It is important to acknowledge that there is increased focus on training and support within the humanitarian community. Much of this has been based on peer-support initiatives such as Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) and the Global Executive Leadership Initiative (GELI). Many staff entering the humanitarian sector may also have been to one of the postgraduate courses in humanitarian studies that are now available. However, few of these training and learning opportunities relate to the specific circumstances in a particular country. Moreover, the current focus on leadership training is too often seen as a means of fixing the humanitarian system rather than addressing some of its systemic challenges.
The perception that generic training is more important than context-specific knowledge may have encouraged the idea among some staff that broad education programmes and experience in one conflict-affected country will prepare them for service in other situations. This has led some to believe that short assignments in many different contexts is a better professional path than longer assignments in fewer places. In situations where the focus is on ensuring the impartiality of humanitarian action, this approach is counterproductive and should be resisted more vigorously than is currently the case in most organizations.
While codes of conduct provide basic guidance on the humanitarian principles, these may not be differentiated according to the type of organizations involved and the nature of their work.
Instead, what is needed are regular training sessions for field staff of humanitarian organizations to initiate international and national staff on how their organization applies the principles in practice in specific contexts, and how staff should respond in specific situations. These approaches will have been developed from examples of responses that have worked in the past. Training sessions should be evaluated yearly to ensure effective uptake by staff and to help refine these education programmes.
Monopolizing recruitment opportunities
Recruiting local staff is a critical issue in managing UN, Red Cross and international NGO offices in conflict-affected countries. The project workshops and the authors’ experiences have shown that allowing employees from a single political, ethnic or business group to make up the majority of recruitment can lead to problems. In such cases, the impartiality of the organization may be compromised, and the information provided to senior managers may reflect the bias of these staff members. Therefore, it is essential that recruitment is based on merit and that a diverse pool of candidates is considered to ensure impartiality and effectiveness in humanitarian operations.
Maintaining archives as a training tool
At the workshops, participants also emphasized the importance of learning from experience, and the value of processes that encourage staff to learn from documentation of previous decision-making. It was therefore of concern to hear of examples where archives of important humanitarian offices have been destroyed in the absence of clear policies that they should be retained and made available both to current staff and to academic researchers.
