Humanitarian Standards

What are Humanitarian Standards?

People affected by disaster or conflict have the right to receive protection and assistance and to ensure the basic conditions for life with dignity. Humanitarian standards are statements which describe the sets of actions needed so that crisis-affected people can enjoy this right.

Humanitarian standards are developed by humanitarian practitioners with specific areas of expertise and are formulated based on evidence, experience, and learning. The standards are developed by consensus and reflect accumulated best practice at a global level. They are revised regularly to incorporate developments across the sector.

Humanitarian standards are a useful resource for practitioners to plan, implement, and evaluate humanitarian response. They provide a strong basis to advocate for the rights of crisis-affected communities. By applying them in preparedness and response operations, humanitarian agencies and practitioners make a commitment to quality and make themselves accountable to the populations they serve.

Humanitarian Standards Partnership (HSP)

HSP Logo The Humanitarian Standards Partnership is a collaboration between the world’s leading standards setting initiatives which aims to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian action through the increased application of humanitarian standards.

The Partnership is designed to enhance the linkage between standards, eliminating the duplications, advocating collaboratively, and improving the accountability to the people affected by the emergencies.

Current initiatives in the HSP include:

What role does INEE play in the HSP?

The use of the INEE Minimum Standards as part of the HSP will help to ensure crucial linkages are made at the outset of an emergency - through multi-sectoral needs assessments, followed by joint planning, and a holistic response. Used together, INEE and other agencies under the HSP will improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by crisis and enhance the accountability of disaster preparedness and response. For an effective education response, close collaboration between education and other sectors is essential - such as water supply and sanitation, food security and nutrition, shelter and settlements, health action, education, child protection, livestock management, economic recovery, and market analysis.

For more detailed information on the background of the Humanitarian Standards Partnership, visit here.

1 January 2018 Manual/Handbook/Guide Sphere Project

The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response

The principal users of The Sphere Handbook are practitioners involved in planning, managing or implementing a humanitarian response.

31 July 2018 Manual/Handbook/Guide

Age and Disability Consortium (ADCAP)

Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities

The Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities help humanitarian organisations ensure nobody is marginalised or left behind during emergency responses.

1 March 2024 Manual/Handbook/Guide

Sphere Project

CHS Alliance, Group URD

Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability

The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) sets out nine commitments to ensure that organisations support people and communities affected by crisis and vulnerability in ways that respect their rights and dignity and promote their primary role in finding solutions to the crises they face.

10 October 2019 Manual/Handbook/Guide Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (2019)

The 2019 Child Protection Minimum Standards handbook is a practical tool for humanitarian actors to join and lead child protection in humanitarian settings.

1 January 2021 Manual/Handbook/Guide

Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster

Minimum Standards for Camp Management

The MSCM handbook describes the minimum actions needed to support meaningful engagement within a site as well as planning and coordination between sectors and agencies. The handbook aims to clarify the role of any site management agency working on a daily basis in humanitarian settings and to set out minimum levels of quality for that work.

1 January 2018 Manual/Handbook/Guide

Cash Learning Partnership

Minimum Standards for Market Analysis

The objective of the Minimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA) is to guide the work of humanitarian practitioners across sectors and to ensure that, irrespective of the tool used, the key standard of market analysis is being met. By supporting high-quality market analysis, the MISMA intends to contribute to improving response analysis and programme implementation.

30 April 2024 Manual/Handbook/Guide Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)

INEE Minimum Standards for Education, 2024 Edition

Since 2004, the INEE MS have provided a framework for inclusive and equitable quality education. The purpose of the handbook is to improve the quality of education preparedness, response, and recovery; to increase access to safe and relevant learning opportunities; to ensure that the actors who provide these services are held accountable.

5 April 2017 Manual/Handbook/Guide

Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS)

The Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) provide a set of international guidelines and standards for the design, implementation and assessment of livestock interventions to assist people affected by humanitarian crises.

3 November 2022 Manual/Handbook/Guide

SEADS

Standards for Supporting Crop-relaled Livelihoods in Emergencies

The SEADS handbook provides international principles and minimum standards that support people responding to a humanitarian crisis to design, implement, and evaluate crop-related crisis responses.

5 April 2017 Manual/Handbook/Guide

SEEP Network

Minimum Economic Recovery Standards

The Minimum Economic Recovery Standards are the internationally recognized consensus on best practices for building economic resilience for crisis-affected communities.