Comparative study of content and structural changes of Sphere project in common standards chapter

Sphere project is the operational framework for the relief activities of humanitarian organizations during rapid response phase. It has been designed and determined based on humanitarian charter and minimum standards in disaster relief. However, this research has been done based on analysis of content and structural changes of Sphere (2004 and 2011 editions) and was compared with the common standards chapter. This systematic review has been done from 1990 to 2013. The search results were 370 articles and scientific texts; about 10 papers were selected as the related studies regarding to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Moreover, some articles extracted from evaluating references papers based on objectives of study. This study was conducted over two months by authors. The main reasons are included protection and safety principles for affected people, the necessity of development of humanitarian activities to improve and to modify the provisions of the humanitarian actions rules in recent years. Some issues are not included or pointed them out briefly such as justice, disaster prevention, environmental health issues and urban warfare. The change of “Minimum Standards common to all chapters” to “people and processes standards” and the structural change as well as content revision from eight common standards to six core standards have a major importance in new edition. According to the obtained results, the purpose of Sphere new edition is to update the qualitative and quantitative indicators and guidance notes not to change the qualitative standards or fundamental change. In the new revision, general structure and integrity of text have improved. “Minimum standards” chapter has been structured as “core standards”. In delivery of disaster response services, particular attention must be paid to provide security as an important parameter in relief in addition to meet minimum basic needs.