INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

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Download the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook in English, or visit our Translations and Reproductions section where you will find the Handbook available in other languages.

The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is available in the following languages:

  • Arabic
  • Bahasa Indonesian
  • Bangla/Bengali
  • Burmese/Myanmar language
  • Chinese
  • Dari
  • English
  • French
  • Hindi
  • Japanese
  • Khmer
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Sinhala
  • Spanish
  • Tajik
  • Tamil
  • Thai
  • Urdu



Translations that are currenlty underway include:

  • Karen
  • Kazakh
  • Nepali
  • Uzbek

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In the Request Resources section, you will also find information on how to order the Handbook and the other materials.


View and Download INEE Minimum Standards Tools

To view and download tools to help with the implementation of the INEE Minimum Standards, visit the Implementation Support page.


About the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies facilitated a highly consultative and broad-based process in the development of global minimum standards that articulate a minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies, chronic crises and the early reconstruction phase.

The INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction are both a handbook and an expression of commitment that all individuals – children, youth, and adults – have a right to education during emergencies. They echo the core beliefs of the Sphere Project: that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and that people affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity.

INEE’s Minimum Standards are founded on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Dakar 2000 Education for All goals and the Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter. The Handbook is meant to be used as a capacity-building and training tool for humanitarian agencies, governments and local populations to enhance the effectiveness and quality of their educational assistance, and thus to make a significant difference in the lives of people affected by disaster. They will also help to enhance accountability and predictability among humanitarian actors, and improve coordination among partners, including education authorities.

A handbook of Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction (Referred to as the INEE Minimum Standards) was launched at INEE’s Second Global Inter-Agency Consultation on Education in Emergencies and Early Recovery in South Africa in December 2004. The handbook is designed to give governments and humanitarian workers the tools that they need to address the Education for All and UN Millennium Development Goals. It is the first step toward ensuring that education initiatives in emergency situations provide a solid and sound basis for post-conflict and disaster reconstruction.

The Minimum Standards cover five categories:

  • Minimum Standards Common to All Categories: focuses on the essential areas of community participation and utilization of local resources when applying the standards in this handbook, as well as ensuring that emergency education responses are based on an initial assessment that is followed by an appropriate response and continued monitoring and evaluation.
  • Access and Learning Environment: focuses on partnerships to promote access to learning opportunities as well as inter-sectoral linkages with, for example, health, water and sanitation, food aid and shelter, to enhance security and physical, cognitive and psychological well-being.
  • Teaching and Learning: focuses on critical elements that promote effective teaching and learning: 1) curriculum, 2) training, 3) instruction, and 4) assessment.
  • Teachers and other Education Personnel: focuses on the administration and management of human resources in the field of education, including recruitment and selection, conditions of service, and supervision and support.
  • Education Policy and Coordination: focuses on policy formulation and enactment, planning and implementation, and coordination.

In addition, cross-cutting issues, such as human and children’s rights, gender, the right of the population to participate, HIV/AIDS, disability and vulnerability, have been incorporated into the relevant standards rather than being dealt with in a separate section.

To read more, visit the History and Development page.


Contact the INEE Minimum Standards Coordinator

INEE is keen to hear about how you have made use of the INEE Minimum Standards, please contact minimumstandards@ineesite.org with your experiences, comments and suggestions.