•
What’s the Challenge?
•
Research methodology and
scope
•
What is a Profession?
•
Key values, knowledge &
skills
•
Problems with present
trainings
All Photos: IRIN or RedR
Professionalising the Humanitarian
Sector
1. Little universally recognised
qualifications
2. Diminishing individual
professional integrity
3. Lack of systematic and
applied learning
4. Unsystematic personal
accountability
5. Shallow basis for state and
employer trust
Research Methodology
• Literature review

Professionalisation

Certification

Humanitarian Aid Quality
programmes
• Focus groups
• Individual interviews
• On-Line surveys
Research Methodology
Literature reviews
Focus groups
Contacted
Finalised
3
3
15
222
(222 people, 6 countries)
Individuals
English Survey
22
22
>4,000
1,400
French Survey
228
Spanish Survey
University Survey
8
16
20
Demographics of the on-line
respondents
P 4&5
Geography of the on-line respondents
P 4&5
What did we find?
• Professionalism
• Core values,
knowledge and skills
• Present training
opportunities
Why bother?
• Life & death service

Humanitarian workers
need to be more
professional because
their actions and
decisions affect so many
lives, sometimes in very
dramatic ways
Why bother?
• Values matter

A more professional
practice would be more
relevant, more effective
and more efficient in
keeping the human
dimension at the centre
of its practice
Why bother?
• Quality matters

It will improve the
quality of people who
are applying and
securing jobs, which
ultimately will improve
the humanitarian
response.
Criteria for a modern profession
1. Monopoly on specialised
knowledge
2. Knowledge used in an
altruistic fashion
3. Therefore autonomy to self
regulate
4. Responsibility to expand
the Knowledge
5. Responsive to the users of
the profession
P6
Who is a professional humanitarian
worker?
Nutritionists
Drivers
Accountants
Professional Humanitarian Workers
Wat/San
Logistics
P 12
Public
Health
Workers
Enumerators
Professional Feedback System
Academia
Knowledge repository
Formal qualifications
Research
The profession
Field practice
Testing knowledge
Self regulation
Primary Clients
Receive services
Feedback on services
Professional Competencies
Experience
Knowledge
Skills
Values
P7
Professionalisation – Yes or No?
P 21
10% dissenters
1. Too complex
2. Entrench Northern exclusivity
3. Foster a mercenary attitude
4. At heart humanitarianism is an
act of political solidarity so a
professional model is
inappropriate
A woman with a child on her back getting her rations at Oromi IDP camp, Kitgum District in
northern Uganda.
Credit: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN
Why bother with a profession?
P 30
Key values for all humanitarian workers
P 30
Key knowledge for all humanitarian
workers
68.5%
66.0%
64.0%
50.9%
35.3%
25.9%
21.7%
21.4%
17.3%
14.7%
8.7%
6.0%
5.3%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Series1
Educ'
Stats
5.3%
6.0%
Accountin
Water
g
8.7%
14.7%
Food
Logistics
17.3%
21.4%
P 31
Public
health
21.7%
Protect'
Ref Law
M&E
IHL
Security
25.9%
35.3%
50.9%
64.0%
66.0%
Needs
ass'
68.5%
Key skills for all humanitarian workers
P 32
Why we need certificates
• “I first of all want to know, do
they have the practical skills,
then, do they have the
technical skills and lastly, do
they have a Masters?”
• “After many of the INGOs left,
the local staff were left with
nothing – no references, no
certification, no jobs. How
can they prove they worked in
the response?”
Most wanted competency certificate
P 39
Individual Professionalism
•
•
•
•
Certified, guaranteed
Safeguards integrity
Promotes competence
Supports evidencebased learning
• Personally accountable
to the clients