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New ‘gold standard’ for aid worker training aims to improve humanitarian support for disaster-hit communities
Communities affected by major disasters will receive higher quality support from aid workers thanks to a groundbreaking new tool which aims to improve the standard of training humanitarian workers receive.
The new Trainer Competency Framework is being billed as a future ‘gold standard’ quality mark for capacity building in the aid and development sector. It will ensure that aid workers receive appropriate training content via proven teaching and learning methods from skilled, professional trainers. It has been developed by disaster relief charity RedR UK and French humanitarian agency Bioforce.
As the frequency and intensity of global disasters rises year on year, training national and international humanitarian workers has never been more urgent. Ensuring aid workers have essential skills in key aspects of humanitarian relief – from expertise in water and sanitation delivery to dealing with shelter needs to providing cash-for-work programmes– significantly improves response to major natural and man-made crises.
However, as yet, there is no sector-wide standard to ensure the quality of humanitarian training available to the world’s 210,000 aid workers – an increasing number of whom are nationals of disaster-affected countries.
Instead, skills are often passed between aid workers through a chain of training sessions with high risk that the quality of the facilitation and learning dilutes as the numbers broaden. As a result, trainees often do not receive the skills they require and disaster-hit communities fail to get the quality humanitarian support they need.
The new tool– available free of charge from RedR’s website – will help safeguard the standard of humanitarian knowledge passed between aid workers. It has already generated widespread interest amongst leading aid and development organisations, with Bond, ELRHA, INTRAC, Mango and People in Aid all supporting the initiative.
RedR’s Director of Learning and Development, Charlie Dalrymple, said: "RedR has long recognised that effective delivery of humanitarian expertise to aid workers requires a defined range of skills alongside field experience, and that is what lies at the root of this initiative.
"Not only will the implementation of this tool represent a significant leap forward for disaster-hit communities – who have a right to receive the highest calibre assistance from aid workers in a major crisis – but it also represents a step forward in the professionalisation of the humanitarian sector as a whole."
He adds: "By ensuring consistency and quality of training, we hope to dramatically enhance aid workers’ ability to respond to emergencies. In short, providing better aid and improved accountability to disaster-affected communities is a common goal for the humanitarian sector and one we hope this new tool will go some way to supporting."
The Trainer Competency Framework is already being used by RedR UK to assess and recruit humanitarian trainers both in the UK and internationally, ensuring that the thousands of aid workers supported by RedR UK each year are afforded the highest possible standard of training.
Notes to Editors
1. The ‘International Development and Humanitarian Training Competency Framework’ is available for free download here (http://www.redr.org.uk/en/Resource_Document/Resource_Download.cfm/rid/EA2726FF-85F7-4E90-BECD8BEE2DE3CD28)
2. To find out more about the significance of this tool for the humanitarian sector and on the resulting quality of international humanitarian programmes, contact Jo Barrett in RedR’s media team on 0207 840 6012 or 07940 703911.
3. RedR is an international charity which trains aid workers and supplies skilled professionals – such as engineers, logisticians and water and sanitation specialists – to humanitarian programmes worldwide. See: www.redr.org.uk for further information.
4. Bioforce is a French organisation which maximises the impact of aid programmes by providing training, careers advice and local development for aid workers. It also increases the effectiveness of missions in the public health sector by reinforcing health programmes and structures.
5. Bond is the UK membership body for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in international development.
6. ELRHA (Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance) is a collaborative network supporting partnerships between higher education institutions and humanitarian organisations.
7. INTRAC (International NGO Training and Research Centre) provides training, consultancy and research services to international development and relief organisations to strengthen civil society across the world.
8. Mango (Management Accounting for NGOs) provides financial management services to agencies working in relief and development projects in developing and disaster stricken countries.
9. People In Aid improves organisational effectiveness within the humanitarian and development sector worldwide by advocating, supporting and recognising good practice in the management of people.
