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

Localization: Stocktaking for NGOs?

Fully booked

© Aktion Deutschland Hilft / Stefan Trappe

Localization is widely discussed within the humanitarian sector as well as in humanitarian NGOs. Expectations and ambitions among NGOs and even within single organizations are diverse. Numerous challenges and questions are to be solved. As part of a joint project, VENRO and IFHV will organize a series of trainings and workshops on localization. In a first seminar, we would like to give staff of local, national and German NGOs the opportunity to discuss their approaches to localization in their organizations, e.g. in the areas of project management, institutional funding, partnership agreements or advocacy. The aim is to provide orientation on the status quo of current localization debates as well as to identify barriers and solution approaches.

The workshop will take place online on 23 and 30 March 2023 and includes regular breaks.

Inclusive Humanitarian Action Programming in line with the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion

Fully booked

An estimated 15% of the world population experiences a disability, with even higher numbers in conflict and disaster contexts. However, disability is usually still not mainstreamed as crosscutting topic throughout a project. The invisibility during all phases in the humanitarian project cycle results in a lack of protection and exacerbated risks of being excluded from general humanitarian services. 

In this training, participants will gain an understanding of the human rights-based approach to disability and inclusion in humanitarian action in-line with the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. They will also increase their capacity on programming and coordination that is inclusive of persons with disabilities throughout the humanitarian project cycle and identify possible entry points for change in their programmes and organisations.

Throughout the training, participants will learn about each other’s good practices and lessons learned on inclusive programming.

The training is part of HI’s “Leave no one behind!” project supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.

!!Workshop postponed!! New dates are 27-29 March!

Joint Risk Management

English

April 2023

1 ECTS

Certificate of Advanced Studies: Foundations of Humanitarian Action

© Aktion Deutschland Hilft / Zanettini

Humanitarian organizations operate in volatile contexts and are exposed to diverse risks. A robust risk management mechanism can minimize their impact. The focus of this training will be on risks related to safety and security as well as how to implement and maintain a comprehensive risk management system together with partner organizations. On the basis of the Circle of Security, participants will discuss how to conduct a context analysis and a risk assessment, how to reduce the impacts of the identified risks and how to formalize them in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). They will also get familiar with contingency planning and the monitoring of their risk management.

The online training will take place on 17, 19 and 24 April as well as 4 May 2023 with own case studies between the online sessions for the participants to apply the seminar learnings to their own work contexts. The course includes regular breaks and is eligible for one of the Certificates of Advanced Studies in the area of "Foundations of Humanitarian Action" or "Locally-led Humanitarian Action".

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. 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.