Humanity, independence, neutrality, and impartiality are the core humanitarian principles based on International Humanitarian Law and the foundation for the Core Humanitarian Standards and Humanitarian Charter (Humanitarian Innovation Fund, 2022). Sphere is a voluntary initiative created by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1977 to improve humanitarian response quality (Sphere Association, 2018). Sphere incorporates the foundations and principles of the Humanitarian Charter, Core Humanitarian Standard, and Protection Principles to create standards for the four minimum standards WASH (water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion), food security/nutrition, shelter and settlement, and health (Sphere Association, 2018). The Core Humanitarian Standards are nine commitments organizations are accountable for to ensure the four minimum standards are met.
Three core humanitarian standards are humanitarian response effective and timely, humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids adverse effects, and resources are managed and used responsibly for their intended purpose (Sphere Association, 2018). There is pressure to respond quickly during natural disasters and emergencies, leading to poor planning and coordination between responding organizations. Experienced staff members need to help organize the use of proper resources. Audits can be conducted to ensure an organization’s financial statements are factual and identify fraudulent issues (Sphere Association, 2018).
The 2017 Kermanshah earthquake in West Iran was a humanitarian crisis where 600 people died, and 10,000 people were injured, resulting in thousands of families being displaced to surrounding villages (Fooladlou, 2020). The distribution of humanitarian aid was not managed and used correctly due to the lack of organization and public education. Stakeholders such as the private sector, volunteers, Governmental Organizations, and Nongovernmental Organizations are responsible for collaborating and managing the resources (Fooladlou, 2020). The lack of organization, communication, and coordination between the stakeholders caused the unequal distribution of aid, and some villages did not receive any help. The lack of rules and supervision also caused a misuse of cash aids. “Some famous cinema actors gave their bank account numbers in the cyber networks to collect people’s cash aids, but except for a few, most did not spend the money for the afflicted people” (Fooladlou, 2020). The failure to correctly distribute humanitarian aid resources in the 2017 Kermanshah earthquake worsened the emergency and emphasized the importance of following the 9 Sphere Core Humanitarian Standards.
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