Livestock Emergency Guidelines Standards

8 HISTORY OFTHE LEGS PROJECT At a Nairobi workshop in 2004, which brought together humanitarian agencies who work on livestock programmes in the region, practitioners raised concerns about the quality of livestock responses in emergencies. The livelihoods of livestock-owning communities were often not taken into account by such interventions and in some cases livelihoods were undermined by the emergency response.Workshop par ticipants highlighted the need for a common reference point to guide better quality programmes and Tufts University took the lead to identify funding and bring together interested par ties. In 2006 the first LEGS Steering Group meeting took place in Addis Ababa and the LEGS Project was officially launched. The initial focus of the Project was on the development of the LEGS Handbook. Following publication of the first edition in 2009, the Project rolled out a global training and awareness programme, including training of trainers (TOTs). In 2011, LEGS was accepted as a formal companion standard to the Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards for Humanitarian Response , and with Sphere is par t of an informal alliance of humanitarian standards alongside other companion standards including the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies , the Minimum Economic Recover y Standards , and the Child Protection Minimum Standards . LEGS is the most useful and comprehensive tool for livestock-focused interventions I have come across. It covers all major emergencies and provides necessary planning and implementation guidance for experts and non- experts alike. ’ ‘ Saeed Ullah Khan, former Technical Advisor, International Rescue Committee, Pakistan