SEEP’s initiative to develop standards for Economic Recovery after Crisis incorporates the work of over 25 practitioner organizations. The initiative is an effort to identify guiding principles and set forth minimum standards for implementing microfinance, enterprise development, workforce development and other economic interventions in post-conflict or –disaster settings. The standards’ primary audience includes relief and humanitarian practitioners experienced in emergency settings but less familiar with economic recovery work. The public-review draft of the standards is currently available on http://communities.seepnetwork.org/econrecovery/node/821 , with an official release of the first edition at end 2008. Future work will include consultation sessions with local practitioners and other stakeholders; field-testing of the standards by SEEP members and others; revision of the standards; and dissemination events.

The standards are being developed by a SEEP-facilitated working group, with support from the USAID FIELD-Support LWA program. SEEP is also coordinating the development of these standards with the Sphere Project, with the hope that the standards may be used as a ‘companion module’ to the next revision of the Sphere handbook for humanitarian relief.

Lead facilitator: Tracy Gerstle , CARE USA
Co-facilitator: Laura Meissner , SEEP Network