The Armenian version of the handbook called "The Sphere Project: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response" was presented in Yerevan on February 20. In their speeches, the representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia and the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) expressed their special gratitude to Oxfam Great Britain International Humanitarian organization's office in Armenia for the translation and printing of the Armenian version of this handbook and underlined that it was "serious and appropriate". According to the representatives, the handbook creates a broad opportunity to make the current national standards fall in line with international standards in order to make global assistance more effective. Giving a brief presentation of the handbook, Director of Oxfam Armenia Margarita Hakobyan informed that the Armenian version of the handbook was unprecedented and that it was translated and printed in Armenian for the first time ever. "The handbook was first created by several international non-governmental humanitarian organizations in 1997. The Red Cross and the Red Crescent (Karmir Mahik) organizations, as well as OXFAM played a huge role as well. The handbook was revised and modified in 2009, 2010 and 2011 with the participation of governments and different experts", said Margarita Hakobyan. The handbook has already been translated into 40 languages, and the latest version was translated into Armenian in 2011. It was also mentioned that the standards mentioned in the handbook are applied not only for responding to, but also reducing and preventing disaster risks and in recovery efforts. Margarita Hakobyan expressed hope that the harmonization of the national standards with the internationally recognized and applied standards would facilitate and coordinate the efforts to be taken during disasters and emergency situations. According to Deputy Head of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Ara Barseghyan, the handbook will become a working book for all organizations involved in disaster risk reduction in Armenia. Ara Barseghyan mentioned: "We highly appreciated this initiative and used it to create a panel group for setting national standards of crisis management which will help develop national standards and make them fall in line with international standards." Deputy Head of the Armenian Rescue Service at the Ministry of Emergency Situations Nikolay Grigoryan attached great importance to the release of this handbook and said: "As we take a look back at the great disaster in Armenia, that is, the earthquake in Spitak, we remember how all the organizations that extended a helping hand to Armenia weren't speaking in the same language and how we Armenians weren't able to speak with foreigners in their respective languages. This doesn't only refer to foreign languages, but also terms and standards. Today, in that sense everyone is speaking in the same language." According to Nikolay Grigoryan, all international organizations are currently working on achieving one goal, and from that angle, this handbook and OXFAM play an invaluable role in these efforts. The Noyan Tapan Highlights

---