INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

Download the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

Download the 2010 INEE Minimum Standards Handbook in English, French and Spanish or visit our Translations and Reproductions section where you will find the Handbook available in the following languages: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Chinese, Dari, French, Japanese, Kyrgyz, Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Additional translations of the 2010 INEE Minimum Standards that are underway include:

  • Burmese
  • Nepali

 

The 2004 INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is available in the following languages:

 

Order a Copy of the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

In the Request Resources section, you will also find information on how to order the Handbook and the other materials.

View and Download INEE Minimum Standards Tools

To view and download tools to help with the implementation of the INEE Minimum Standards, visit the Implementation Support page.

About the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies facilitated a highly consultative and broad-based process in the development of global minimum standards that articulate a minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies, chronic crises and the early reconstruction phase.

The INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery are both a handbook and an expression of commitment that all individuals – children, youth, and adults – have a right to education during emergencies and fragile contexts. They echo the core beliefs of the Sphere Project: that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and that people affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity.

INEE’s Minimum Standards are founded on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Dakar 2000 Education for All goals and the Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter. The Handbook is meant to be used as a capacity-building and training tool for humanitarian agencies, governments and local populations to enhance the effectiveness and quality of their educational assistance, and thus to make a significant difference in the lives of people affected by disaster. They will also help to enhance accountability and predictability among humanitarian actors, and improve coordination among partners, including education authorities.

A handbook of Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery (Referred to as the INEE Minimum Standards) were first launched at INEE’s Second Global Inter-Agency Consultation on Education in Emergencies and Early Recovery in South Africa in December 2004.. The INEE Minimum Standards underwent a consultative update process in 2009-2010 involving over 1,300 representatives from 52 countries. The handbook is designed to give governments and humanitarian workers the tools that they need to address the Education for All and UN Millennium Development Goals. It is the first step toward ensuring that education initiatives in emergency situations provide a solid and sound basis for post-conflict and disaster reconstruction.

The Minimum Standards cover five domains:

 

  • Foundational Standards have been revised and expanded to include coordination as well as community participation and analysis. These standards should be applied across all domains to promote a holistic, quality response. These standards give particular attention to the need for good diagnosis at all stages of the project cycle, in order to better understand the context and apply more appropriately the standards in the domains that follow.
  • Access and Learning Environment focuses on access to safe and relevant learning opportunities. These standards highlight critical linkages with other sectors such as health, water and sanitation, nutrition and shelter that help to enhance security, safety and physical, cognitive and psychological well-being.
  • Teaching and Learning focuses on critical elements that promote effective teaching and learning, including curricula, training, professional development and support, instruction and learning processes, and assessment of learning outcomes.
  • Teachers and Other Education Personnel covers administration and management of human resources in the field of education. This includes recruitment and selection, conditions of service, and supervision and support.
  • Education Policy focuses on policy formulation and enactment, planning and implementation.

In addition, cross-cutting issues, such as human and children’s rights, gender, the right of the population to participate, HIV/AIDS, disability and vulnerability, have been mainstreamed throughout the standards.

To read more, visit the History and Development page.

Contact the INEE Minimum Standards Coordinator

INEE is keen to hear about how you have made use of the INEE Minimum Standards, please contact minimumstandards@ineesite.org with your experiences, comments and suggestions.