The Sphere Handbook presents a principled approach to quality and accountability in humanitarian response. This basic training course provides an introduction to the Sphere Handbook with the basic principles of humanitarian aid - the Humanitarian Charter together with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and the Protection Principles - and the technical standards in the four sectors WASH, food security and nutrition, shelter and settlement, and health. The training focuses on the practical application of the manual in concrete humanitarian situations. To this end, numerous small group exercises are conducted.

The training is part of aha certification program for Certificate of Advanced Studies in "Foundations of Humanitarian Action" .

Changing perspective on gender and security in the humanitarian sector is crucial because traditional approaches often overlook or inadequately address the complex, intersectional risks aid workers face. Initiating this shift allows us to: Recognize Diverse Experiences and Risks; Improve Risk Assessment and Prevention; Support Organizational Duty of Care; Encourage Safer, More Inclusive Work Environments; and Challenge Power Imbalances. A change in perspective is not just about being politically correct—it’s about making humanitarian work safer, more inclusive, and more effective by acknowledging and planning for the real-world risks that different people face based on their gender and identity.

The main course objective is to provide a basic understanding of the significance of gender in security management and the negative consequences for everyone’s safety and security when gender is not considered.

Through interactive learning methods and practical case studies, humanitarian professionals and security managers will examine essential gender concepts, and how gender impacts different aspects of security management, from risk analyses and security policies to incident reporting mechanisms. The course will further delve into how gender and other intersectional considerations are integral to security management, for both individual and organisational security, particularly in fragile deployment environments. Then it will explore how gender can (and should) be mainstreamed into organisations’ security planning. Further, the course will look at how inclusive organisational cultures promote safety and security for all, incl. through safe incident reporting mechanisms and stress and trauma-informed team dynamics.

You are invited to bring your questions and previous experience to the course and exchange ideas with other participants to reflect together on the content taught and use it to assess the gender sensitivity of your organisation’s security policies and practices.

The course is also a recommended complementary module for basic security training, which we offer at aha regularly.

The course would be conducted online on two half days (with a break in between as reflection time).

+++Acknowledging the ongoing global humanitarian funding constraints as well as the fact, that funding for work on gender in humanitarian action has always been limited, the academy for humanitarian action wants to address this issue by reducing the price of this training (from 290 EUR to 200 EUR)+++

+++Staffs and local partners of ADH member organizations are eligible to get reimbursement of the training fee. Please check the respective internal procedure.+++

Climate action begins with understanding your impact—and humanitarian organizations are no exception. In a sector increasingly committed to climate neutrality and sustainability, accurately measuring your carbon footprint is essential.

The Humanitarian Carbon Calculator is a useful tool to allow humanitarian agencies to calculate, and thereby systematically reduce, their carbon emissions.

This course will enable you to confidently use the calculator to track the greenhouse gas emissions from their organization. This can be a starting point for transformation in your organisations leading towards climate neutrality. The training is a combination of interactive lectures, group work, practical activities and self-directed ‘homework‘ that will help you develop the skills needed to calculate carbon emissions in their own organisations. Using real-world examples and your own projects and examples the course will explore the steps needed to understand and reduce carbon emissions within the operational realities of humanitarian settings.