Federation-hosted projects

Sphere
The Sphere project was launched in 1997 by a group of humanitarian aid organizations, out of the concern that the human rights of those affected by conflict and disaster are frequently not upheld. The project developed a handbook consisting of a humanitarian charter and a set of universal minimum standards in core areas of disaster response. The project aims to improve the quality of assistance provided to vulnerable people, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response. Twenty agencies have piloted the implementation of Sphere in their organizations over the past two years.

Reach Out
Reach Out is a three-year initiative on refugee protection jointly run by 30 humanitarian and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While it is an NGO-driven training endeavour, it was designed by and is being implemented in close cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

ProVention
The ProVention Consortium is a global coalition of governments, international organizations, academic institutions, the private sector and civil society actors dedicated to increasing the safety of vulnerable communities and to reducing the impact of disasters in developing countries. ProVention brings together key actors concerned with disaster risk management to form a unique inter-sectoral alliance. The Federation is a key member of the consortium.

Humanitarian Accountability Project
The Humanitarian Accountability Project is an inter-agency project launched in 2001 in response to concerns about the lack of accountability towards crisis-affected populations. During 2002, the project carried out field operations in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Sierra Leone. It undertook four research projects to explore and draw conclusions from existing approaches towards accountability and propose a permanent accountability mechanism for the humanitarian sector.