INEE Minimum Standards

INEE Minimum Standards Update

The INEE Minimum Standards Handbooks is currently undergoing an update process. Visit the INEE Minimum Standards Update page to read more and contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to get involved!


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What are the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction?

Sphere-INEE Companionship

INEE and the Sphere Project are pleased to announce a companionship agreement whereby Sphere acknowledges the quality of the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction and of the broad consultative process that led to their development. As such, the Sphere Project recommends that the INEE Minimum Standards be used as companion and complementing standards to the Sphere Handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. To read more, visit the Sphere Companionship website.


Wars and natural disasters deny generations the knowledge and opportunities that an education can provide. Education is not only a right, but in situations of emergencies, chronic crises and early reconstruction, it is a necessity that can be both life-sustaining and life-saving, providing physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection. It sustains life by offering physical safe space for learning, as well as the ability for providing support to and screening those affected, particularly children and adolescents. Education mitigates the psychosocial impact of conflict and disasters by giving a sense of normalcy, stability, structure and hope for the future during a time of crisis. It can save lives by protecting against exploitation and harm, including abduction, child soldiering and sexual and gender-based violence. Lastly, education provides the knowledge and skills to survive in a crisis through the dissemination of lifesaving information about landmine safety, HIV/AIDS prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building.

In order to develop a tool to help achieve a minimum level of educational access and quality in emergencies and early reconstruction as well as to ensure the accountability of the workers who provide these services, INEE’s Working Group on Minimum Standards facilitated a highly consultative process to develop Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction. The INEE Minimum Standards were developed with the participation of over 2,250 individuals from more than 50 countries in 2003 and 2004. They were developed by stakeholders from a variety of levels and have evolved out of emergency and early reconstruction environments around the world. As such, they are designed for use in emergency response, emergency preparedness and in humanitarian advocacy and are applicable in a wide range of situations, including natural disasters and armed conflicts. The standards give guidance and flexibility in responding to needs at the most important level – the community – while providing a harmonised framework to coordinate the educational activities of national governments, other authorities, funding agencies, and national and international agencies. 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 INEE Minimum Standards development and implementation process has received financial support from the Academy for Educational Development and the Global Learning Portal, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Rescue Committee, the International Save the Children Alliance, Save the Children Norway, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), US contributions to UNESCO for the reconstruction of education systems in post-conflict countries, UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID, the US Contribution to UNESCO for Reconstruction of Education Systems, and the World Bank. In addition, hundreds of organizations have made enormous in-kind contributions to the process, through the commitment of staff time, travel, translations and other resources.

If you have any questions or would like to become involved in the process, please contact the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)