The general manager, Friar Luciano, and other representatives of the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation (FFHI), together with representatives of the Porto Alegre Light-Network, participated in a meeting with the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, and the Secretary of Labor and Social Assistance, Regina Becker, to present the Sphere Handbook, its guidelines, and offer training for government sectors in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, with the purpose of having them know the protocols presented in the Sphere Handbook for application in situations of humanitarian responses and emergencies.
According to the general manager of the Humanitarian Fraternity (FFHI), the governor found this training important, including the guide, Using the Sphere Standards in Urban Settings. “We left a first proposal for a schedule, and then the Training and Development Sector (T&D) will have a meeting with Regina Becker to line up more details,” he said.
The State Secretary for Labor and Social Assistance will do the communicating with the Humanitarian Fraternity (FFHI), and must identify the institutions, municipalities, government agencies and collaborators who will participate in the training, in addition to dealing with other aspects relevant to accomplishing the course.
Fádia Gonzalez, representative of the Porto Alegre Light-Network, which is one of the affiliates of the Humanitarian Fraternity (FFHI), was one of the translators of the Sphere Handbook into the Portuguese language. She points out the relevance of this tool in a humanitarian response: “the Sphere Handbook was approved worldwide by organizations active in the humanitarian sector, the standards of which, having already been certified by years of experience, can guide actions here in Brazil and around the world.”
Also addressed in the meeting were questions related to the humanitarian missions carried out by the Humanitarian Fraternity (FFHI), its actions as a focal point of the Sphere (Geneva), and since January of 2021, also as the focal point of the partner Sphere Association, the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), and also issues related to the training of volunteers for facing future and possible crises.
On the Sphere Handbook and the Guide “Using the Sphere Standards in Urban Settings”
Both having been translated into Brazilian Portuguese and also adapted to the Portuguese of Portugal through the dedicated work of the Brazilian and Portuguese teams of Irdin Editora, an affiliate of the Humanitarian Fraternity (FFHI), the Sphere Handbook has been available since October of 2020 for purchase in physical or digital format on the website of the publisher.
Originally published in English, this guide to the guidelines for acting in humanitarian emergencies has editions in different languages and had been waited for mainly in Portuguese-speaking African countries.
It is an important tool in the humanitarian response, one of the most accessed references to parameterize humanitarian actions according to good practices that guarantee effectiveness and quality in the rebuilding of lives affected by environmental, social and economic catastrophes, or by conflicts, armed or not, in any place on the planet.
