About the Humanitarian Standards Partnership

Founded on humanitarian principles and human rights, humanitarian standards help us to turn principles into action. Humanitarian standards outline what help and protection crisis-affected people are entitled to and uphold their right to life with dignity. Developed by thousands of experts globally and based on evidence, experience and learning, they are among the most recognised statements of accountability in humanitarian work.

E C O N O M I C R E C O V E R Y M A R K E T A N A L Y S I S E C O N O M I C R E C O V E R Y M A R K E T A N A L Y S I S EDUCATION FOOD SECURITY HEALTH & NUTRITION WATER, SANITATION SHELTER & & HYGIENE PROMOTION SETTLEMENT CHILD PROTECTION LIVESTOCK C O R E H U M A N I T A R I A N S T A N D A R D P R O T E C T I O N P R I N C I P L E S HUMANITARIAN CHARTER INCLUSION OFOLDER PEOPLE& PEOPLE WITHDISABILITIES

The Humanitarian Standards Partnership draws together the why, how and what of humanitarian work and encompasses:

  • The Humanitarian Charter, which provides the ethical and legal backdrop to humanitarian response.
  • The protection principles, which set out how to protect people from violence, avoid causing harm, ensure access to impartial assistance, and assist with recovery from abuse.
  • The Core Humanitarian Standard, which describes the essential elements of accountable, effective and high-quality humanitarian action.
  • Minimum standards, which provide universal benchmarks for assistance in shelter, water and sanitation, food security and nutrition, health, education, child protection, livestock, economic recovery, market analysis and the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities.

Humanitarian standards form a foundation that keeps humanitarian actors accountable to those they serve. They increase quality, support local leadership and enable local, national and international organisations to deliver services according to agreed universal minimum standards.

Humanitarian standards are a reference point for all actors in crises. The Humanitarian Standards Partnership has a membership and user base that includes humanitarian actors in governments, United Nations, nongovernmental organisations, the private sector, academia and civil society around the world.

The Humanitarian Standards Partnership works to make it easier for frontline responders to access and use the full set of inter-linked humanitarian standards.

Strategy

The Humanitarian Standards Partnership represents the power of the sector to harness international law, learning and evidence, and to use it to improve quality and accountability in humanitarian response.

The Partnership seeks to increase the application of humanitarian standards through:

  1. Increased coherence among standards
  2. Increased effectiveness of outreach

The Partnership is making it easier for humanitarian practitioners to use multiple standards. This is being done through improving cross-referencing in the text; reducing inconsistencies in future revisions; creating better links between resources; and by launching a mobile application.

The Humanitarian Standards app is putting information in the hands of frontline responders enabling them to access everything in one place, with easy links to relevant content: to the humanitarian charter, protection principles, core humanitarian standard and all technical standards, with guidance notes, tools and resources. The app also has the potential to transform the experience of crisis-affected people, empowering them to know how their rights translate into minimum requirements for assistance and protection.

The Humanitarian Standards Partnership is conducting joint advocacy at global humanitarian events, promoting the full set of standards to policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders. It is also developing country- and region-level strategies to promote the application of standards and to work with large organisations to institutionalise them. Webinars, joint training materials, case studies and resources will promote the full set of standards to actors globally.