What is Sphere? Sphere (https://www.spherestandards.org), the leading initiative in developing global standards for humanitarian response, has worked for around 28 years to improve quality and accountability of humanitarian action. Today, it represents a diverse global community that brings together frontline practitioners, humanitarian agencies, community organisations, trainers, donors, policy makers, government agencies and affected communities, around a common goal—to improve the resilience of people affected by disaster and crisis.
Sphere is about upholding the dignity and rights of crisis-affected people through principled, accountable and quality humanitarian action. Sphere was started in 1997 by impassioned aid workers who wanted to improve the level and approach of emergency response. With this goal in mind, they framed the Humanitarian Charter and identified a set of Minimum Standards to be applied contextually in all humanitarian crises. Sphere’s flagship publication, the Sphere Handbook, is one of the most widely known and internationally recognised set of humanitarian principles and minimum standards.
What is Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW)?
The HNPW provides a unique forum for humanitarian networks and partnerships to meet and address key humanitarian issues. One of the largest humanitarian events of its kind, it gathers participants from the UN, NGOs, Member States, the private sector, the military, academia and beyond to discuss and solve common challenges in humanitarian affairs. During the event, networks and partnerships hold their annual meetings and consultations, share their expertise and collaborate on best practices to address shared problems.
The HNPW was first held in 2015, following a recommendation from Member States to hold their annual network meetings at the same venue at the same time. Between 2013 and 2014, key stakeholders of several humanitarian networks created the “Consultative Group for Emergency Preparedness and Response,” which agreed that the HNPW should be the platform for inter-network collaboration in areas of common concern to improve humanitarian preparedness and response. In 2017, the Consultative Group was renamed the “Leading Edge Programme.”
Co-hosted by OCHA and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, HNPW gives the humanitarian community a much-needed space to connect, collaborate and reimagine the humanitarian sector. It’s an opportunity to listen, learn and co-create solutions working across various issues and themes. In the face of global challenges, this year’s event had more participants, sessions and bilateral meetings than ever – all filled with a sense of urgency.
Who represented our humanitarian sector at the HNPW?
Mr. Gawher Nayeem Wahra, acting chairperson of COAST Foundation (www.coastbd.net), Governance team member of Sphere Community Bangladesh, and founder and member Secretary of the foundation for Disaster Forum in Bangladesh, has participated as a Sphere Trainer to represent Bangladesh humanitarian sector at the Humanitarian Network and Partnership Week (HNPW) this year. This high-level event, co-hosted by UNOCHA, was held from 24 to 28 March 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. As a representative of Sphere Bangladesh, he also participated in Sphere-led conference sessions throughout the week, as well as acted as a Sphere Ambassador on the Sphere stand in the exhibition area.
Modality of the event and participation
This year’s HNPW followed a hybrid format- the first week was fully remote, the second was held in-person. Many sessions were hybrid for greater participation. Sixty networks participated, more than 8,600 people registered online and nearly 2,000 attended in person. The programme covered 344 sessions with themes ranging from innovation in humanitarian action to civil-military cooperation, access, humanitarian diplomacy, sustainable practices in emergency response, and public-private partnerships for more effective disaster management. As with any large conference, value also came from behind-the-scenes activity: hundreds of bilateral meetings, countless moments of shared knowledge, and partnerships developed in real time.
What were the combined Sphere programs?
- Running a Sphere Stand
- Meeting with the youths (University Students)
- Trainers Meeting
- Orientation on Sphere
- Workshop on Sphere Training Tools.
What was the great achievement?
Sphere organized a Training Workshop at the HNPW in Switzerland on 27 March 2025. Mr. Axel Schmidt, a global Sphere leader and trainer from Germany, was the Lead Facilitator and Mr. Gawher Nayeem Wahra and Mr. Jonas Habimana Mohamed Adan Ibrahim were the Co-Facilitators of the event.
The outcome of the event
- Participants could explain Sphere’s philosophy
- Navigate the Sphere Handbook
- Differentiate between Standards and Indicators
- Say why analysis of context is vital.
The facilitator used a storytelling method based on their own experience to demonstrate how important it was to involve affected people in decisions that affect them.
Key messages from the event for our learning
- The approach and tools presented in the Sphere Handbook will help you get closer to affected people by actively involving them in humanitarian response.
- In a car crash, we expect quick, trained, efficient, high quality, kind etc. response taking into account context and recovery. The same is true of humanitarian response, which is why we have humanitarian standards to guide us.
- Standards are universal; indicators and actions must be adapted to context. Humanitarian Charter is the legal and ethical backgroup – the “why” of humanitarian action. The Sphere Handbook is for everyone, including affected communities who must be at the heart of all responses.
Key takeaways from the HNPW
- Every disaster is a data disaster, but it doesn’t have to be.
- Innovation means local solutions powered by technology – designed for dignity, driven by impact and built to scale.
Please download the full report
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