Community Engagement
“Standards Without Listening Are Just Control”: William Anderson on the Sphere Rewrite, P-FIM, and the Future of Humanitarian Accountability
It has been described as the second most essential thing after a toothbrush for humanitarians. But the Sphere Handbook is about to undergo its most significant transformation yet. William Anderson, CEO of Sphere, explains why a moment of crisis may offer the opportunity to get things right, by rethinking what standards are for, how dignity gets lost in systems thinking, and why the next version of the Handbook will be more contextualized and community-fed than ever before.
Strengthening Humanitarian Efforts Through Local Voices: How P-FIM is Changing the Game
What if humanitarian assistance wasn’t about delivering solutions, but about uncovering them? The People First Impact Method (P-FIM) is challenging traditional top-down approaches by placing trust and local ownership at the heart of humanitarian work. Through my experience facilitating a P-FIM training in Nigeria, I’ve witnessed firsthand how shifting the focus from problem-solving to deep listening and trust building transforms how we engage with communities.
Post-Assad Syria: True Justice Means Transforming Pain Into Purpose
Ahmad Helmi on rebuilding Syria post-Assad: justice for victims, fostering resilience, and empowering civil society for lasting change.
Beyond the Buzzword: Why Localization Must Center on Community Voices
Localization is often presented as the panacea for transforming humanitarian aid. But what does it really mean, and are local NGOs automatically better equipped to represent communities? We sat down with Gerry McCarthy, who has extensive participatory engagement experience and is the co-creator of the P-FIM method, to unpack these questions.