IOM Ecuador will this week host a two-day training workshop for 30
government officials and other humanitarian partners aimed at
strengthening the delivery and effectiveness of humanitarian aid.

In coordination with the National Secretariat for Risk
Management, IOM experts will use the "Sphere Project" training for
humanitarian actors who respond to natural or man-made disasters,
especially along Ecuador's northern border.

The "Sphere Project", launched in 1997 by a group of
humanitarian NGOs and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, is
an initiative to define and uphold the standards by which the
global community responds to the plight of people affected by
disasters, principally through a set of guidelines that are set out
in the Sphere Handbook.

The training, which will take place on 14 and 15 April, is part
of an IOM initiative implemented since 2007 which established six
types of recurrent threats in the country: earthquakes, tsunamis,
volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides and droughts.

As part of the UN Emergency Team, IOM has provided technical
advice and assistance to improve the government's response,
especially on issues related to shelter, water and sanitation.

In 2009, as per a Cooperation Agreement signed with the Ministry
of Economic and Social Inclusion, IOM provided technical assistance
for the drafting of humanitarian assistance standards, adjusted to
the realities of Ecuador.  This instrument, used by all
government agencies to provide a basic assistance standard,
includes the minimum requirements of care which should be awarded
to victims in emergency shelters following natural disasters or
man-made emergencies.

For more information, please contact:

Rogelio Bernal

IOM Quito

Tel: +5932.225.67.89

E-mail: "mailto:rbernal@iom.int">rbernal@iom.int