disaster preparedness and response, and improve coordination among humanitarian actors.

Through the Companionship Agreement, "both Parties recognize that education in emergencies is a necessity that can be both life-sustaining and life-saving, providing physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection. Education in emergencies is an integral component of humanitarian aid alongside assistance in water and sanitation, health, nutrition, shelter and protection. The right to education is both a human right, which applies even in emergencies, and an enabling right, allowing people to exercise their other rights, such as the right to health and the right to life with dignity."

Signed in 2008, the original Companionship Agreement established a formal relationship between INEE and The Sphere Project. As part of the Agreement, INEE Secretariat and the Sphere Project staff mainstreamed education in the revised Sphere Handbook as well as inter-sectoral linkages in the updated INEE Minimum Standards Handbook. The renewed Agreement further strengthens the collaboration between the two entities at all levels, including the Sphere Board and the INEE Steering Group. To access the full Agreement, click here.

The Sphere Project was created to improve the quality and accountability of disaster response. It promotes the universal right of all disaster-affected people to life with dignity, protection and humanitarian assistance. The Sphere Project's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response represents sector-wide consensus on minimum standards, key technical indicators and guidance covering four life-saving areas of humanitarian aid: water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion; food security and nutrition; shelter, settlement and non-food items; and health action.

The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is an expression of commitment that all individuals - children, youth and adults - have a right to education during emergencies. The Standards articulate the minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies through to recovery.

For more information about The Sphere Project and its Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, visit http://www.sphereproject.org. For more information on the INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery, visit http://www.ineesite.org/standards.To learn more about the INEE-Sphere Project Companionship, visit INEE's website. To access tools on education and inter-sectoral linkages, visit the INEE Toolkit. To share how you have used the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook and the Sphere Handbook, please contact Tzvetomira Laub at tzvetomira@ineesite.org and Aninia Nadig at aninia.nadig@ifrc.org.

Sincerely,

INEE Secretariat and The Sphere Project staff