News

Sphere Training of Trainers Equips Participants with Essential Skills

Kathmandu, 13th February 2020 - A Five-day Sphere Training of Trainers (ToT) was successfully organized by DPNet-Nepal in collaboration with Sphere Nepal and Sphere Geneva from 9th to 13th February 2020. The training, facilitated by Mr. Subhashis Roy as the Lead Facilitator received valuable contributions from Mr. Raju Thapa, General Secretary of DPNet-Nepal, Dr. Eba Pasha, co-writer of the Sphere Handbook, and Mr. Tristan Hale, Learning and Training Manager from Sphere Geneva. Mr. Anil Pokhrel, Executive Chief of the National Disaster Risk Management Authority, also took part in the event and encouraged the participants. A total of 21 participants, comprising 8 females, 13 males, and one participant from Indonesia, represented various organizations.

The training kicked off with an informal inaugural ceremony, attended by DPNet-Nepal board members and representatives from contributing agencies. Mr. Raju Thapa extended a warm welcome to the ToT participants and expressed gratitude to the Sphere Coordination committee and contributing agencies for their support. Mr. Subhashis Roy provided a brief introduction to the ToT and extended a warm welcome to all participants. Mr. Mani Kumar, country director of Christian Aid, spoke on behalf of the contributing agencies, emphasizing the significance of Sphere standards and offering well wishes for the successful execution of the event. Mr. Sanjeeb Kumar Shakya, Senior Humanitarian Manager from Save the Children, shared his experience in applying child protection principles, which are companion standards of Sphere. Mr. Sushil Bhandari from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) highlighted the need for contextualizing Sphere standards in Nepal and shared the initiation of capacity-building programs by MoHA. He urged participants to include relevant information on bipad.gov.np. Mr. Ram Prasad Bhattarai, Vice Chairperson of DPNet-Nepal, delivered his inaugural remarks, expressing gratitude to all contributing agencies and offering best wishes to the training participants. Ms. Luna Khadka, Program Coordinator of DPNet-Nepal, moderated the session and highlighted DPNet-Nepal's long-standing plan to conduct Sphere training since the launch of the Sphere Handbook in December 2018. She congratulated the selected participants for the ToT.

The first day of training focused on introducing the Sphere and ToT, conducting pre-TOT workshops, understanding the Sphere training package, trainer evaluation, providing feedback, and conducting mini-workshops on various sections of the Sphere Training Package (STP). On day two, sessions were held on additional mini-workshops and humanitarian standard partnerships, and each participant delivered a five-minute presentation. Day three covered topics such as Sphere Cash and Market and adult learning theories, and participants were paired for maxi-participant-led sessions. They were also given time to prepare their presentations. Dr. Eba Pasha, directly involved in revising STP-10 Health, shared her experience and learning on day four, and participants facilitated sessions on different STPs of the Sphere Standard. Day five included sessions led by participants, a session on training checklists, measuring training impact, and a demonstration of the Sphere website by Mr. Tristan Hale. Participants were then asked to develop their action plans, incorporating the skills they acquired during the training. Throughout the training, interactive sessions and diverse teaching methods were employed, making it a highly engaging experience for the participants.

During the closing session, two participants expressed their appreciation for the training and shared their key learnings and experiences. They extended gratitude to DPNet-Nepal for providing this valuable opportunity and praised the facilitation skills of Mr. Subhashis Roy. Mr. Raju Thapa thanked Mr. Roy for his contributions and commended the active participation of the participants. He highlighted DPNet-Nepal's efforts to institutionalize Sphere standards in Nepal and informed participants about upcoming provincial-level Sphere training and sensitization programs, where some ToT participants might have the opportunity to facilitate sessions. Mr. Thapa also mentioned the ongoing translation of the Sphere Handbook and the upcoming translation validation workshop. The event concluded with the distribution of ToT attendance certificates to all participants and a token of appreciation to Mr. Roy.

Financial support for the event was provided by various contributing agencies, including Action Aid, Caritas, Christian Aid, Dan Church Aid, International Nepal Fellowship, Lutheran World Federation, OXFAM, Plan International, Save the Children, UNICEF, and World Vision International.