United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Jun 2016
InterWorks facilitated a Workshop on Emergency Management (WEM) for UNHCR in Starum, Norway from 15 – 24 June, 2016 with the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap – or DSB http://www.dsb.no/forside.asp) – as the supporting host institution. Overall coordination and planning for the event was done by the UNHCR Global Learning Centre (GLC) supported in particular by UNHCR Emergency Service (ES) for core content, and other UNHCR content experts from different Divisions and Units of UNHCR relating to their own areas of expertise.
The intensive and demanding course prepared 40 participants for emergency deployment focusing on three areas of emergency management: managing yourself, managing relationships, and managing your operational role through all phases of the deployment. The course was interactive and work-oriented, and employed a variety of methodologies, including simulation exercises, presentations and case study, as well as group and plenary discussions. The agenda included sessions on team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative systems, operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security, coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian protection.
Best course I have ever attended, where I learned about emergency response but also about my own capacities in such a context. It really was an amazing experience. I will recommend this course to everyone. Thank you!
– Workshop participant
