Prepare for Humanitarian Action

The academy for humanitarian action (aha) provides advanced training courses for the humanitarian community. It combines unique insights from humanitarian practice and academic research. Join us on our mission to spread the skills we need when crises hit – start today.

Upcoming courses

Sharing of Overhead Costs

Fully booked

Many German, local and national humanitarian NGOs work closely together. Providing overheads is a crucial step in promoting a more locally-led humanitarian response. Recent studies show that local and national humanitarian organizations still do not receive an adequate amount of overhead costs. This seminar offers you the opportunity to exchange your practices regarding the transfer and receipt of overheads.

The course will take place online on 7 and 16 October and includes regular breaks.

NEAT+ Training of Trainers (1)

Fully booked

The training of trainers is conducted in English, for 5 consecutive days, each 4 hours (9 am to 1 pm CET). In order to cover the regional and local needs, we offer also other identical training with different time slots ToT NEAT+ (2)

The Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+) is a rapid and simple project-level environmental screening tool for humanitarian operations and has been specifically designed to quickly identify issues of environmental concern to make emergency and recovery interventions more sustainable. Application of NEAT+ enables better understanding oft he environmental risks and their mitigation measures in the development of humanitarian project proposals, which has been required more by institutional donors.

The training of trainers is intended to train selected staffs of humanitarian organisations to apply NEAT+ confidently and being able to organize and provide NEAT+ basic trainings in applying NEAT+ to staff and partners in their context. After the training, the new Trainers should be enabled to support local teams by incorporating results / outcomes of the NEAT+ screening into the project plan.

The training uses learning-by-doing approach for gaining a deep understanding of computational tools like NEAT+  with participants bringing information about their planned or ongoing projects where NEAT+ can be applied, e.g. in areas such as WASH, Shelter, Food Security, and Livelihood. The training will comprise technical sessions on NEAT+, i.e., Rural NEAT+ and Urban NEAT+, as well as training design and facilitation session. Support in creating their own training materials tailored to their organizations or target groups will be provided.

(Only for members of ADH Organizations and their local offices / partner organisations. They can apply for fee reimbursement. Please check within your organizations regarding the internally announced procedure.)

NEAT+ Training of Trainers (2)

Fully booked

The training of trainers is conducted in English, for 5 consecutive days, each 4 hours (2 to 6 pm CET). In order to cover the regional and local needs, we offer also other identical training with different time slots ToT NEAT+ (1)

The Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+) is a rapid and simple project-level environmental screening tool for humanitarian operations and has been specifically designed to quickly identify issues of environmental concern to make emergency and recovery interventions more sustainable. Application of NEAT+ enables better understanding oft he environmental risks and their mitigation measures in the development of humanitarian project proposals, which has been required more by institutional donors.

The training of trainers is intended to train selected staffs of humanitarian organisations to apply NEAT+ confidently and being able to organize and provide NEAT+ basic trainings in applying NEAT+ to staff and partners in their context. After the training, the new Trainers should be enabled to support local teams by incorporating results / outcomes of the NEAT+ screening into the project plan.

The training uses learning-by-doing approach for gaining a deep understanding of computational tools like NEAT+  with participants bringing information about their planned or ongoing projects where NEAT+ can be applied, e.g. in areas such as WASH, Shelter, Food Security, and Livelihood. The training will comprise technical sessions on NEAT+, i.e., Rural NEAT+ and Urban NEAT+, as well as training design and facilitation session. Support in creating their own training materials tailored to their organizations or target groups will be provided.

(Only for Members of ADH Organizations and their local offices / partner organisations. They can apply for fee reimbursement. Please check within your organizations regarding the internally announced procedure.)

Who we are

The academy for humanitarian action (aha) is an institution for further education in the humanitarian sector. It is located at the intersection of humanitarian practice and research and pools the expertise from over 25 years of work in the humanitarian sector. The aha carries out high quality trainings and offers a platform for other training providers in the field of humanitarian action. Our trainings are based on internationally established initiatives to systematize and standardize education in humanitarian action. Visit the about us section to find out more!

What we aim for

Our work is inspired by the desire to create a positive impact and advance the professionalization of humanitarian action in Germany and beyond. Our aim is to support humanitarians in their continuous effort to further improve the quality of their work, address new challenges and meet important requests for reform, such as the commitments that were made in the course of the World Humanitarian Summit. A special emphasis of our work is on anticipatory humanitarian action and community-led response. Visit the about us section to find out more!

What we offer

The academy for humanitarian action offers a wide range of different training courses on topics related to humanitarian action and international collaboration. The trainings are carried out by aha members and by external providers who have proven expertise in selected areas. Our curriculum is based on the indicated needs of target communities and will be continuously updated and adapted in collaboration with experts from different practical and academic disciplines. Click here to get an overview of our current course offer or here to download a pdf version of our course curriculum for 2024. Participating in several courses of the curriculum will allow you to gain a “Certificate of Advanced Studies” (CAS).

Aktion Deutschland HilftRUBInstitut für Friedenssicherungsrecht und Humanitäres VölkerrechtFH MünsterKompetenzzentrum Humanitäre HilfeAkademie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Your tailor-made certificate

The academy for humanitarian action offers flexible and tailor-made certificates that can be adapted to your purpose. You may opt for a simple certificate of attendance, a course certificate or a “Certificate of Advanced Studies” from one of the core tracks: Foundations of Humanitarian Action, Anticipatory Humanitarian Action or Locally-led Humanitarian Action. Each “Certificate of Advanced Studies” comprises five course certificates. To get a more detailed overview of our modular certification scheme, click here.